– Telefónica Wayra startup – Marfeel – expands into US with new funding
– Marfeel is a mobile website monetization technology for advertising industry
– Raised $3.5m in series B round funding led by VCs Nauta Capital, Elaia Partners and BDMI
Barcelona, October 13, 2015 –Telefónica Wayra startup, Marfeel, a technology platform that increases advertising revenues for mobile publishers by revolutionizing the way they create, optimize and monetize their mobile websites, announces today it has secured $3.5M in funding, led by venture capital firms Nauta Capital, Elaia Partners and BDMI.
This round means a new company “exit” for Wayra, the global startup accelerator within Telefónica Open Future_ program, representing their sixth “exit” worldwide. With a 1.6% admission rate, Wayra invests in the top early stage startup companies in Latin America and Europe and has already invested $30M in more than 500 startups.
The funds will be used to expand Marfeel’s presence in the U.S. market, with plans to open a New York office and to further enhance its monetization technology and user targeting precision.
“Marfeel’s strategic direction will focus on U.S. expansion and on leveraging the over 100 million users already accessing our solution, to enhance user targeting precision,” says Xavi Beumala, co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Marfeel. “Mobile advertising today is about knowing users intimately and targeting them, according to their individual needs. Marfeel’s data targets users insightfully so that publishers achieve higher monetization and engagement rates, while providing an optimized mobile user experience.”
Recently announcing a 300% growth, over the past year, Marfeel works with world-leading publishers and top bloggers, converting desktop websites into user-friendly, adaptive, monetization-optimized mobile sites that dynamically adjust content and engage users, based on interests and behavior patterns. Marfeel’s user data insights enable the solution to place best-performing, high-relevancy ads on publishers’ ad space, increasing ad clicks and maximizing revenues. Some Marfeel customers include: Mens Health (FR), National Geographic(FR), Elle (MX), Dennis Publishing (US/UK), ABC (US) and PopSugar (US).
“Wayra invests in visionary companies that have the highest market and revenue potential, in their respective fields,” says Andrés Saborido, General Manager of Wayra Spain. “We are pleased to have been such a large player in nurturing Marfeel’s growth to one of leadership in designing and monetizing mobile websites for publishers, an area that has become a primary focus in today’s digital world.”
“High-level European and U.S. publishers have experienced unprecedented success in growing mobile metrics and ad revenue, by converting to the Marfeel solution. Understanding the potential and demand that the solution offers in the U.S., Nauta has opted to support Marfeel in its efforts of expanding presence in that market” says Jordi Viñas, General Partner, Nauta Capital.
About Marfeel
Marfeel is an ad tech platform that revolutionizes the way publishers create, optimize and monetize mobile websites. Marfeel’s proprietary technology analyzes publishers’ unique audience – user habits, behavior and usage patterns- and dynamically adjusts the mobile site layout to maximize readership, engagement, page views, loading time and ultimately ad revenue. Marfeel’s exclusive partnerships with over 20,000 global ad networks and exchanges, ensures top-paying ads from premium advertisers. Marfeel’s mobile website conversion and monetization solution has been recognized by Google, forming a strategic partnership with the search engine. Selected Marfeel customers include: MensHealth (FR), National Geographic (FR), Dennis Publishing (US/UK), Elle (MX), ABC (US) and PopSugar (US). Marfeel is backed by strategic investors Nauta Capital, BDMI and Elaia Partners.
To learn more about Marfeel, please visit www.marfeel.com
About Telefónica Open Future_
Telefónica Open Future_ is Telefónica’s global commitment to develop the talent and entrepreneurship, and since 2014 it groups all of Telefónica’s open innovation initiatives, projects and activities (Think Big, Talentum, crowdworking spaces, Wayra, Telefónica Ventures, Amerigo and CIP fund). Telefónica Open Future_ empowers, and invests in, technology-based people, projects and companies, in any stage of the lifecycle, in open fashion and in connection with private and public organizations. With an investment portfolio of more than 600 startups and offices in 17 countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia, Telefónica Open Future_ helps turn innovative ideas into successful businesses.
Visit our new web: http://www.openfuture.org | @OpenFuture_
