XGraph Announces $3.75 Million in Funding

July 7, 2010 - PRLog -- XGraph Announces $3.75 Million in Funding
SocialTargeting Innovator Gets Venture Backing from Rho Ventures

New York, NY and Palo Alto, CA – July 7, 2010 – XGraph, a next-generation advertising company that uses social network analysis for ad targeting, today announced that Rho Ventures has led a first round of institutional financing, completing funding of $3.75 million.

XGraph’s innovative technology is based on the premise that people who share similar lifestyles, values and purchasing habits with an advertiser’s core customers are an optimal audience for targeted display advertising. By partnering with top tier Web publishers, social media providers, and Web-wide infrastructure firms, XGraph is able to use proprietary social network analysis methods to identify high-value Connected Audiences™ for advertisers that want to reach their highest quality prospects at scale.

“This funding will help XGraph to expand our sales and marketing efforts,” said Key Compton, co-founder and CEO of XGraph. “Our clients have seen 300 to 500 percent increases in customer conversion rates, and demand for our Connected Audiences is increasing at a rapid pace. Our unique “multi-graph” approach is distinctive and provides XGraph with the ability to utilize multiple data sets, including social, communication, and behavioral graphs.”

XGraph’s targeting methods are effective because they can be scaled for audience expansion while retaining performance. Clients typically provide XGraph with a pixel on their Web site, and XGraph provides a free Connected Audience analysis to evaluate the potential reach and effectiveness of an XGraph campaign. Typical campaigns reach millions of custom targeted users, providing advertisers with significant improvements in media efficiency and campaign performance.

XGraph’s Connected Audience Marketing™ is privacy friendly because no personally identifiable user data is ever collected or analyzed. Similar to many other leading targeting methods, XGraph employs browser cookies that anonymously recognize users on a web-wide basis.  XGraph then applies its “multi-graph” algorithms to help its clients deliver advertising to highly receptive audiences.

XGraph’s founding team includes two PhD researchers who pioneered socially targeted online ads in 2006 while working at Yahoo! These early efforts were based, in part, on insights from published academic work conducted by XGraph co-founder Paul Moore, while at Stanford University, on the social network mechanisms that make referral-based hiring effective.

David Carlick, a venture partner at Rho Ventures, will join XGraph’s Board of Directors. Mr. Carlick has extensive experience in the field of digital media and marketing, with past and present board appointments including DoubleClick, Intermix Media (MySpace), Ask Jeeves, International Network Services, Grocery Shopping Network and ReachLocal.

“I am excited to be working with a team as innovative and capable as XGraph,” said Mr. Carlick.  “Online targeting has become very data-driven and audience-based, dramatically improving the ability for advertisers to reach their ideal audiences. XGraph’s academic roots and deep experience with social network analysis is helping the firm pioneer the next generation of online targeting.”

About XGraph
XGraph provides buyers and sellers of online advertising with Connected Audience™ solutions that improve ad targeting. XGraph’s innovative social targeting approach is based on the simple premise that people who share similar lifestyles, values and purchasing habits with an advertiser’s core customers are an optimal audience for targeted display advertising. Social network analysis applied to privacy-friendly data sources is the core of XGraph’s unique “multi-graph” methodology, enabling high-value targeting at scale. For more information, please visit www.xgraph.com.

About Rho Ventures
For nearly 30 years, Rho Ventures has been investing in leading edge, high growth companies at multiple stages of growth spanning early, venture-stage investments to later stage, growth equity transactions. Rho has participated in the growth of some of today's most innovative and successful companies, including Ciena, Capstone Turbine, Compaq Computer, Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Human Genome Sciences, iVillage, MedImmune, ReachLocal, Senomyx, Shire, Tacoda, Tripod, Waterfront Media and Yantra. Rho Ventures is currently investing from Rho Ventures VI, a $510 million fund. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto and Montreal, with investments across the globe. For more information, please visit www.rho.com.

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About XGraph: Xgraph Inc. provides buyers and sellers of online advertising with Connected Audience™ solutions that improve ad targeting. XGraph’s innovative social targeting approach is based on the simple premise that people who share similar lifestyles, values and purchasing habits with an advertiser’s core customers are an optimal audience for targeted display advertising. Social network analysis applied to privacy-friendly data sources is the core of XGraph’s unique “multi-graph” methodology, enabling high-value targeting at scale. For more information, please visit www.xgraph.com.