Finnish ad platform Smartly.io acquires London’s Ad-Lib.io for over $100M

Helsinki-based advertising platform Smartly.io closed a deal worth over $100 million with Google-focused creative optimization service Ad-Lib.io, Tech.eu reports.

• Founded in 2013 by the Fins Kristo Ovaska and Tuomo Riekki, Smartly provides services that help brands appeal to various audiences, thus allowing them to refine their image and get more profit.
• The company partners with all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok. It works with more than 700 brands globally — Uber, Under Armour, and Еbay are among its clients.
• London-based Ad-Lib develops a single omni-channel Creative Management Platform to enable marketers at the world’s largest brands to scale their digital creative. The platform connects creative and media workflows using intelligent automation, making it easy and fast to produce and optimize relevant ad creative across digital channels. 
• Ad-Lib is a Google Certified Creative partner and currently works with 10 of the top 30 global advertisers including Deliveroo, Canon, Virgin Media, Coca Cola.
• The acquisition of Ad-Lib.io is going to help Smartly venture beyond a social media advertising service, as well as to grow in the Google market.

“Ad-Lib.io is a clear leader in the creative space by innovating on the mission-critical dimensions of workflow, automation, brand governance, personalisation, and insight. Their knowledge of the Google stack is unmatched in the industry and combining that with Smartly’s deep understanding of Facebook and the social stack across creative, media, and data allows us to now serve customers across all major digital channels,”

Smartly CEO and co-founder Kristo Ovaska comments the deal.