Adauction.com Raises $15 Million in Venture Capital

San Francisco-based Adauction.com raised $15 million in a round of funding from investors led by Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc. and Fayez Sarofim & Co.

Previous investors Convergence Partners, Geneva Partners, VIVENTURES Partners, and New Millennium Partners also contributed. The $15 million brings the company’s total capital raised to date to more than $30 million in debt and equity financing.

Adauction.com, which provides a business-to-business e-commerce service for buying and selling ads, said it intends to use the financing to grow in four areas: rollout of new auction services in traditional media — including broadcast, outdoor and cable — as well as opening several regional offices, expanding marketing/sales programs and building its sales team.

“Adauction.com’s business model touches four of the hottest trends on the Internet: business-to-business e-commerce, dynamic pricing, third party infomediaries and media sales,” said Michael Castleman, vice president, Lehman Brothers. “We are excited to partner with Adauction.com because they are leveraging these four key trends to seize the market opportunity and change the way media is bought and sold.”

Adauction.com has traditionally auctioned online ad space and recently launched a print media auction, featuring ad avails in several national consumer publications. The company plans to introduce the first Internet auction for broadcast and outdoor media in the third quarter of this year.