TV advertising tech company iSpot.tv acquired New York-based 605, marking its fourth acquisition in less than three years.
Founded in 2016 by longtime media exec Kristin Dolan, 605 sells a TV advertisement measurement and attribution dataset that helps companies analyze TV ad campaigns. The company has more than 100 customers, including Walmart, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Comcast, NBCUniversal, and others.
605 was privately funded by Dolan Family Ventures and has not disclosed its investment to date. The New York-based company, founded by Kristin and James L. Dolan, will remain as a minority investor in the going-forward business.
Terms of the deal, announced Wednesday, were not disclosed.
All 85 employees from 605 will join iSpot, bringing its total headcount to 464 employees. The company said it plans to integrate 605’s products under a single offering.
Seattle-based iSpot measures the reach and impact of television advertising, helping more than 600 brands measure TV advertising across various viewing formats in real time.
The acquisition of 605 expands on iSpot’s broader push to compete with industry stalwart Nielsen, which has struggled to make the shift to modern technology and streaming platforms.
Last year, iSpot bought Tunity, which tracks consumer viewing habits in public locations. In 2021, the company acquired DRMetrix and Ace Metrix, both TV ad measuring companies. Last year it also made a $16 million investment in industry peer TVision.
iSpot’s acquisition of 605, its largest to date, will expand its smart TV data by adding set-top box data from 16.6 million homes, increasing its total TV device footprint to 82.7 million. Founder and CEO Sean Muller wrote in a letter to customers Wednesday that its platform represents “more than half of TV dollars in circulation.”
605 is set to bring iSpot tools for assessing ad effectiveness in consumer packaged goods, auto sales, credit card usage, location data, search trends, and surveys. The company also offers a planning platform, audience segmentation, and predictive analytics driven by machine learning.
“Together, we believe we now have the most comprehensive suite of solutions for connecting on target TV audience exposures with key performance indicators including web visits, store visits, purchases and more,” Muller wrote in the letter.
Last year, iSpot landed a $325 million investment from Goldman Sachs. The company has raised a total of $383 million. Founded in 2012, iSpot has offices in New York City, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, in addition to its headquarters in the Crossroads area of Bellevue, Wash.
iSpot ranks No. 9 on the GeekWire 200, our list of the top privately held startups in the Pacific Northwest. The company was a finalist for Next Tech Titan at the 2023 GeekWire Awards.
