London-based search intelligence platform Adthena has secured a $13.5m credit facility from venture debt firm Espresso Capital.
The paid search advertising company will use the fresh funds to fuel further growth in the US. Founded in 2012, Adthena is a search intelligence platform that employs AI-driven technology and a team of experts to help brands, marketers, and agencies in a range of search-related tasks.
The adtech startup was founded in 2012 by Ian O’Rourke and is backed by Updata Partners. The company uses “artificial search intelligence” to help its customers maximise their return on investment and make strategic decisions.
“We’re growing 100% year over year in the US and scaling quickly in other markets, including the UK, France, and Australia,” said Adthena CEO and co-founder, Ian O’Rourke. “Bringing non-dilutive capital into our funding mix was the logical and sensible thing to do at this stage of our growth. The Espresso facility will allow us to keep our foot on the gas by augmenting our GTM machine, building new products that help us scale into bigger deals, and upselling to existing customers.”
In January last year, Adthena acquired market research company Kantar’s paid search business. The two companies announced that Kantar search clients will get access to the Adthena product suite, post-acquisition.
While financial details of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, Adthena confirmed that some Kantar team members will be joining the company.
In 2016 Adthena received a £2m investment from Mel Morris, the entrepreneur behind Candy Crush.
Launched in 2009, Espresso Capital has backed more than 300 companies by providing non-dilutive capital.