Bidstack Group PLC (LON:BIDS) has raised £10.86mln to fund the development of a new platform for its native in-game advertising technology, which it believes will help speed the growth of this form of advertising.
Almost 500mln shares were sold in a placing at a price of 2p apiece, a one-third discount to yesterday’s closing price, in an accelerated bookbuild process to raise £9.763mln, with another £1.1mln of shares subscribed by directors of the company.
At least £3.2mln of the placing proceeds was raised under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and/or from Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs).
The AIM-listed company said it aims to use the proceeds of this part of the placing to help development of a platform that will allow commercial rights owners, such as sports league bodies and global sport teams, to have control over the content that appears in computer games adverts.
Remaining funds will be used to fund working capital for product strategy, research and development, commercial growth in the UK and the US, and further marketing.
The fundraise is conditional on shareholder approval at a general meeting on 19 July.
As it is now working with over 20 computer games that allow in-game advertising, including five games across three AAA game studios such as Sega, Codemasters and Ubisoft, and with a further six AAA games available to the company through partnership agreements, Bidstack said to accelerate recurring revenue growth it wants to build an open exchange industry standard and the technology infrastructure in order to standardise the way in-game ads are transacted and measured.
Once the placing is complete, former Electronic Arts (EA) director Bryan Neider will join the board as a non-executive director.
He brings experience from a variety of leadership roles at the US gaming giant, including managing global business development at EA Partners, CFO and COO for EA.com, CFO of Worldwide Studios, COO for EA's global development organisation and SVP of global operations.
James Draper, founder and CEO of Bidstack, said he was “honoured” to welcome Neider and said he was joining Bidstack at “an inflection point” in the business as it pursues commercial opportunities.
Neider said: “Bidstack's technology and business model offer gaming and media companies the opportunity to reach billions of gamers around the world. Bidstack makes it possible to reach ever increasing audiences in new and compelling ways which can enhance the games' authenticity with tailored and targeted marketing campaigns. In the same way product placement arrangements have benefited film and television economics, in-game marketing campaigns offer the same opportunity for local and global brands to reach important consumers."
Draper added: “Bidstack's market opportunity is developing in line with our expectations and on completion of the fundraise, the company will be well funded and ready to capitalise on that opportunity.
“This is an exciting time for Bidstack. With a strong balance sheet, we can invest with confidence to further mature our technology and leadership teams, including the Board, and acquire the skills and experience we will need to make the most of the opportunities ahead of us.
“Our products have attracted interest from companies across the world who want to utilise our technologies to increase revenues, while protecting the gamer's experience within and around the games they play and on the devices they play them on.”