eXelate Wins Funds for Further Expansion

Audience targeting data exchange eXelate has closed a $15m second round of funding, led by Silicon Valley's Menlo Ventures and joined by its series A round leader, Israeli firm Carmel Ventures.

The eXelate eXchange, along with proprietary data management tools like teXi, allows data buyers to build an instant behavioral targeting function, while giving data vendors a new income stream. The new funds will allow eXelate to enhance its data marketplace footprint and expand the functionality of its data management toolset.

Menlo Ventures Partner Mark Siegel will join Shlomo Dovrat, General Partner and co-founder of Carmel Ventures on eXelate's Board of Directors, already enlarged recently with the arrival of New York Times Company's SVP of Digital Operations Martin Nisenholtz and IPG Mediabrands Ventures CEO Matt Freeman.

The eXchange was launched in May 2008, since when the firm has grown its revenues and data footprint, along with its suite of solutions, while maintaining a focus on privacy. Lately, efforts have focused on enhancing tools for publisher clients, including the launch of the teXi: Data Management and Private Marketplace toolsets which assist them in centralizing data management, privacy and latency monitoring and data monetization functions.

Meir Zohar, eXelate's CEO and founder, says the partnership with Menlo Ventures provides his firm with 'deep strategic and financial roots in both Silicon Valley and the 'far east coast'', and believes the new funding means that 'the sky is the limit as to the kinds of breakthroughs for advertisers and publishers that we can create.' Mark Siegel, MD of Menlo Ventures, says his firm is particularly impressed with eXelate's focus on developing products for publishers.

Menlo is one of Silicon Valley's oldest venture capital partnerships, and has organized and managed ten venture funds since 1976, while Carmel, an affiliate of the Viola Group, is among Israel's major venture capital funds.

Web site: www.exelate.com .