What Recession? AdMob Wins Big Funding Round, Eyes Global Ad Markets

Mobile ad network AdMob, flush with cash from a new $15.7 million funding round, plans to use the money to seek new business in Western Europe, India, South Africa and Japan.

The Series C investment round was led by Sequoia Capital’s Growth Fund with participation from AdMob’s existing investor Accel Partners. In announcing the funding, AdMob said it served more than 4.5 billion mobile banner and text ads last month and has more than 6,000 publishers in its network.

The funding’s role in the planned international push will be to hire local staff in the targeted markets and to create new language interfaces. AdMob also said it will improve its targeting, optimization and ad-serving algorithm and create new offerings for publishers and advertisers.

Sequoia Capital Partner Jim Goetz issued a statement in which he referred to AdMob as “the world’s biggest mobile ad network.” Goetz also contended AdMob has “some of the same qualities,” including a strong management team and cutting-edge technology, seen in Google, Yahoo, YouTube and Apple, other companies to which it provided funding.

In an e-mail, spokesperson Courtney Geesey said AdMob served 29 brand campaigns in September and is announcing cash-flow positive operations, “a rarity in this business.”

She asserted mobile advertising will be the fastest growth sector in the entire ad industry. AdMob says it is seeing “especially strong demand for iPhone inventory.”