Real Time Matrix CEO Jeff Whitehead describes his company's product as a "do-it-yourself ad network for social media."
The three-year-old startup sells a custom ad platform, called The Vortex, that Web publishers can use to put multimedia elements on their Web site, along with chat and email, and sell ads against the content.
Web sites can either license the technology or share the ad revenue from any incremental traffic that the Vortex provides.
Major League Soccer saw its site traffic go up 20% after
implementing the solution, according to Whitehead, which he said requires no development
on the part of the Web site.
"They just tell us how they want it to look, what they want on it; we can turn them on the same day," he says.
Real Time Matrix also has as a customer Social Media Today, which aggregates content from different bloggers. Because the technology allows brand advertisers to get in front of their desired audience, it yields high CPMs, Whitehead said, without giving specifics.
Real Time Matrix just launched an application on Facebook for Svetka Vodka. On any given day, there are between 20,000 and 40,000 active Vortexes, delivering a total of 2.5 million ads per day.
The company raised a $2 million round in March and has now raised $4 million so far.
When I asked if the company's valuation is now more than $50 million, Whitehead replied "much more than $50 million." I then asked, "more than $100 million?".
"That's what we're shooting for," he said.
