Start-up Zemanta taken over by content discovery giant Outbrain
Ljubljana/New York, 25 July - Adtech startup Zemanta, one of Slovenia's first and most successful start-ups, has been acquired by the world's largest content discovery platform Outbrain. The details of the transaction have not been disclosed, while Zemanta announced it would continue its path as an independent web service.
Ljubljana
Andraž Tori and Boštjan Špetič of the start-up company Zamanta.
Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA
File photo
Zemanta was founded ten years ago by hacktivists Boštjan Špetič and Andraž Tori and has developed into a leading provider of programmatic native advertising solutions.
"This is advertising that strives to be kinder to the user, appearing in spots where the user expects new content, meaning that it does not interrupt the reading like is often the case with ordinary digital advertising," Tori told the STA after Monday's signing of the contract with Outbrain.
While the move is expected to significantly boost Zemanta's operations, Špetič added that the "the takeover is also excellent news for the entire Slovenian start-up ecosystem".
"This is the first time we experienced the entire life cycle of a modern global start-up with a successful conclusion," noted Špetič.
The Slovenian company started cooperating with the New York-based Outbrain in mid-2016 and this formed the basis for the takeover talks.
Outbrain co-founder Ori Lahav told the STA that Outbrain had found a team in Zemanta that it gets along with well and that is hungry for success.
The entire Zemanta team will continue with its work and the development department will remain in Slovenia. Zemanta will become Outbrain's first development centre outside of Israel. It currently has a workforce of about 20 in Slovenia but will expand in the coming months and years.
Outbrain serves more than 250bn monthly content recommendations to around half a billion users around the world each month. Its users include CNN, ESPN, Time Inc., Le Monde, Fox News, The Guardian, SPH, The Telegraph, New York Post, Sky News, TF1, Conde Nast, Bild, Orange and L'Equipe.