NeoEdge raises $3M for ad platform for games

NeoEdge has raised $3 million in venture funding to expand its product offerings for monetizing social games.

The San Francisco company makes a platform that lets publishers put ads into the social games on their web sites. It can add a 30-second video ad to an online game to help publishers make money from free games. The investment shows that, even though virtual goods has become the most popular new business model for games, the advertising side of the business isn’t dead. Rather, it continues to grow.

NeoEdge currently serves more than $100 million video ad impressions per month. It has partnerships with Yahoo Games and iWin, and it recently announced a partnership with Red Atom’s Bar Society on Facebook.

The funding comes from MMV Financial. NeoEdge will use the money to expand its national sales team and come up with new products, including those that will “gamify” ads, or make ads more fun by adding a game-like element.

NeoEdge previously raised money from Vanedge Capital and Jefferson Partners. NeoEdge is headed by Lesley Mansford, chief executive. A year ago, NeoEdge merged with a game developer that was headed by Mansford.