Mobile crunch time: Marketing company Velti acquires Ad Infuse

Velti, a global mobile marketing and advertising company, has acquired Ad Infuse, a Silicon Valley competitor, for an undisclosed amount — in a sign of early consolidation in the industry.

It also opens the door for a U.S. expansion by Velti, which so far hasn’t had a large presence here.

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While mobile advertising is expanding, the recent economic slowdown is hitting the weaker players. Ad Infuse, which raised $18 million from venture firms Storm Ventures, ComVentures and SoftBank Capital since 2005, built technology that let carriers track content that was delivered over its networks. This way, they could offer more precise personalization and ad serving technology for advertisers. But while its technology is compelling, it struggled and started looking for a buyer when the downturn hit.

Another player, Ringleader Digital, recently sold off its mobile ad network business, but that was more to focus on its other business of licensing its mobile analytics technology to others.

Velti, a public London-based company, last year earned $17 million (EBITA) on revenue of $70 million. Its revenue more than doubled from the previous year.

Velti said the acquisition helps it provide a more seamless offering to brands wanting to plan, manage and analyze their advertising campaigns. It will now have 400 people in the US, Europe, China, India and the Middle East.

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