London content marketing platform secures £6m investment to boost international expansion

BGF has completed a £6.3m patient capital investment into London-based Dianomi, a native content marketing platform used by financial advertisers and tier one publishers.

Dianomi, which has seen its turnover more than treble in the past two years, will use the investment to drive international expansion and support the growth of its team.

The company’s proprietary technology platform matches premium sponsored content with relevant audiences across tier one business publications such as Reuters, MarketWatch and MSN.

The platform provides a brand-safe monetisation solution for publishers’ editorial content and data-driven distribution for advertisers, improving both return on investment and transparency.

Founded by Rupert Hodson, Raphael Queisser and Cabell de Marcellus, Dianomi will use the new funding to expand into North America, Germany and the APAC region and increase its sales and data analyst teams.

Dianomi has appointed Mike Kelly, CEO of KNV, as non-executive chair following an introduction by BGF. Kelly is also non-executive director of QuantCast, Celtra and Americantowns.

Kelly has held executive roles at a number of major media companies, including former chairman of Unruly and former CEO of The Weather Channel. New York-based Kelly Newman Ventures also participated in the funding raise.

Growth capital firm Beringea has supported Dianomi through its earlier stage growth and, as part of BGF’s investment, will now exit the company.

Rupert Hodson, Dianomi co-founder and CEO, said: “Dianomi has become a major player in the native ad space because we provide marketers with the native trifecta of context, brand safety and scale and publishers with the content that’s most relevant to their readers.

“The investment from BGF will help us address the growing demand for Dianomi’s current products and new products and help us to expand in new markets.”

Matt Singh, an investor at BGF, added: “Dianomi’s platform has significant relevance in the current digital climate. Its proposition – helping companies build trust and audience engagement whilst safeguarding brand value – has resonated with major organisations. There is huge potential to build on this over the longer-term.

“Rupert, Raphael and Cabell have put in place a highly scalable model, which is well placed to deliver further value as the company expands internationally.”