Innovid Shares Rise in Market Debut

Innovid shares were up about 7% in afternoon trading after opening at $8.30.

The New York-based company helps make, serve and measure video ads for brands such as

Toyota Motor Corp.

,

GlaxoSmithKline

PLC and Anheuser Busch InBev SA.

Demand for video content has exploded recently, especially as consumers have been at home during the pandemic. Zvika Netter, co-founder and chief executive at Innovid, said the company saw a 65% increase in connected TV revenue in the first three quarters of 2021 over the period a year earlier.

Connected TV refers to content streamed using the internet on smart TVs or other devices.

While streaming video services are duking it out over consumer eyeballs, Mr. Netter said Innovid can earn revenue as long as advertisers are spending in the space.

“It doesn’t matter where the audience is coming from and how they’re watching as long as it’s through the internet,” he said.

Innovid competes with Google’s Campaign Manager 360, which helps advertisers and agencies manage digital campaigns, Mr. Netter said.

“Google has a competitive advantage in terms of the amount of data that they have,” said Sagar Thanki, a portfolio manager at Guinness Atkinson Asset Management, an investment management firm.

He added Google has another advantage in the amount of users it has. “In the case of Innovid…they advertise themselves as being more focused and able to execute better on the connected TV business. Whereas the Google stack is more broad, those that are looking to focus and are looking for better execution on connected TV, those would be the types of customers that Innovid are most likely to appeal to.”

The area of connected television, despite already rapid growth, will only continue to grow, said

Tim Nollen,

a senior media tech analyst at Macquarie Group. U.S. advertisers will spend $14.44 billion on connected TV in 2021, an increase of 60% over 2020, according to data from research firm eMarketer.

“CTV advertising, while it’s growing gangbusters, is still a small minority of total TV ad spending, and it will remain a small portion for some time,” Mr. Nollen said. That means there is ample room for numerous players to provide various services in the space, he said.

Innovid also sees a future on the measurement side of the internet-supported television business. In September, the Media Rating Council, the media industry’s measurement watchdog, said it had voted to suspend accreditation of

Nielsen Holdings

PLC’s National Television service.

Players such as Innovid would like to capture some of that business.

“There’s a very serious opportunity in CTV measurement in the future of TV measurement,” Innovid’s Mr. Netter said.

Write to Megan Graham at [email protected]