LiveRamp pays $150m for TV data firm with 25 staff

LiveRamp, the company which rebranded from Acxiom Holdings after flogging off its marketing business to IPG, is boosting its adtech offering by acquiring TV analytics firm Data Plus Math in deal worth $150m (£117m).
The analytics firm, which has raised $7.5m (£5.9m) over two funding rounds since 2016, has just 25 staff but will give LiveRamp a strong foothold in the “advanced” data-driven TV advertising market, which it has pinpointed as a major growth area.
Data Plus Math is a third-party attribution company focusing on premium video. It collects exposures from smart TVs, set top boxes and streaming video, anonymises the data and matches it to different types of outcomes, like website visits, foot traffic or shopping cart data.
Nielsen and Comscore provide the most prominent TV currencies, but LiveRamp TV general manager Allison Metcalfe claims a new breed of start-ups – like Data Plus Math – offer alternative ways to plan and measure campaigns.
As part of the deal, Boston-based Data Plus Math will combine into LiveRamp’s TV unit, which Metcalfe oversees.
LiveRamp chief executive Scott owe said: “While TV continues to be the most engaging screen in the household, the landscape is shifting. Data and technology have transformed the relationship a brand can have with its consumer on TV, creating tremendous opportunities to improve how TV inventory is bought, sold and measured.
“We are excited for Data Plus Math to join the LiveRamp family and look forward to working closely with its deeply experienced team of industry experts. Together, we will accelerate LiveRamp’s TV efforts and offerings and unlock the power of data-driven TV for the entire ecosystem.”