Former 5Fifteen technology director David Montgomery has led its acquisition by Ingenta, of which he is now chief executive.
Montgomery (right) worked for Inspired Thinking and Atex - where he was chief innovation officer - after ten years at 5Fifteen, and was promoted to chief executive of Oxford, UK, based Ingenta last September.
He says the company's adDepot product "has huge unrealised global market potential" and complements Ingenta's web-based solutions perfectly.
5Fifteen founder and managing director Rod Fenwick, who will stay with the company to assist with strategy and product integration, says he relishes the deal to make 5Fifteen part of a larger company with a global footprint: "Ingenta has an excellent reputation within the industry and will add security, stability and resource to fuel growth and innovation - qualities that all our existing customers and partners will benefit from."
Montgomery says the acquisition will broaden the overall appeal of Ingenta's products, helping it establish a stronger foothold in the media industry, where it has only recently started to market and sell solutions. "The 5Fifteen team has done a fantastic job with ad Depot and we look forward to blending their skills and expertise with our own."
He joined Ingenta as chief technology officer and still manages testing, rollout and on-going support of its core products. Ingenta plans to build diversify its client base, extending its offering into the media industry in addition to trade and academic publishing markets.
Established in the UK in 1999, 5Fifteen is known for its web-based adDepot advertising platform, which has processed more than £1 billion in advertising income at users including Hearst Corporation, Trusted Media Brands (Reader's Digest), Springer Nature and Elsevier.
"On a number of levels this strategic acquisition marks a major milestone for Ingenta," says Montgomery. "AdDepot complements our web-based solutions perfectly and will broaden the overall appeal of our products. It has huge unrealised global market potential and we are confident that it will help Ingenta to establish a stronger foothold in the media industry, where we have only recently started to market and sell our solutions."
The partnership will draw on 5Fifteen's expertise and reputation in the market and Ingenta's proliferation in the US, Europe and Asia, where it has an established client base and sales network, to unlock the "largely untapped potential" of adDepot. This will be incorporated into Ingenta's product suite and be renamed Ingenta Advertising.
Montgomery says development of the existing advertising product will continue "in line with the current roadmap", although enrichment of the platform will be enhanced through Ingenta's expertise.
Ingenta's unaudited interim results for the first six months of 2016 show group revenues steady at £7.57 million, with reduced costs turning a 2015 loss into a £345,000 profit before tax. Montgomery says the company has already signed three new contracts this year - worth an aggregate £1.5 million - compared to none 2015.