TACODA Founder Builds Ad Targeting Consultancy

In the US, TACODA and Real Media founder Dave Morgan is launching Simulmedia, a firm promising to help television companies improve the effectiveness of their advertising spots, using sophisticated data analysis and predictive technology.

Simulmedia, which closed $4m in Series A funding from Avalon Ventures and Union Square Ventures on Tuesday (March 3rd), aims to 'put the right program promotion in front of the most likely potential viewers using only aggregated consumer and industry environmental data.'

Bill Burke, former President of The Weather Channel Companies, Resort Sports Network Inc., Time Warner Digital Media News and Information; and TBS Superstation, has joined the Simulmedia board of directors. At Time Warner, Burke oversaw Internet strategy for CNN.com and Time Inc. Interactive.

Simulmedia will be based in Manhattan and its formal launch is expected later in 2009. The firm is currently building a team of scientists, researchers, engineers and operations executives who are developing its first generation product.

Morgan holds degrees in law and political science and served as General Counsel and Director of New Media Ventures for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association from 1991 to 1995. Since then he has founded and developed a number of prominent digital advertising companies. Behavioral online marketing pioneer TACODA was acquired by AOL in September 2007 for $275m, while online ad network Real Media, Inc. was a predecessor of 24/7 Real Media, later sold to WPP for $649m. Most recently, Morgan was EVP of Global Advertising Strategy at AOL.

The new firm's backers believe a significant gap exists in the current provision of digital ad analysis. Avalon's Rich Levandov comments: 'The television industry wants and needs the right viewers at the right times. I am confident that Simulmedia can wrestle this big problem into efficient solutions for the television market.' Brad Burnham, of Union Square Ventures adds: 'We are excited to be in business with Dave again... He has the ability to identify opportunities in the market, and attract great people to pursue them. With Simulmedia, Dave is taking his 15 years of experience with efficient digital advertising and applying it to a market sector that has used relatively little technology in the past and one which is finding it increasingly difficult to aggregate audiences of scale in the crowed media landscape.'

The firm is online at www.simulmedia.com .