PubMatic gets aggressive, targets $100mn recurring revenue for 2015

PubMatic the software platform for publishers and inventory automation, that has been on a aggressive expansion plan today said that it will touch annual recurring revenue of $100 million next year.

For the year 2014 the company's net revenue increased by more than 90 per cent year-over-year and that it ended the year with an annualized net revenue run-rate of more than $130 million (over Rs 800 crore).  

"Pubmatic  forecasts $100 million in annual recurring revenue next year from customers who have been with us for nine months or longer. Forty per cent of the 372 publisher groups on the platform use more than one of the company’s products (like its analytics product, aimed at bringing the company closer to a SaaS model). The average publisher has used the platform for 29 months," said Rajeev Goel, Co-Founder and CEO of PubMatic.

Goel said in terms of opportunity programmatic advertising is growing at 37 per cent and it will touch to $ 42 billion market from the current $14 billion.

PubMatic's mobile revenue grew 500 per cent from 2013 to 2014. However, the company did not disclose net income, but revealed it had turned a small profit for the past couple of years and doubled its profitability in 2014.

In 2014, PubMatic expanded operations into new markets, including Japan, Singapore, Italy and MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and increased investments in other previously established markets, specifically the United Kingdom, DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Australia, Brazil and India. PubMatic has more than doubled its team over the last two years to nearly 600 employees, and is projected to hire more than 300 new employees globally.  

Goel added, “Our customers recognize that we are the largest, independent software provider with a singular focus on the needs of publishers, as they build their sales strategy in today’s advertising marketplace. Unlike technology companies-turned-publishers or exchanges, we never compete with the publishers we serve. Rather, we are focused on playing a critical role in maintaining a free and fair Internet by ensuring that premium, high quality content is never commoditized.”

On the company's IPO plans , Goel  said, “We don't have any specific plans to share at this time regarding an IPO.  We are focused on executing our business.  Given that we are profitable, we also do not need to take on additional investment at this time.”

So far PubMatic has raised $63 million through four rounds of funding, the latest being in February 2014. Its major investors include Nokia Growth Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Helion Venture Partners. It directly competes with global players like Rubicon Project, Appnexus and Double Click.