High-Level Overview
Vertical Mass is a West Hollywood-based technology startup that operates a premium data management platform (DMP) and marketplace specializing in music, entertainment, and sports data.[1][2] It provides user data storage, analysis software, and aggregation tools for companies in these sectors, enabling holistic audience insights by combining datasets like ticket buyers, social fans, and online listeners; data flows from about 100 million people monthly.[2] Serving brands, talent managers, entertainers, sports teams, and advertisers such as Foot Locker, YouTube, and Elizabeth Arden, it solves the problem of fragmented fan data by offering tracking tools (e.g., browser cookies, pixels, app kits) and ad-buying assistance, while generating seven-figure revenue for two years as of 2016 and securing $5 million in funding.[2]
The platform powers smarter marketing strategies, helping measure fan behaviors for targeted campaigns, with early traction evidenced by its revenue and investor backing from Greycroft Partners, Formation 8, Sierra Wasatch, Canyon Creek Capital, Magnetar Capital, and the San Francisco 49ers.[2][4]
Origin Story
Founded around 2013 as a nearly 3-year-old startup by 2016, Vertical Mass emerged to address data silos in entertainment, led by CEO Mark Shedletsky.[2] Shedletsky, who highlighted the company's revenue and growth in interviews, drove its focus on becoming a key information broker for music, sports, video games, and Hollywood.[2] Early pivotal moments included achieving seven-figure revenue for two consecutive years through software fees and its data marketplace, followed by a $5 million funding round announced in 2016, signaling strong investor confidence in its role within the entertainment data ecosystem.[2] This funding fueled expansion of data aggregation capabilities, positioning it as a hub for cross-platform audience insights.[2]
Core Differentiators
- Data Aggregation and Holistic Insights: Uniquely combines disparate datasets (e.g., ticket sales, Facebook fans, streaming data) for comprehensive fan profiles, including affinities like band preferences for shows such as Jimmy Kimmel.[2]
- Tools for Tracking and Analysis: Offers software like browser cookies, tracking pixels, and mobile app kits to gather and analyze data on 100 million people monthly, with privacy opt-outs via partners or its site.[2]
- Marketplace and Ad Services: Acts as a premium DMP and marketplace selling audience data to buyers like Foot Locker and YouTube, while assisting with ad purchases for precise targeting.[1][2]
- Marketing Intelligence for Entertainment: Enables brands, sports teams, and entertainers to build data-driven strategies, measuring fan behaviors beyond basic metrics.[4][5]
- Identity Tech Platform: Provides web-based fan understanding tailored for celebrities and brands, differentiating from generic analytics.[5]
(Note: One source mentions anime applications, but this appears inconsistent with primary descriptions focused on entertainment/sports data.[3])
Role in the Broader Tech Landscape
Vertical Mass rides the 2010s wave of big data and audience analytics in entertainment, where fragmented digital touchpoints (social, streaming, ticketing) demanded unified platforms amid rising programmatic advertising.[2] Timing was ideal post-2013, as mobile data explosion and privacy regulations began shaping data brokers, with its tools filling gaps for non-tech-savvy sectors like music and sports.[2] Market forces favoring it include entertainment's shift to fan-centric marketing and sports teams' (e.g., 49ers investment) embrace of data for sponsorships, influencing the ecosystem by standardizing fan identity resolution and enabling cross-industry data trades.[2][4] It contributes to a more targeted ad landscape, reducing waste while navigating privacy via customer policies.[2]
Quick Take & Future Outlook
Vertical Mass is poised to evolve as entertainment data demands grow with streaming wars, live events recovery, and AI-driven personalization, potentially expanding into emerging areas like gaming or metaverse fan tracking. Trends like stricter privacy laws (e.g., post-GDPR/CCPA) and zero-party data shifts will test its opt-out model, but its early revenue and funding suggest resilience if it innovates on compliant aggregation. Its influence may grow as a niche broker, empowering smaller entertainers against tech giants, building on its foundation as the go-to DMP for music, sports, and Hollywood audiences.[2]
