A start-up that focuses on the not-so-visible business of tagging Internet ads has secured support from a big Silicon Valley investment firm.
Tealium, which specializes in managing the tags that collect information from websites’ visitors, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $20 million in financing from Silver Lake. All told, it has now raised $47 million.
Tealium is aiming to create a platform for companies to manage their digital marketing tools, primarily website tags. The company was founded in 2008 in response to the thicket of tags that companies were putting on their sites, with no real standard.
Tealium’s advantage, according to its chief executive, Jeff Lunsford, is that it has already amassed a large number of clients to create a useful platform. The goal is to become a top manager of tags, much as First Data has become one of the giants of the payment processing industry.
“It’s a rare situation where it’s a win-win-win,†Mr. Lunsford said in an interview. “No one’s actually getting disrupted. We’re just changing how things are today.â€
The company has more than 350 corporate clients, with revenue growing 120 percent annually, most recently to $12 million last year.
The new financing came in the form of debt, rather than an equity investment, after the company chose Silver Lake from a number of investment firms looking to partner with Tealium.
Mr. Lunsford said that by raising debt rather than equity, the company would avoid diluting existing shareholders.
“There’s no point in taking serious dilution if people are willing to lend the capital,†he said.
Start-ups often take on debt ahead of a forthcoming initial public offering, and while Mr. Lunsford declined to offer specifics, he said Tealium was headed down that path.
“We’re a public company management team that understands all the different financing options,†he said. “We’re not in a hurry to do it, since we’re really at the beginning and not the end of the process.â€
