RadiumOne raises $21M for social advertising

Crosslink Capital leads the Series B round

Happy Thursday, everyone! I have more social marketing/advertising news for you!

RadiumOne, the latest project of serial entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal, on Thursday announced the close of a $21 million Series B round of funding led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from DFJ Esprit and existing investors Adams Street Partners and Trinity Ventures. This round brings RadiumOne's total funding to date to $33.5 million.

These days, everyone is trying to find a way to monetize the social graph, so how is RadiumOne different? In short, the ad network's patented "ShareGraph" technology, which analyzes how Internet users interact with their Facebook friends to deliver the most relevant ads. Specifically, the service looks at how clusters of close friends interact on Facebook, namely those who are interacting regularly as opposed to those who are distant friends on Facebook or merely acquaintances.  As users interact with their intimate circle of Facebook friends, the service uses this information to deliver ads to users for brands and products that their friends like. 

Some of the brands currently using RadiumOne's service include CocaCola, Paramount, American Express, Bing, Comcast, Nike, Microsoft, and AT&T, among others. The ad network currently works with more than 200 Fortune 500 companies.

“When we look at potential portfolio companies, we try to identify who has the technology and vision to really disrupt an industry and make a global impact,” said Crosslink Capital partner Jim McLean in a prepared statement. “We have seen it firsthand with companies like Pandora, and we know that RadiumOne will be extending that same disruption into the display advertising ecosystem.” McLean is also joining RadiumOne's board of directors.

The company just opened its UK office and plans to move into Europe and Asia as well. The new funds will be used for international expansion and acquisitions.

Image source: Radiumone.com