YuMe is a technology company.
YuMe has raised $73.0M across 7 funding rounds.
Key people at YuMe.
YuMe has raised $73.0M in total across 7 funding rounds.
Key people at YuMe.
YuMe has raised $73.0M in total across 7 funding rounds.
YuMe's investors include Accel, Broadway Angels, GFT Ventures, GreaterGoodSociety, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Gen Isayama, OnePrime Capital, Battery Ventures, Headline (formerly e.ventures), NEO.
YuMe refers to two different technology companies depending on region and spelling — the U.S.-founded digital video advertising company YuMe (commonly styled “YuMe”) and a Japan-listed engineering/staffing firm Yume Technology Co., Ltd. (often written “Yume” or “Yume Technology”). Below I profile the U.S. digital-video advertising company YuMe (the likely subject when someone says “YuMe — YuMe is a technology company” in an ad/tech context); if you want the Japanese staffing firm instead, tell me and I’ll prepare that profile.
High-Level Overview
YuMe is a digital video advertising technology company that built data-driven platforms to plan, target and measure video ads across connected screens (desktop, mobile, tablet and connected TV). YuMe offered both demand-side tools for advertisers (audience targeting and cross-screen reach) and supply-side/ad-management products for publishers to monetize video inventory[1]. YuMe positioned itself as a television and digital-video measurement and delivery platform that combined audience data, programmatic buying and publisher ad management to help brands reach viewers across digital and connected-TV environments[1]. The company saw rapid growth in the 2010s through acquisitions (e.g., mobile video and audience-targeting firms) and an IPO in 2013, before being acquired by RhythmOne in 2018[1].
Origin Story
YuMe was founded in 2004 by Jayant Kadambi and Ayyappan (Ayyappan) Sankaran as a technology platform focused on measuring and improving video advertising effectiveness on digital channels[1]. The founders brought advertising-technology and engineering backgrounds and grew the company by expanding capability into mobile video (acquiring Appealing Media in 2011) and audience targeting (acquiring Crowd Science in 2013), then pursuing an IPO in August 2013 to scale further[1]. Key corporate milestones include the 2013 IPO, product launches (people-based marketing suite in 2017), and the company’s acquisition by RhythmOne in February 2018 for around $185 million, after which YuMe’s operations were reorganized and some offices were closed[1].
Core Differentiators
Role in the Broader Tech Landscape
YuMe rode the shift from linear TV to digital and connected-TV advertising by focusing on cross-screen video reach, programmatic buying and audience measurement—trends that accelerated as viewers moved to mobile and connected-TV platforms and advertisers demanded measurable, addressable video inventory[1]. The timing mattered because advertisers sought TV-like scale with digital targeting and measurement; YuMe’s product roadmap and acquisitions reflected market demand for people-based marketing and publisher monetization tools[1]. By offering both buy-side and sell-side solutions, YuMe influenced the ad-tech ecosystem by helping standardize cross-screen video measurement and by supplying tools that bridged brand video budgets and programmatic/digital video inventory[1].
Quick Take & Future Outlook
YuMe’s arc illustrates the lifecycle of a mid-stage ad‑tech vendor that scaled through product expansion and acquisitions, then became part of a larger consolidation wave in ad tech (acquisition by RhythmOne in 2018)[1]. Going forward (if still active under an acquirer’s brand), the most important forces shaping its legacy and any continued product lines are consolidation in ad tech, the rise of connected-TV and privacy-driven targeting changes (cookieless and ID changes), and continued advertiser demand for unified measurement across screens[1]. For investors or partners, the key question is whether YuMe’s underlying tech and data assets were successfully integrated into RhythmOne (and subsequent owners) to preserve their cross‑screen targeting and publisher monetization value—if so, those capabilities remain strategically relevant as the market doubles down on CTV and people-based measurement[1].
If you want a similar profile for the Japan-listed Yume Technology Co., Ltd. (staffing/engineering outsourcing firm), I can prepare that next with its founding year (1989), business lines (engineering dispatch, IT solutions), and market position using the corporate filings and market data I found[2][3][4].
YuMe has raised $73.0M across 7 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $10.0M Venture Round in May 2012.