Venatus Advertising Sales Partnership

Bidstack Group PLC

30 August 2023

 

Certain information contained within this Announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR") as applied in the United Kingdom. Upon publication of this Announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

30th August 2023

Bidstack Group Plc

("Bidstack" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Venatus Advertising Sales Partnership

Bidstack Group Plc (AIM: BIDS), the in-game advertising and video game monetisation platform, and Venatus the leading publisher monetisation and advertising platform for gaming & entertainment, today announce a commercial partnership that will give Venatus Media Limited ("Venatus") exclusive access to Bidstack's extensive video game advertising inventory across six key global markets.

Venatus is a leading international advertising agency providing advertising in digital gaming and entertainment. Founded in 2010, Venatus is based in London with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Seoul.  Livingbridge private equity invested in Venatus in 2021 to assist with its global expansion, which is most recently reflected in key Venatus hires in the US.

Having been at the forefront of the of the intrinsic in-game advertising format since 2017, Bidstack now has an inventory of more than 400 high-quality video games across mobile and PC, with a total monthly reach of 100 million people. The Company works with leading publishers such as Sports Interactive, Ubisoft and Miniclip, and has delivered award-winning in-game campaigns for brands such as OneFootball, Apple, Samsung, Marriott Bonvoy, Paco Rabanne, and Doritos.

Venatus and Bidstack have previously collaborated to provide advertising in esports properties and are both pleased to further leverage their existing relationship and synergies.  Under the new relationship, Venatus will become the sole provider of direct sales of Bidstack's in-game inventory across the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and South Korea, leveraging its extensive international advertising sales presence of more than 40 gaming specialists. Access to Bidstack's intrinsic in-game network adds another dimension to the existing Venatus offer, which focuses on providing advertisers with campaigns in-game, next to the game and around the game, with leading publishers such as EA, Futbin, Rovio and custom activations on platforms like Roblox.

James Draper, Founder and CEO at Bidstack, said:

"Bidstack and Venatus have a shared history as innovators in the video game advertising space. Now, we've identified an opportunity to create increased value for both businesses, our customers, and partners through a major tie-in that combines Venatus' video gaming specialist sales heft with Bidstack's programmatic technology and network of games, we're delighted to have Venatus alongside us."

Rob Gay, Co-Founder and CEO at Venatus, said:

"Venatus offers brands multiple touchpoints with consumers within, next to and around video games. With the rapid growth of intrinsic in-game advertising, we now partner with experts in the format and add another string to our bow on behalf of our customers. This partnership comes at an opportune moment after the expansion of our US leadership team in June and, with Bidstack's world class in-game network, we can build richer, more diverse campaigns on behalf of our clients in this incredibly exciting gaming media channel."

-ENDS-

Contacts

Bidstack Group Plc James Draper, CEO	via SPARK
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad) Mark Brady / Neil Baldwin / James Keeshan	[phone]
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Broker) Fred Walsh / Tom Marsh	[phone]

About Bidstack

Bidstack is an in-game advertising and video game monetisation platform. Its sophisticated technology allows brands to serve advertisements into natural spaces within video games whilst protecting the gaming experience. These branded experiences can vary from trackside banners and cityscape billboards to pitch-side LED boards, skins or any other contextually relevant spaces within the metaverse. Bidstack works with world-leading game publishers such as Miniclip, Ubisoft, and Sports Interactive and has delivered award-winning in-game campaigns for brands such as Marriott Bonvoy, Paco Rabanne, and Doritos, among many others.

About Venatus

Venatus is a global provider of digital advertising solutions to the gaming and entertainment sector, offering a comprehensive suite of products and services to advertisers and publishers. The company's mission is to become the number one advertising solution in gaming through innovative technology and next-level partnerships. The company has more than 120 staff working from seven regional hubs and is backed by the UK private equity house, Livingbridge.

 

END