Slovenian adtech startup Zemanta acquired by Outbrain

Slovenian-founded adtech startup Zemanta has been acquired by US content discovery platform Outbrain. No terms have been disclosed.

Zemanta has developed a platform for programmatic native advertising solutions and managing ad spend.

Zemanta will continue to operate as a standalone company, according to Outbrain, as it grows its business and will serve as Outbrain’s first remote development centre. The company was founded in Slovenia and is now based in New York. It had previously raised more than $8 million in funding from investors including Union Square Ventures, Eden Ventures, and Seedcamp.

“Digital marketing has grown on the strength of two important trends -- efficiency gains from programmatic buying, and the effectiveness that comes with native advertising,” said Yaron Galai, CEO of Outbrain, which is also based in New York with over $190 million in investment raised.

“Marketers no longer have to sacrifice one in favor of the other. By pairing Outbrain’s global network with Zemanta’s platform, marketers will be able to deliver scale, brand safety, and user engagement in one offering.”

Native advertising will “truly be the foundation of the next phase of online advertising”, said Todd Sawicki, CEO of Zemanta.

This marks Outbrain’s fifth acquisition to date, most recently acquiring LA digital publishing startup Revee early last year.