Exclusive: DoubleVerify to acquire Rockerbox in $85M deal
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV) has agreed to acquire Rockerbox to help expand its ad tech business beyond understanding media quality to drive performance, executives tell Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: The acquisition aligns with marketers' increased focus on outcomes for their ad spend.
By the numbers: The pending acquisition is an all-cash deal valued at $85 million with equity on top for Rockerbox employees.
- The startup was "relatively bootstrapped," Rockerbox CEO Ron Jacobson says. It raised some money from angel investors and was part of the New York-based Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator.
- Rockerbox has about 50 employees who will join DoubleVerify's 1,000-person team.
- DoubleVerify said it expects the deal to close early in the second quarter.
Context: Founded in 2008, DoubleVerify offers software tools that help advertisers avoid objectionable content, detect fraud and measure their ads across the open web, social media platforms and connected TV. It went public in 2021.
- Rockerbox was founded in 2013 by two alums of AppNexus, the digital ad exchange acquired by AT&T.
- The startup initially managed media and ran a demand-side platform. In 2018, it expanded to media measurement and later sunsetted the legacy business to focus on that.
Zoom in: DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski says the Rockerbox deal is part of an "ongoing evolution" at the company to help advertisers measure and optimize ads.
- With Rockerbox, the platform can incorporate campaign performance and attribution data and process the combined data through Scibids, an ad optimization firm it acquired in 2023.
- The acquisition came after the companies began working together last year on some campaigns with Scibids and some of Rockerbox's clients.
- "We're going to be investing in Rockerbox. We're expanding their team," Zagorski says. "We want this DNA to come into our bodies and change us."
Zoom out: Ad tech M&A has been on an uptick. LUMA Partners said 2024 deal volume in ad tech was up 73% compared to the prior year. Notable Q4 deals included Experian-Audient, Mediaocean-Innovid and Zeta-LiveIntent.
- Zagorski says he expects more ad tech deals that involve companies akin to Rockerbox, which were "lightly funded" and did not "overspend to overgrow."
The intrigue: DoubleVerify is among the companies facing backlash on the effectiveness of its brand safety tools and a probe from U.S. senators after a recent Adalytics report found major brands' ads appearing on sites hosting child sexual abuse material.
- DoubleVerify said its measured ads on the sites represented 0.000047% of its total and that it has blocked the sites. It also released new detailed reporting and content categories.
What we're watching: DoubleVerify reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.
