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Called Karbon, it’s a complete rebuild of the company’s existing service that is intended to let media companies more easily incorporate and serve ads across a wide range of different platforms — whether it’s smart TVs, Flash-based systems, HTML5 or something else entirely.

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Today we unveil our new platform, Karbon - designed to empower publishers to monetise video regardless of where it is consumed. Read our press release in full here:

London, UK, 6 March 2012: Videoplaza, the leading global sell side ad management platform for video, has unveiled Karbon, the first device aware ad platform – meaning publishers can now monetise their video content easily across any connected device. Designed to be device agnostic, Karbon was built from the ground up aiming to solve the challenges faced by publishers and broadcasters in monetising video effectively in a multi device world.

The world is changing – with an anticipated 10 billion connected devices (non-PC) by 2020[1], consumers are increasingly watching video on devices beyond the TV and PC. While this opens up a huge opportunity for publishers to monetise across devices and increase their reach, it also introduces several obstacles. The publisher’s challenges include how to effectively sell an audience across multiple devices, how to keep ad operations workflow simple as new devices are added, and the need to invest in future-proof technology that can address new devices as they emerge. Karbon maximises the huge opportunity created by increased connectivity, access to content in and out of the home and the proliferation of devices including smartphones, tablets and game consoles, by helping publishers to address these issues.

“The demand for video content beyond the PC is real but so is the struggle publishers are currently facing to ensure effective monetisation. Media owners need a clear strategy and technology to support them as they implement a device agnostic approach” said Sorosh Tavakoli, CEO of Videoplaza. “Karbon offers media owners a complete solution for managing video monetisation, along with the peace of mind that they can target any new devices coming to market. We anticipate 50% of our traffic will be generated by non-PC devices in 2013, driven by publisher and consumer demand.”

Karbon is an end-to-end ad management platform for IP-delivered video that creates a single workflow for delivery of ads to multiple devices. The platform includes the following functionality:

• The Device Library – a catalogue of 7000+ device profiles and counting, ensuring compliance with all current and future devices. Each profile is defined by its hardware and software including the AV Codec, bit rate and resolution.
• The Asset Factory – automatically transcodes each asset for each device and ensures the right asset ends up on the right device every time.
• Native Device Dimension – a device layer added natively to all existing modules of the platform across campaign management including forecasting, targeting and reporting
• Cross Device Campaign Targeting – Enabling the publisher to sell one audience across devices, including unique user capability, or to target audience per device – providing complete flexibility to adapt to the approach of the publisher or broadcaster.

Even though the first clients using the platform have seen operational efficiencies of around 30%, even more important is the freedom to constantly grow out their video services and advertising offerings to new devices with little effort.

“However compelling for our advertiser clients, selling one audience across devices has proved complicated for us. Now Videoplaza are launching a solution that removes that complexity and supports our strategy of being available on any device. We are extremely excited about Karbon and our first impressions have been beyond anything else we’ve seen in the market,” said Arnaud Moutet, Head of Ad Ops, M6.

Last month, Videoplaza secured $12 Million USD venture funding to further accelerate the company’s aggressive global expansion and product development plans. Karbon leverages this investment and solidifies Videoplaza’s position as the leading sell side ad management platform. Available now, Karbon serves advertising on all leading devices and services including Flash, Silverlight, HTML5, iOS devices, Android, Sony Playstation, Samsung Smart TVs, and closed IPTV environments.

Watch the full interview here:

Leading the second round of investment were Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) Ventures and Innovacom, along with participation from prior investors Creandum and Northzone; and takes the total amount of funding in the company to almost $18 million.

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The funding will be used to further develop our product and service, so we can continue to help our clients solve the challenges of monetising video in a device agnostic world; and to fund further global expansion.

You can read the press release in full below.

Videoplaza secures $12M in funding to accelerate global expansion
New investment comes from Venture Capital firms Qualcomm Ventures and Innovacom

London, UK, 1st February 2012: Videoplaza, the leading global sell side ad management platform for video, announced today that it has received Series B US$12million in funding from Innovacom and Qualcomm Ventures. The funding is to further accelerate Videoplaza’s aggressive global expansion and to ensure their continued product leadership as video advertising inventory rapidly expands to new devices and platforms. Following a strong 2011, Videoplaza has grown its international client base and delivered 5x greater ad serving volumes in the last year. The company has opened new offices in Madrid, Berlin and Singapore, and serves a client base across 17 markets worldwide.

Traditionally the TV advertising market has represented a large opportunity – with a value today of around $160BN USD. As consumption evolves from broadcast to IP delivered content, publishers and broadcasters must gear up commercially and technologically to take advantage of this spend as it shifts on to new channels.

“We believe in picking sides and are 100% committed to the sell side, empowering broadcasters and publishers to effectively monetise their video inventory across any device or service. This investment allows us to further strengthen our commitment as we increase our R&D efforts and footprint to make sure our clients can build a sustainable business in a fast changing and ever more fragmented world,” commented Sorosh Tavakoli, CEO of Videoplaza.

The growth of multiple devices

The New IP-delivered TV represents a range of fantastic new opportunities for media owners to increase distribution, reach and revenues. However it also presents a real set of challenges, including device fragmentation, and developing monetisation policies across multiple platforms. Media owners need a clear strategy and a technical infrastructure to support them as they implement a device agnostic approach.

“With the number of connected devices booming, the New IP-delivered TV is clearly one of the most disruptive markets right now”, Bruno Dizengremel, Partner, Innovacom. “Not only have Videoplaza managed to sign up a large and high profile client base, their technology is at the heart of the monetisation strategy for these broadcasters and premium publishers. Our investment in Videoplaza reflects the importance we place upon developing revenue-generating opportunities across the New TV. Technology platforms will be increasingly important achieving this”.

Videoplaza has rapidly evolved from what was initially an online video business. The growth of connected devices means video is now delivered everywhere. By 2020 there will be around 10B connected mobile devices and media owners need to monetise their content efficiently, regardless of where it is consumed. Videoplaza’s technology platform today delivers advertising on all leading devices and services including Flash, Silverlight, HTML5, iOS devices, Android, Sony Playstation, Samsung Smart TVs, and closed IPTV environments etc. By 2013, Videoplaza expects more than half of its traffic to come from non-PC devices. Q4 of 2011 alone, 8% of the company’s traffic was generated from non-PC devices.

Videoplaza has received previous investment from venture capital firms Creandum and Northzone that also participated in the current investment round.

Find more info on our product page or play with the formats on our new demo site.

Here’s our press release in full.

The Videoplaza Ad Format Family brings new flexibility to the online video market

Addresses growing need for differentiation amongst publishers

London, UK, 13 December 2011: Videoplaza, the leading sell side ad management platform for video, has today announced the launch of two new interactive advertising formats, VP Takeover and VP Ad Selector as it extends its Ad Format offering. These new formats address the growing demand for premium ad formats that go beyond standard pre-roll and overlay offerings. The company has also established a strategic partnership with ad format specialist Innovid, to bring a new layer of interactive ad formats to Videoplaza’s Partner Format offering. The Videoplaza Format Family™, including VP Standard Formats, VP Premium Formats, VP Custom Formats and Format Partners, is designed to cover all aspects of publishers’ ad format needs and help maximise revenue opportunities.

Today, the majority of advertising spend lies with trusted formats such as pre-rolls, overlays or companion ads. However interactive formats are becoming increasingly compelling to publishers as they need to differentiate in an ever more developed and competitive market.

The Videoplaza Format Family™ contains:

• VP Standard Formats include pre-rolls, mid-rolls, post-rolls, overlays and companion banners.
• VP Premium Formats create an interactive and engaging experience for the viewer. The VP Takeover is similar to a traditional TV spot in that it takes over the full screen when the ad is showing, while VP Ad Selector allows a viewer the option to select which advert they want to watch, with a range of 2-6 different adverts to choose from. Both formats can generate a higher yield and provide a premium position for the advertiser.
• VP Custom Formats is a service enabling publishers to offer and serve unique ad formats without impacting their high priority internal development projects.
• Format Partners provide Videoplaza clients with the flexibility to work with best of breed ad format specialists such as Innovid.

“The standard formats are understandably dominating the market, however increasingly publishers want to differentiate.” said Sorosh Tavakoli, CEO of Videoplaza.  “As a platform provider we want to empower our clients with a comprehensive solution that lets them tailor the best offering for their advertisers, be it standard or premium formats. Looking across our client base and the market we believe the opportunity for premium formats will more than double next year. The entrance of Innovid in the European market will continue to fuel the growth.”

The Videoplaza Format Family™ complies with key video advertising industry standards including Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) and Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID), to ensure seamless integration between different ad serving technologies and video players. Support for these standards keeps clients’ options open, enabling them to work with third parties and avoid lock in to proprietary technology.

“Working with the world’s top brands, we’re noticing a definite shift in the way that online video is perceived. It’s no longer seen so much as a way to achieve reach and build awareness, but to create a much more compelling and engaging brand experience for the target audience. Our strategic partnership with Videoplaza will help us to reach even more publishers and allow our users to be even more effective in adding interactivity into the video advertising mix. We are very excited about growing the immersive video opportunity together,” said Zvika Netter, CEO, Innovid.

Today interactive formats offer significantly higher engagement levels than traditional pre-roll click-through rates, signifying a shift in the way customers engage with video advertising in the new IP delivered TV world.  Innovid’s interactive inRoll for example delivers an engagement rate of 2.25%, compared to a click through rate of 0.61% for a normal pre-roll, delivering an uplift of 368% in engagement[1].

AdVideum, the leading French video ad network, works with Videoplaza to fulfil their format needs.

“Being the exclusive partner of  over 200 premium media publishers with  80 million video streams per month, AdVideum is constantly innovating to offer interactive and original video formats to enhance publishers’ inventory and better address advertisers’ needs” said Julien Leroy, founder and president of AdVideum. “Videoplaza’s Format Family enables us to harness the power of standard video formats, whilst also enabling us to differentiate with premium formats like the VP Takeover”

KTH offers one of the leading CS programs in Europe, with former and current students often winning the top spots in international programming contests. No less than 7 developers at Videoplaza are former KTH CS students and we look forward to welcoming more fresh KTH talent to our development teams in the future.

Later in the evening we will host an event of our own in our Stockholm office, focused on databases. Serving ads to many of the leading publishers and broadcasters all over Europe generates a huge amount of data and our platform excels in providing real-time reporting and forecasting based on billions of log rows. One of the four data storage strategies we apply at Videoplaza to deal with this challenge is based on the NoSQL high-performance document oriented database MongoDB.

So tonight we’re hosting a MongoDB user group meet-up to share our knowledge and learn from other users of this technology (which in our view wipes the floor with any traditional relational database setup!).