TV and video advertising management platform, Honeycomb, has secured a £3m Series A funding round led by venture and growth investor, Beringea. Honeycomb, which was founded and launched by the team behind global advertising delivering platform, Adstream, has secured additional backing from heavy hitters in the advertising and production environment, including David Bell, Richard Jameson and John Spearman. Following a friends and family round in May 2016, the company has now raised over £4m in capital.
Set up by James Carpenter and Richard Carter, Honeycomb aims to increase transparency and remove inefficiencies in the current advertising delivery process. By automating elements of input and data sharing throughout the delivery chain, Honeycomb at least halves the time it takes for media agencies, post-production houses etc. to place orders and to submit an advert to broadcasters and online publishers. Meanwhile, its simple pricing structure promotes better quality ads by offering a flat fee for unlimited channels and Video on Demand (VOD) across both Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) content, unlike its competitors. The data driven platform is also laying the groundwork to enable programmatic TV within a one to two year timeline.
Honeycomb’s unique model gained early traction. After becoming operational in summer 2015, the company partnered with one of the UK’s leading broadcasters to operate the syndication of advertising content. Having officially launched in August this year, Honeycomb is now available in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Holland. It will use this new investment to continue to grow with sustained momentum, funding its roll-out into 11 additional markets including the US.
“The investment from Beringea serves to endorse our approach, our strategy and our overall goals,” said James Carpenter, Founder of Honeycomb. “Our streamlined model has already made an impact in Europe with new customers signing up everyday since we launched less than two months ago. This show of confidence provides the solid foundation we need as we set our sights on the rest of the world.
“We’re not just focused on international expansion though. Our platform lays the groundwork for addressable and eventually programmatic TV – a more targeted and automated method of buying TV adverts which allows a purchase based on audience data rather than ratings of specific channels or shows. This is a widely talked about but unrealised concept. But with the support of our partner clients, our individual investors, and now Beringea, we have the capability to bring this technology to market in the near future.”
With offices in both the UK and US, Beringea is uniquely placed to offer support to businesses looking to expand into America. Out of £450 million Beringea has under management, £170million is managed from London, making it one of the UK’s biggest evergreen venture and growth capital funds. The team has extensive expertise in digital media, TV and advertising, among other areas, and has recently made further investments in portfolio companies Blis and TV Player.
Maria Wagner, Investment Director at Beringea UK, said: “The knowledge, experience and connections of the Honeycomb team make this a really exciting investment opportunity. It’s rare that you would get the opportunity to back a CEO who has already successfully grown a similar business, but to combine that with leading experts across the worlds of creative, marketing and tech investment provides a huge amount of confidence in the ability of the team to create a globally successful business. We’re proud to be involved with this impressive team and look forward to supporting them on their exciting journey and international expansion.”
Honeycomb is now available to advertisers in the UK, Germany and Austria. Register at www.honeycomb.tv
