Sutter Hill Ventures Invests $10 Million in Digital Advertising Industry
SeeSaw Networks to Offer Single Source for Planning, Buying and Measuring Out-of-Home Digital Media
Digital Signage Business Conference, CHICAGO – Nov. 15, 2006 – SeeSaw Networks, a leading out-of-home digital media company, today announced it has closed $10 million Series A financing from Sutter Hill Ventures. As the sole institutional investor in SeeSaw Networks, Sutter Hill Ventures holds two positions on the board of directors for Tench Coxe and Jim Gaither, both managing directors at the firm.
Seesaw Networks is the only out-of-home digital media company that makes it easy to plan, buy and measure advertising on the world’s most extensive network of digital venues. Unlike static billboards and posters, digital media can present constantly changing, computer-generated, full-motion video, photo-realistic graphics, text and animation, engaging people on the go.
The new funding will be used to develop and operate SeeSawAds.com and expand its sales force and network of affiliates across the country. SeeSawAds.com enables advertisers and agencies to uniquely customize campaigns with unprecedented precision across venues, markets and demographics, reaching people where they are.
“The SeeSaw management team is a powerful blend of media, brand, and technology experts,” said Coxe. “We believe SeeSaw’s experience and capability in this space will quickly take the company from start-up, to revenue, to profit.”
SeeSaw’s founding team includes Monte Zweben, chairman and former chairman, CEO and founder of Blue Martini Software; Peter Bowen, CEO and former president of multiple divisions of the H.J. Heinz Company; Jeff Dickey, vice president of business development, founder of DoubleClick and former senior vice president of PRN; Rocky Gunderson, vice president of marketing and network development; and Scott Hines, vice president of user experience.
“As people become increasingly more mobile, the importance of adding out-of-home digital media to the marketing mix is critical for brands to stay competitive,” said Gaither. “Out-of-home digital media is an effective advertising media and is becoming a major component of advertisers’ media mix much like the Internet is today.”
Until now, advertisers and media agencies have been hesitant to include out-of-home digital media in their campaigns because of the fragmented marketplace with over 700 ad network platforms. It is virtually impossible for an agency or advertiser to plan a comprehensive out-of-home digital media campaign with the lack of standards and metrics across networks. “SeeSaw aggregates available out-of-home digital media from our network of affiliates and blends it together into a comprehensive national network to provide agencies and advertisers breadth and depth across multiple markets and demographics utilizing consistent standards and metrics,” said Peter Bowen, chief executive officer of SeeSaw Networks.
SeeSawAds.com is in beta now and will be available for broad commercial use in 2007. Out-of-home digital media networks, media buyers and advertisers who want to be among the first to influence this emerging medium should contact SeeSaw Networks .
About SeeSaw Networks
SeeSaw Networks is the only out-of-home digital media company that makes it easy to plan, buy, and measure the world’s most extensive network of venues. SeeSaw operates SeeSawAds.com which enables advertisers and agencies to customize campaigns across venues, markets, and demographics with unprecedented precision. With SeeSaw, advertisers can reach people where they are. SeeSaw Networks is led by senior executives with proven successes in media, consumer and technology industries. SeeSaw Networks is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information on SeeSaw Networks, please visit www.seesawnetworks.com.
About Sutter Hill Ventures
Sutter Hill Ventures is a venture capital firm that finances technology-based start-up and early-stage companies pioneering products or services in growth markets, especially those in information technology and health care. Founded in 1964, it is one of Silicon Valley’s original venture capital firms. Companies backed by Sutter Hill include: Netapp, Legato, Quantum, Storage Tek, Tellabs, Alteon, Linear Technology, NVIDIA, BroadVision, Vitria, Molecular Devices, Cor Therapeutics, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Omnicell, and eLoyalty.
SeeSaw, SeeSaw Networks and SeeSawAds.com are trademarks of SeeSaw Networks Inc. All other company names, brand names and product names are trademarks of their respective holder(s).
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