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Untitled 1
Travel Ad Network Closes Series A
Institutional Round of Financing
Proceeds to Fuel Continued Growth of Vertical Ad Network;
Rho
Ventures Leads Round
NEW YORK
(April 21, 2008) Travel Ad Network (TAN), the leading and largest vertical ad
network in travel, announced today that it has closed a Series A round of
financing. The $15 million round was led by Rho Ventures, Village Ventures and
individual investors.
The minority investment enables TAN
to leverage its success as a vertical ad network targeting travel advertising
dollars and marketers seeking upscale consumers.
Delivering 12.5 million monthly unique visitors,
TAN has become a trusted partner for advertisers wishing to target travel
decision makers and is ranked third by comScore in the overall travel category
(which includes transaction sites) and first in travel content.
“We’ve emerged as the market leader
by combining the strength of our publishers, the dedication of our employees and
the backing of Internet travel entrepreneur, Michael Thomas. Our new growth
capital strengthens our solid position in the marketplace and provides funding
for expansion into new products and new markets,” says Cree Lawson, TAN Founder
and CEO.
“Rho Ventures, Village Ventures and our other investors
bring to our Boardroom world class expertise in such disciplines as branded
media, network development, behavioral targeting and online advertising as
witnessed by their successful investments in iVillage, TACODA, Waterfront Media,
ReachLocal and a host of other very successful companies.”
Habib Kairouz, Managing Partner at Rho Ventures will join
TAN’s Board of Directors. Also joining the TAN Board is Rho Ventures Partner
Doug McCormick, former CEO of Lifetime Networks and Chairman and CEO of iVillage
Inc., and Benjamin Wolin, the co-founder and CEO of Waterfront Media, the
largest privately held online health company. TAN’s other Board members include
TAN Founder and CEO Cree Lawson; Chairman Michael H. Thomas, online travel
entrepreneur and investor since 1996; and COO Brian Silver, an online
advertising veteran with experience at Didit Search Marketing, IAC Advertising
Solutions, AskJeeves, iWon and MaxOnline.
“Cree has done a fantastic job of providing marketers with
one of the most effective advertising properties available to the travel
industry. His knowledge of all aspects of the travel marketplace coupled with
his dedication to TAN’s impressive list of customers are key components of the
company’s success,” says Mr. Kairouz.
Mr. Lawson added, “This has been a
year of extraordinary growth and achievement for TAN. We surpassed Yahoo Travel
generating the largest travel information audience online. We launched our first
video advertising campaign and expanded our business to
Canada
and the
UK.
Our consistent policy of exclusive representation of the sites we represent is
a classic ‘win, win’ for our customers and our publishers. Our focus on quality
continues to serve us well, making us leaders in our field.”
“TAN has built a very solid base with high quality sites and
an exceptional staff focused on customer service which has attracted a top
flight group of advertisers,” says Bo Peabody, co-founder and Managing General
Partner of Village Ventures and who, in 1992, founded Tripod, Inc., one of the
original social networks. “We know that our investment in TAN will bring us a
significant return.”
Savvian Advisors, LLC, served as the exclusive financial
advisor to Travel Ad Network for this transaction.
Since 1981 Rho Ventures (http://www.rho.com)
has been investing in leading edge, high growth companies that redefine the
status quo. The firm has a deep history of supporting companies at multiple
stages of growth spanning early stage investments to later stage expansion and
growth equity transactions. Rho Ventures has financed approximately 200
companies and has invested in market leaders across many high growth sectors
including information technology, communications, new media, healthcare and
energy technology.
Rho
has over $2 billion under management.
Village Ventures (www.villageventures.com) is an early stage
venture firm with $150 million under management as well as services and
knowledge sharing platform serving a network of dozens of other venture funds
with over $1 billion under management.
Waterfront Media (www.waterfrontmedia.com) is the largest
privately held online health company and operates Everyday Health. Founded in
2002 by Ben Wolin and Mike Keriakos, Waterfront Media is funded by Rho Ventures,
Scale Venture Partners, Foundation Capital, Neocarta Ventures, BEV Capital, and
Village Ventures.
Travel Ad Network (TAN) (www.traveladnetwork.com)
is the leading advertising network in the online travel vertical reaching 12.5
million unique users through top tier website publishers, including BBC’s Lonely
Planet, Rand McNally and 50 other travel websites. TAN uses industry expertise,
geographic targeting and exclusive publisher relationships to give marketers
unrivaled access to an untapped audience of affluent, passionate and engaged
travelers visiting both travel planning and booking engine sites. Founded in
2003, the company is privately held and is headquartered in Manhattan,
New York
City with branch offices in the West,
Midwest &
Southeast, Canada
and the UK.
George H. Simpson Communications
203.521.0352
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