A Baltimore startup is looking to help publishers make sure video ads run on time

When a video ad doesn’t run as intended, the person who is watching sees a blank screen. But for the publisher, it means lost revenue.
As an advertising technology executive, David Jacobs saw the scope of how the problems impacted publishers, whether the start was delayed or the ad didn’t run altogether. Now, Jacobs is CEO of a Baltimore-based startup that’s looking to stop those failures from happening.
Konduit.me recently closed on $1.3 million in seed funding. The round was led by Revel Partners, with participation from media-focused venture firm MathCapital and other investors.
After gaining initial clients, Jacobs said the funding will help the company scale as it looks to speed up load times and make the process more streamlined. The company is looking to work with publishers in TV or on the web, and sees opportunity to keep expanding the technology to address more issues and serve technology as digital and broadcast viewing merges.

David Jacobs. (Courtesy photo)

“We’re fundamentally looking at the video offering from a different lens,” he said. Instead of focusing on increasing revenue by making more money from ads that start, Jacobs said the company is reformulating the need to look at how publishers can start more ads.

The year-old company is the latest Baltimore startup with ties to Advertising.com. Jacobs worked as an executive at the adtech company, and stayed on after it was acquired by AOL for $435 million in 2004. He went to New York for about a year, and returned to build the startup.
“What attracted me was the ability to build a great product, solve problems that needed to be solved and apply it at scale,” he said.
The eight-employee company is looking to grow in Baltimore going forward. Along with being home, Jacobs said there’s a strong foundation of talent in the area to draw on for future hiring.