Kargo acquires e-commerce ad-tech company StitcherAds for $64 million

Ad-tech company Kargo Global announced that it has acquired e-commerce advertising company StitcherAds for $64 million. 

Irish startup StitcherAds specializes in retail and ecommerce advertising on social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, while Kargo offers programmatic and direct buying opportunities to power brands and agencies across mobile. 

Harry Kargman, founder and CEO of Kargo, said there is room for growth for the company in custom ad formats to help retailers boost e-commerce, but Kargo’s offering was not available on major social media platforms. With the acquisition, Kargo will have the social advertising expertise of StitcherAds.

“We realized we were only satisfying a small part of the total need of our retail clients,” Kargman said. 

Kargo expects to generate more than $100 million in net revenue, including the acquisition deal, in 2021, excluding costs like publishers’ fees. Kargo paid for largely with cash and some company stock for the purchase. 

StitcherAds CEO Declan Kennedy will now be general manager at Kargo Commerce, a new division that will combine both companies’ commerce ad functions. The StitcherAds brand will continue to exist under the new division.