Advertising is the bread and butter of all other industries, but it’s not an unchanging field. Today, GenAI innovations deliver on time and cost savings and drive startup funding overall toward new technologies that can shift the landscape of how and where companies pay to get seen.
Though funding is stagnating at 7.7% of overall marketing budgets in 2025, companies are still spending. However, they’re cautious, waiting to see which approaches deliver the ROI they’re after.
Which companies are coming out ahead in this environment?
We put our heads together and refined metrics on advertising companies that have received lots of funding and are funded in the Silicon Valley ecosystem. This ranking sheds light on the hottest advertising companies and allows for clear comparisons with similar funding and business models. It also applies the power laws to funding and company concentration in this space.
Top 25 Advertising Startups Ranking Table
We analyzed data from Crunchbase and Keywords Everywhere to uncover the top US advertising companies with top investors from Silicon Valley.
| Ranking | Company | GFD Tech100 Final Score* | GFD Funding Score* | GFD Website Score* | GFD Branded Keyword Score* |
| 1 | AppLovin | 80.0 | 80.7 | 71.3 | 51.4 |
| 2 | Klaviyo | 74.9 | 73.4 | 65.2 | 57.8 |
| 3 | Legendary Entertainment | 70.6 | 73.0 | 45.1 | 44.7 |
| 4 | Outbrain | 70.1 | 71.4 | 73.8 | 39.3 |
| 5 | Zeta Global | 67.5 | 68.6 | 50.4 | 43.7 |
| 6 | DoubleVerify | 65.1 | 66.9 | 45.9 | 40.2 |
| 7 | Sprinklr | 62.8 | 60.0 | 60.4 | 51.9 |
| 8 | WME | 61.9 | 62.0 | 42.7 | 45.0 |
| 9 | Verve | 61.1 | 58.0 | 40.5 | 56.5 |
| 10 | Demandbase | 60.8 | 60.3 | 50.5 | 44.4 |
| 11 | ShopMy | 60.7 | 57.4 | 62.6 | 53.8 |
| 12 | VideoAmp | 59.7 | 62.9 | 38.5 | 32.4 |
| 13 | Foursquare | 59.2 | 56.3 | 62.2 | 49.5 |
| 14 | Innovid | 59.2 | 59.3 | 65.6 | 36.6 |
| 15 | Integral Ad Science | 58.8 | 61.4 | 55.0 | 28.4 |
| 16 | Bluecore | 58.0 | 57.6 | 49.4 | 42.1 |
| 17 | Moloco | 57.6 | 54.4 | 85.0 | 44.1 |
| 18 | Vox Media | 57.5 | 59.8 | 0.0 | 42.5 |
| 19 | Wunderkind | 57.1 | 55.6 | 41.0 | 48.1 |
| 20 | Knowde | 56.1 | 58.4 | 47.5 | 30.8 |
| 21 | JW Player | 55.7 | 55.4 | 58.7 | 37.4 |
| 22 | Postscript | 55.2 | 53.2 | 49.7 | 46.4 |
| 23 | comScore | 55.1 | 53.7 | 48.2 | 42.2 |
| 24 | CallRail | 55.0 | 52.3 | 55.4 | 47.5 |
| 25 | InVideo | 54.5 | 48.5 | 65.9 | 57.6 |
*GFD’s Tech100 score is a final composite score of the Funding Score, Website Score, and the Branded Keyword score.
Key Takeaways:
- The three hottest advertising firms in July 2025 are AppLovin, Klaviyo, and Legendary Entertainment due to the volume and freshness of their funding, the recent performance of their website, and the growth trends of their branded keyword.
Ranking the Top Startups by Funding Score
Funding is huge. This breakout highlights those firms that have raised the most venture capital rounds, ranked by a combination of date and volume. Note we are also including post-IPO raises as well. These are worth considering because they’re all part of the competitive system that all advertising startups are competing in.
| Ranking | Company | Total Funding Amount | Most Recent Funding Amount | Last Funding Date | GFD Funding Score* |
| 1 | AppLovin | $5.12B | $3.55B | 11/20/2024 | 80.7 |
| 2 | Klaviyo | $1.35B | $195M | 8/13/2025 | 73.4 |
| 3 | Legendary Entertainment | $3.58B | $800M | 4/18/2023 | 73.0 |
| 4 | Outbrain | $1.03B | $638M | 2/11/2025 | 71.4 |
| 5 | Zeta Global | $1.46B | $205M | 9/4/2024 | 68.6 |
| 6 | DoubleVerify | $958M | $408M | 8/7/2023 | 66.9 |
| 7 | VideoAmp | $607M | $150M | 9/13/2023 | 62.9 |
| 8 | WME | $650M | $400M | 8/2/2017 | 62.0 |
| 9 | Integral Ad Science | $301M | $30M | 6/18/2025 | 61.4 |
| 10 | Demandbase | $318M | $175M | 2/16/2023 | 60.3 |
*GFD’s Funding Score captures funding volume and velocity by combing total funding with recent funding amount and recency.
Key Takeaways:
- When accounting for funding volume and freshness, AppLovin leads the industry as it is the advertising firm with the third highest total funding and has within the past year received a funding amount of $3.55B.
- Outbrain has become a promising firm in the advertising industry as they have received over $300M in funds within the past 6 months.
- Industry leaders Klaviyo and Legendary Entertainment continue to lead as both have recently received +$100M funds within the past two years.
1. AppLovin
GFD Funding Score*: 80.7
Total Funding Amount: $5.12B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $3.55B
Days Since Last Funding: 316
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, AppLovin ranks #1 in funding. The company’s total funding is $5.12B and the last time they were funded was on November 20, 2024 for $3.55B. The last funding type was Post-IPO Debt. The total amount of investors that AppLovin has is 14 and their top investors are: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Streamlined Ventures, Employee Stock Option Fund, Webb Investment Network, Nimble Ventures.
2. Klaviyo
GFD Funding Score*: 73.4
Total Funding Amount: $1.35B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $195M
Days Since Last Funding: 50
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, Klaviyo ranks #2 in funding. The company’s total funding is $1.35B and the last time they were funded was on August 13, 2025 for $195M. The last funding type was Post-IPO Secondary. The total amount of investors that Klaviyo has is 19 and their top investors are: Accel, Sands Capital Ventures, Lone Pine Capital, Employee Stock Option Fund, Irving Investors.
3. Legendary Entertainment
GFD Funding Score*: 73
Total Funding Amount: $3.58B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $800M
Days Since Last Funding: 898
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, Legendary Entertainment ranks #3 in funding. The company’s total funding is $3.58B and the last time they were funded was on April 18, 2023 for $800M. The last funding type was Debt Financing. The total amount of investors that Legendary Entertainment has is 18 and their top investors are: Accel, Apollo, Goldman Sachs, Founders Fund, Bank of America.
GFD Website Score Breakdown
Website traffic and traffic growth is important but doesn’t always line up perfectly with other attributes and events like funding. We were curious as to which of these companies saw the strongest website traffic and growth. The website score we captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the companies’ website growth trends.
| Ranking | Company | Last Month Total Visits | Average Visits (6 Months) | Monthly Visit Growth | GFD Website Score* |
| 1 | Moloco | 263.3M | 45.8M | 3977.61% | 85.0 |
| 2 | Brave | 513.4M | 450.6M | 2.94% | 79.9 |
| 3 | Outbrain | 90.0M | 116.1M | -2.19% | 73.8 |
| 4 | AppLovin | 39.9M | 52.3M | 18.65% | 71.3 |
| 5 | Tubi | 41.6M | 39.8M | 5.05% | 70.6 |
| 6 | Roku | 36.3M | 35.9M | 4.16% | 70.1 |
| 7 | SEMrush | 23.4M | 20.8M | 7.64% | 68.3 |
| 8 | InVideo | 12.0M | 14.9M | -7.72% | 65.9 |
| 9 | Innovid | 10.0M | 11.9M | 9.87% | 65.6 |
| 10 | Klaviyo | 10.0M | 8.1M | 17.76% | 65.2 |
*GFD’s Website Score captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the companies’ website growth trends.
Key Takeaways:
- Brave is the industry leader in terms of website visits as it has on average over 436M visitors in the last six months.
- Moloco has seen an extreme increase in their website traffic over the past month.
1. Moloco
GFD Website Score*: 85
Last Month’s Total Visits: 263.3M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 45.8M
Monthly Visit Growth: 3977.61%
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, Moloco ranks #1 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 263.3M total visits and increased by 3977.61% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 45.8M.
2. Brave
GFD Website Score*: 79.9
Last Month’s Total Visits: 513.4M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 450.6M
Monthly Visit Growth: 2.94%
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, Brave ranks #2 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 513.4M total visits and increased by 2.94% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 450.6M.
3. Outbrain
GFD Website Score*: 73.8
Last Month’s Total Visits: 90.0M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 116.1M
Monthly Visit Growth: -2.19%
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, Outbrain ranks #3 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 90.0M total visits and decreased by -2.19% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 116.1M.
Advertising Startups with Strongest Branded Search Growth
A great way to measure brand growth is by analyzing keyword growth for the company across a period of time. We sourced Google Search keyword data for companies on the list and ranked by a score that accounted for total keyword search as well as search volume change over the last year.
| Ranking | Company | Total Keyword Search Volume | Average Monthly Search Volume Change (1 Year) | 1 Year Trend Positive or Negative? | GFD Company Keyword Ranking* |
| 1 | SEMrush | 1.0M | -33951.05 | – | 60.9 |
| 2 | Klaviyo | 301K | 961.54 | + | 57.8 |
| 3 | InVideo | 450K | -10489.51 | – | 57.6 |
| 4 | Verve | 201K | 2674.83 | + | 56.5 |
| 5 | Singular | 201K | -2139.86 | – | 54.4 |
| 6 | ShopMy | 50K | 3395.10 | + | 53.8 |
| 7 | Howl | 201K | -4405.59 | – | 53.4 |
| 8 | Mutiny | 110K | 204.55 | + | 52.3 |
| 9 | Sprinklr | 91K | 865.38 | + | 51.9 |
| 10 | AppLovin | 110K | -882.87 | – | 51.4 |
*GFD’s Branded Keyword Ranking is a metric that combines monthly branded keyword search volume with a 1-year linear trend that is observed weekly and adjusted by search volume.
Key Takeaways:
- ShopMy is the fastest growing branded keyword with an average monthly search increase of about 3395 searches.
- Industry leader SEMRush has seen a decrease in their 1 year trend for branded keyword search volume.
1. SEMrush
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 60.9
Total Keyword Search Volume: 1.0M
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: -33951.05
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, SEMrush ranks #1 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 1.0M. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was -33951.05, indicating a decrease in their 1-year trend.
2. Klaviyo
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 57.8
Total Keyword Search Volume: 301K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 961.54
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, Klaviyo ranks #2 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 301K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 961.54, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
3. InVideo
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 57.6
Total Keyword Search Volume: 450K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: -10489.51
Out of our 91 ranked advertising companies, InVideo ranks #3 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 450K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was -10489.51, indicating a decrease in their 1-year trend.
Methodology and Sources
- Methodology: We collected data for 10k+ companies from Crunchbase and aggregated it into a set of scores through the use of quantitative transformations and expertly curated weighted averages.
- Sources: Crunchbase and Google Trends
