Patrick Hopf, a search engine pioneer and digital industry veteran, is the Founder and President of Sourceknowledge, a Canadian performance video advertising technology company which has just raised $1.5m in funding.
In conjunction with the round, Patrick answered our questions about the company, the product, the funding and future plans.
FinSMEs: Which problem do you want to solve at SourceKnowledge?
Patrick: There is a large concern in the digital advertising industry surrounding fraudulent advertising practices and concerns on general viewability of ads on both apps and browser traffic. SourceKnowledge’s Engage® platform provides a solution to these problems by providing data-driven marketers with a performance alternative to their ad spend. Our technology platform provides post-click data to optimize their advertising efforts. Our full-stack solution bridges the gaps in customer acquisition and gives marketers the tools they need to identify, recapture, convert and measure high value audiences across any device.
FinSMEs: Let’s speak about Engage. How does it work?
Patrick: The Engage platform was developed for mobile gaming and app publishers, eCommerce brands, SaaS companies and performance-driven agencies. It empowers them to create data-driven journeys that allow for more efficient user acquisition alongside transparent reporting that focuses on conversion metrics. The platform enables advertisers to take an omnichannel approach to digital advertising by leveraging video and display assets, data targeting and re-engagement capabilities across multiple devices. Engage allows for campaigns to access more than 60 billion ad opportunities every month through partnerships with Facebook, Google, Twitter, LiveRail, AOL, DailyMotion and SpotXchange.
FinSMEs: Where are you in terms of growth?
Patrick: We’ve seen tremendous growth with 296% revenue growth between 2011 and 2015. In 2015, we opened offices in Vancouver and we more than doubled the size of our team.
FinSMEs: You just raised a $1.5m round of financing? How are you using the funds?
Patrick: We’ll be making significant investments in growth as we ramp-up headcount for our product development, marketing and sales teams.
FinSMEs: You are based in Montreal. An exciting entrepreneurial environment?
Patrick: We are headquartered in Montreal and we have offices in Vancouver. There are so many fantastic resources in Montreal for growth stage tech companies and that kind of environment produces exceptionally innovative products. The city also produces incredibly talented developers, which helps businesses like ours rapidly build and get to market.
FinSMEs
03/03/2016