Exclusive: Northbeam's new model shows value of video views
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Marketing tech startup Northbeam has launched a new attribution model that connects video views and in-app clicks across platforms and raised new growth funding, CEO Austin Harrison exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The new model seeks to help marketers better allocate ad dollars amid the fragmentation across social, video and commerce platforms.
How it works: The new model connects in-app clicks and ad views with first-party transaction data. Instead of relying on statistical modeling, Northbeam focuses its attribution on first-party data.
- "You view something on an Instagram Reel or a Snapchat post and you go to a website and then purchase. That doesn't have to happen that day," Harrison says. "We're like air traffic control, where we're essentially de-duping and trying to determine which views correlate to revenue."
- Northbeam developed the model in partnership with Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Axon, Vibe and MNTN.
- Northbeam works with more than 800 brands, including the Ridge, Hexclax and Timex. It has tracked about $20 billion of spend and has attributed more than $84 billion.
Catch up quick: Harrison founded Northbeam in 2019. He previously developed digital media campaigns for FX and NetRatings while at Carat. He led animation company MediaTrip, which sold to Revolution Studios, and he later worked as head of digital media for Dentsu America.
Follow the money: Northbeam secured a $15 million growth investment from HighPost Capital, the private equity firm co-founded by Jeff Bezos' younger brother Mark Bezos and David Moross, and Silversmith Capital Partners.
- The startup has raised $40 million in total. Other backers include Lorimer Ventures and Dynamism Capital.
The big picture: In a data-driven world, marketers have chased performance and struggled to accurately track awareness campaigns.
- Northbeam's model aims to show that a view on TikTok could be just as valuable if not more so than a click on a search ad and could help shift more budgets to brand campaigns.
- "If you got a brand campaign ... you're always scared. You're just doing that for the brand, quote, unquote, but now you see that you're actually making money off of it," Harrison says.
What's next: Harrison says the funding will go toward growing the nearly 100-person team with more staff in engineering and go-to market roles.
