Investors make a $27M bet in ad-tech startup DataXu

DataXu pulled in $27 million in funding today, proving that investors continue to see potential in the massively complicated world of ad-tech.

The Boston-based startup was founded by a group of MIT scientists who wrote the combinatorial language for NASA’s Mars mission. To commercialize the tech, the scientists brought in executives with digital media and consumer electronics expertise, who saw a huge opportunity in helping marketers to target their advertising.

DataXu started its life as a platform to help that helped marketers place their ads in real time ad exchanges — the company would take a cut of any media they bought. The company has found it can make more money by licensing software, which lets ad buyers make their own decisions.

The company provided a case-study to demonstrate how it worked with Adobe to use online display advertising to drive sales. DataXu claims its approach yielded a 60 percent increase in online sales with a 36 percent reduction in media costs.

The round of funding was led by Thomvest Ventures with participation from existing investors Atlas Venture, Flybridge Capital Partners and Menlo Ventures. DataXu has now raised $65 million.