- CVC Funds announced it bought a minority stake in ironSource for over $400 million. These are the details around the deal.
Mobile marketing company ironSource recently announced that CVC Funds have agreed to buy a minority stake for over $400 million in the company. And this partnership reflects a shared long-term vision to further strengthen ironSource’s position as a market leader in the high-growth mobile advertising and mobile gaming technology markets and will serve to accelerate strategic growth.
“As one of the world’s most respected private equity firms, CVC has a track record of successfully partnering with companies to drive global growth,” said ironSource CEO and co-founder Tomer Bar Zeev. “As such, they are the perfect partner for this next phase in our journey, as we continue to scale internationally, engage with A-class partners and invest heavily in building out our offering for game developers.”
ironSource has been profitable from almost day one and it has grown rapidly since being founded in 2009. Plus it is on track to finish this year with about $1 billion of revenue. ironSource works with a unique combination of customers, including software, app, and game developers, telecom operators, and mobile device original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). And ironSource focuses on developing technologies for app monetization and distribution with its core products targeting game developers.
The gaming industry has been rapidly growing and is expected to generate $180 billion in 2021 alone with mobile gaming experiencing a 27% CAGR. And ironSource’s growth platform provides mobile game developers with tools they need to grow and scale their game businesses.
“We’re witnessing the creation of a sector, gametech, which supports this growing ecosystem, with tailor-made tech solutions such as advertising, marketing, analytics, market intelligence, CRM and more,” added Bar-Zeev. “Our continued investment in this industry is part of a wider goal to be the go-to partner for any game developer looking to scale their game business.”
Another major driver for ironSource is Aura — which is a solution for mobile carriers and device manufacturers. And Aura provides a dynamic engagement and content distribution solution thus empowering OEMs and telecoms operators to build ongoing relationships with their customers thus turning those customers into engaged users.
This technology is integrated on over 120 million mobile devices globally through partnerships with the top telecoms operators in the US and international mobile OEMs.
“We are delighted to be partnering with such an innovative and exciting technology business,” explained Daniel Pindur, a partner at CVC Capital Partners. “The investment in ironSource is a unique opportunity to support a well-respected founder-led organization to accelerate its growth. We look forward to working with Tomer Bar Zeev and his team to take the company to the next level.”
“We are very excited about CVC Funds’ first technology deal in Israel. Israel is a hub for leading edge technology companies and ironSource is a prime example. We are excited by the opportunity to partner with ironSource’s founders to continue to provide leading technology solutions to its customers,” commented CVC Growth Partners managing director Sebastian R. Kuenne.
Launched in 1981, CVC Capital Partners has a network of 24 offices and more than 500 employees throughout Europe, Asia and the US. And so far, CVC has secured commitments of over $129 billion from some of the world’s leading institutional investors across its private equity and credit strategies. CVC now manages approximately $83 billion of assets and the firm has invested in 73 companies worldwide that employ over 300,000 people in numerous countries. These companies together have combined annual sales of approximately $100 billion.
Here is what ironSource board members Shlomo Dovrat (Co-Founder of Viola Ventures) and Ronen Nir (GP at Viola Ventures) said about this deal:
“As the first institutional investor in ironSource, we had the honor of working with this exceptional founding team, and supporting their growth to become one of Israel’s first unicorns. We are big believers in the company’s ongoing journey to becoming a global leader and with CVC’s support, we are confident the company will sustain its rapid growth and high profitability. ironSource is a fantastic example of Viola’s commitment to backing Israeli entrepreneurs who aspire to build multi-billion dollar companies, and is an inspiration for the entire Israeli tech ecosystem.”
