The amount of information collected on the Internet is staggering. With such an unprecedented flow of information, data has become more valuable than ever. This overwhelming amount of data is what Arbor wants to help you with. The first company to create a marketplace for people-based data, is harboring your data assets to create an easier way to access it, store, and monetize it in one centralized place.
AlleyWatch chatted with Arbor CEO David Yaffe about the company’s latest round, as well as where the company is headed in the future.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised a Series A Round from Canaan Partners (Led the round), First Round, Great Oaks, Jim Payne, Nat Turner, Zach Weinberg, Matt Keiser, Ed Zimmerman, Ric Calvillo, Chris Cunningham, David Hirsch, Andreas Vagelatos, Dan Reich, Kevin Weatherman, and David Hammer.
Tell us about your product or service.
Arbor operates the first marketplace for people-based data. Publishers and app developers are empowered to surface, understand, and get their data assets into the market in a privacy-friendly, transparent manner. buyers are able to finally access identity, deterministic cross-device, and location based information at scale.
What inspired you to start the company?
My founders and myself built Invite Media, which sold to Google in 2010 and became Doubleclick Bid Manager. While working on that product, we realized that the industry needed some key data assets to help marketers reach their customers effectively especially in mobile environments. Arbors goal has been to help unlock those data assets.
How is it different?
Arbor is a one-stop shop for first party web, location, app data sets. We provide access to deterministic data that would otherwise be unattainable. This type of data can deterministically link users across devices and merge both the offline and online worlds.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
We operate a marketplace which partners with web and app publishers on the seller side, adtech, martech platforms as well as fintech platforms on the buy-side. Since we operate across multiple markets, we have the advantage of combined scale.
What’s your business model?
Arbor works as a marketplace model. On the supply side, Arbor helps app and web publishers earn an additional recurring revenue stream without altering their user experience. On the demand side, buyers are adtech, martech platforms and fintech platforms.
Should our default be skepticism when presented a statistic in an article?
All statistics should be carefully reviewed by the end consumer.
What was the funding process like?
Our latest funding process was an inside round, so it was relatively quick and simple.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Raising capital is a distraction from the core business, so balancing keeping things moving forward with raising is always a trick.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
We are tackling a large market in an important space with a great team.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We’ll double our engineering team and implement a more scalable services layer over the next six months. In addition, we’ll also be releasing the next version of our product which will open our services up to a broader base of clients.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
The most important thing you can do is conserve capital and preserve a lean and relatively scrappy culture during those times.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We’re focused on building great product and expanding to service additional markets.
Where is your favorite bar in the city for an after work drink?
Probably drop off service due to it has good beer selection and in close proximity to my apartment.