Location-based performance advertising platform Quorum secures $2 million in seed funding

Location-based performance advertising platform Quorum is on a mission to help publishers and advertisers achieve the same level of efficiency in programmatic media that tech giants like Google and Meta enjoy—but without the closed-off ecosystems. This goal has come closer to reality with the company’s recent $2 million seed round of funding, according to AdExchanger. The investment, backed by Crush Ventures, Dudley Fund, and other notable investors, aims to propel Quorum’s innovative platform forward as it seeks to level the playing field in the ad tech world.

Founded in 2019, Quorum’s ambition is to help advertisers optimize their digital campaigns on par with the world’s leading platforms. Despite their rich content, legacy media organizations such as newsrooms and television studios have struggled to compete in the digital age—not just for audience attention but for critical advertising dollars. Traditional ad revenue streams like television upfronts or newspaper classified ads have significantly diminished, as advertising budgets continue to shift towards platforms like YouTube and Meta. Quorum is stepping in to help these publishers not only survive but thrive in an increasingly digital landscape.

Quorum’s platform is designed to address the disparity between legacy publishers and digital platforms by providing access to sophisticated advertising technologies that rival the capabilities of the tech giants. CEO Ezra Doty, who has extensive experience in media publishing from his time at Universal Music Group, Turner Broadcasting System, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, believes this shift in ad spend has deeply impacted content creators. He noted that platforms like Google and Meta have siphoned much of the revenue that once fueled journalism and other traditional content industries.

“The dollars are shifting away from those places into environments like YouTube and Meta, where ads are running next to videos of skateboarding dogs,” Doty explained. “Not to say that YouTube content isn’t enjoyable, but it’s very different.” Doty has witnessed the downsizing of newsrooms firsthand, with the number of newsroom employees in the U.S. shrinking by 26% between 2008 and 2020, largely due to the rise of digital giants. Quorum’s goal is to return some of that lost revenue to publishers by offering them powerful tools for optimizing their ad performance.

Quorum is already making strides in bringing advanced data tracking capabilities to the open web. The company tracks 80 million unique mobile IDs nationwide, all based on opt-in physical mobile behavior, such as location data collected through Apple’s IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) and Google’s GAID (Google Advertising ID). Using its proprietary geo-fencing technology, Quorum maps out retail locations and uses GPS signals to create a comprehensive picture of user behavior. For example, if a customer opts into location sharing and visits a Macy’s store, Quorum can match that behavior to ad campaigns, enabling advertisers to see if someone viewed a Macy’s ad on connected TV (CTV) before visiting the store.

This data is processed through major demand-side platforms (DSPs) like The Trade Desk, Google DV360, Xander, Stack Adapt, and Adform, making it universally accessible. Quorum has developed its own pixel that integrates with each DSP to provide better attribution reporting and performance metrics. This allows advertisers to target audiences based on real-world behavior, delivering performance metrics comparable to those achieved on platforms like Google and Meta.

Doty explained, “You’ll get similar performance in terms of return on ad spend as you would from retargeting website visitors, but without the need for cookies or tracking pixels.”

With the recent infusion of $2 million in funding, Quorum plans to expand its client base, which already includes numerous performance marketing agencies and publishers. The company will also focus on developing more features to enhance its platform, particularly in the growing field of connected TV (CTV) advertising. Doty sees enormous potential in CTV, which is gaining traction as an essential component of always-on marketing campaigns.

“There’s all this great content out there, and we want to help the creators unlock their true revenue potential,” Doty said. As Quorum continues to grow, it aims to empower publishers and advertisers to make the most of their content, transforming the way programmatic advertising works for the open web.