Funds Give $1bn Plus Valuation for OpenWeb

Audience relationship platform OpenWeb has raised $150m in a Series E round of funding, giving a company valuation of more than $1 billion. The investment will be used to provide publishers and brands with tools to build first-party data relationships with their audiences.

OpenWeb, which has offices in New York, Tel Aviv and Kiev, partners with publishers and brands to build direct relationships with their audiences. Its social media engagement platform, based on AI and machine learning, is used to develop online communities around digital content.

New funding has been led by venture capital firm Insight Partners and Georgian Partners. In addition, tech investor Omer Cygler, Harel, and Entrée Capita participated; along with strategic investors, including The New York Times Company, dentsu and Samsung Next; and individual investor Professor Scott Galloway, who has joined the company's Board of Directors. The latest funds will also be used to expand OpenWeb's presence with new offices in Canada, the Asia-Pacific China (APAC) region, and the Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) region; and the team is also exploring strategic acquisitions.

Nadav Shoval (pictured), co-founder and CEO of OpenWeb, comments: 'This Series E marks a big step forward in our mission to improve online conversations. We raised this round of investment to double down on our mission, and to bring safer experiences to new verticals and new markets'.

Web site: www.openweb.com .