DanAds: A Decade of Breakthroughs in Self-Serve Ad Automation - SEK 24M Net Revenue in 2020, SEK 131M in 2022

Stockholm, July 28, 2023 - DanAds has been the industry leader in self-serve ad automation technology for the last decade. Over the years, the company has continually pushed the envelope and challenged the status quo of the traditional programmatic advertising space, ultimately creating a new solution for an ever-changing marketplace. Through cutting-edge technology, a customer-centric approach, and a shared vision, DanAds has remained at the forefront of global innovation.

Throughout the years, the advertising industry has evolved to keep up with cultural and technological changes. But brands and publishers continue to ask the same question: "What's the quickest, most cost-effective way to reach the largest target audience with our message?" 

The use of online advertising has allowed brands and publishers to reach a wider audience. However, it has also presented challenges such as longer advertising timelines due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders, resulting in higher costs and reduced transparency throughout the advertising process. Additionally, big tech giants have gained a monopoly in the advertising industry. But Istvan Beres and Peo Persson believed there had to be a better solution.

In 2013, DanAds was founded with the belief that publishers and brands needed to reconsider how they sell their inventory to advertisers. This remains the company's primary focus today. DanAds is a top provider of self-serve technology for the media industry. They offer a fully automated, white-labelled self-serve infrastructure to media owners worldwide, allowing their teams to focus on revenue-generating tasks instead of manual administration.

In the early days of DanAds, Istvan Beres and Peo Persson were continually asking prospective clients to think differently about processes they had been using for years, and the Co-Founders were often met with uncertainty. They spent time convincing brands of the importance of being future-forward in their approach, while many companies were only interested in playing it safe. Istvan Beres and Peo Persson were building something new and searching for clients who were bold enough to be the first to adapt to self-serve. 

The two Co-Founders and friends spent the next three years diligently working together on their shared mission and first received financing in 2016 from Wellstreet and Almi. Although the company did not yet have a Core product, Istvan Beres and Peo Persson were still able to emphasize the importance of self-serve technology and the impact it would soon have on the industry and signed clients such as Bloomberg, Philips, and Truecaller. Development then began. Everything changed after other publishers saw that true industry leaders were serious about the new self-serve product.

In 2018, DanAds acquired Backbone, a company that provided media companies with solutions. They then expanded their client base by adding TripAdvisor. Shortly after, in 2019, DanAds established subsidiaries in the UK and the US. Then came Covid-19.

Throughout 2020, while the world suffered from the Coronavirus pandemic, clients’ top priority was not scaling ad revenue. People were quarantined, borders were closed, and travel was not possible. However, in the midst of navigating unprecedented times, DanAds persisted in growing throughout the year and generated a net revenue of 24M SEK. 

DanAds continued to accomplish several significant achievements in 2021. They completed a new equity financing round of 121 million SEK and secured an additional 100 million SEK in debt financing from the EIB and Nordea. The company also appointed a new board of directors with Chairman Anders Borg, launched its core self-serve platform, and experienced continued growth to 45 million SEK, all while acquiring new clients. But the DanAds team had no idea about the challenges that 2022 would bring.

In 2022, DanAds faced numerous challenges due to inflation, a halting global economy, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. With most of its developers based in Ukraine, the company prioritized the well-being and safety of its team members by relocating them to western parts of Ukraine and throughout Europe. They also expanded their operations by opening a hub in Poland and acquiring a consulting company in Uzbekistan, which increased their workforce from 5 to 25 people within a year. Despite these unforeseen challenges and expenses, DanAds experienced remarkable growth of over 190%, generating 131M SEK in net revenue and securing clients such as Disney, Paramount, Spotify, Rogers, McClatchy, and Roku. Current clients keep growing and DanAds had a net retention rate of 136% clients going into 2022. We also developed and hosted the world’s first Self-Serve and advertising automation Summit.

This year, DanAds is celebrating 10 strong and successful years in business. They have been primarily focused on expanding their US team to 10 people, their pipeline is stronger than ever, with 13 contracts signed in Q1. This is a significant increase compared to the previous year's total of 16 contracts. DanAds now has two divisions of the business, automation services and self-serve, and they have also expanded into new marketplaces. But DanAds is not simply a self-proclaimed ad-tech industry leader because they have the accolades and client reviews to prove it.

DanAds received several prestigious awards and recognitions in 2023 alone, including the "Product of the Year" award at the NAB show, a spot on the AdExchanger Power Player List, and recognition as a high performer during the spring and summer by G2. 

But, why do publishers believe in self-serve so much? Because it brings power and control back into their hands. DanAds’ self-serve technology and ad automation are so impactful because of their adaptability. These cutting-edge technologies are used by international portfolios of clients across numerous industries and verticals. Direct lines of business through self-serve and ad-automation technologies empower publishers with more control over their advertising lifecycle, bringing more transparency and trust into their processes. 

As DanAds celebrates its 10-year anniversary, it’s clear that self-serve is here to stay. Since the early days of DanAds, Beres and Persson have shared the belief that publishers and brands needed to reconsider how they position themselves with advertisers, and now with a full account management team in place and a strong US presence, a larger-than-ever pipeline and a high-quality client base, the future of DanAds is looking bright, more specifically, bright green.