Adtech Company OpenX Tried To Raise $75 Million, But Sources Say It Came Up Short
A few months ago online ad company OpenX had been out trying to fundraise, according to two industry sources.
It hired Deutsche Bank to help it raise $75 million, but for reasons that aren't clear, it didn't raise any money.
An OpenX spokesperson tells us, "We don't need to raise equity capital at this stage, and we're not actively seeking funding."
That doesn't mean OpenX didn't try to raise money, however. Earlier in the year, the adtech market was hot. The Rubicon Project IPO'd and the stock exploded on the first day.
OpenX has long been rumored to also be planning an IPO. It was ranked No.11 on Business Insider's list of hottest adtech companies this year.
With all that, it makes sense for OpenX to at least explore the markets.
One source familiar with OpenX's attempts to raise said, "Who needs a sixth exchange? It's hard for them." The source added, "They're good people. They have a smart strategy, but it's too little, too late."
Another source points out that ad companies Turn and MediaMath just raised big rounds of funding. Turn raised $80 million in January. MediaMath raised $73.5 million earlier this month. So the market is there, just not for OpenX, says our source.
OpenX is primarily an ad server. It also has an ad exchange and a server side platform. Those last two businesses are newer.
Strangely, at the same time that we were tipped about OpenX raising money, someone sent us a document that's floating around about the company. The document has all sorts of juicy financial details. Initially we were told this is some sort of document related to the fundraise.
We've heard from a source that the document came from a former employee who was looking to sell shares for personal financial reasons.
We've included the document here, but it's important to note that OpenX says the projected revenue is "wrong, just wrong." It also says the valuation for the company and the shares outstanding is wrong.
The document does go some way to backing up what OpenX is saying publicly - its income statement indicates that its revenue is growing quickly ($38 million in 2012) while its losses are becoming smaller. So small, in fact, that the company could have become profitable anytime it wanted to in the last two years, it would appear.
We're only including the document here since it's out there, and we think it's worth noting, especially since OpenX says it's wrong.
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