Madhouse receives $80m funding injection from BlueFocus as it eyes international expansion
Ten year-old mobile ad firm Madhouse has announced receiving US$80 million in funding from Chinese marketing services group BlueFocus Communications, the majority owner of We Are Social.
Madhouse, which has 240 staff in six offices in China and India, will remain independent and will continue to focus on mobile advertising and data-driven programmatic buying, but will now have more opportunity to expand overseas, the company said in a statement this afternoon.
Joshua Maa will continue to run Madhouse as chairman of the board and CEO.
Fei Pan, CEO of BlueFocus Mobile Internet, said in a statement that Madhouse has a “very clear positioning and vision.”
“With its seasoned experience and premium media leverage recognized by the market in the last decade, Madhouse is a perfect match for BlueFocus. We would like to share third party resources and mobile ad technologies with Madhouse upon this partnership,” he said.
The deal sees BlueFocus replace former investors Gobi Fund, JAFCO Asia Technology Fund, TDF Capital China, TDF Capital Advisors, Nokia Growth Partners and Qualcomm Incorporated.
This year, Madhouse has launched a programmatic buying platform, mobile app marketing platform PerforMad, in-app ad network SmartMad and audience expansion platform OptiMad.
The company, which Maa founded in Shanghai in 2006, moved into India in 2012.
BlueFocus bought a chunk of social marketing agency We Are Social in December 2013.
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