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 | Legendary Entertainment | 84.5 | 83.7 | 71.2 | 58.1 |
| 2 | ShopMy | 81.5 | 65.4 | 85.4 | 69.7 |
| 3 | Agentio | 75.7 | 64.5 | 71.2 | 65.5 |
| 4 | Samba TV | 75.4 | 66 | 73.8 | 58.9 |
| 5 | Looma | 71 | 62.3 | 64.9 | 59.8 |
| 6 | FloSports | 69 | 53.4 | 78.2 | 57.1 |
| 7 | Crunchbase | 67.3 | 45.7 | 82.5 | 62.4 |
| 8 | Human Security | 67.2 | 53.7 | 74.8 | 53.6 |
| 9 | Foursquare | 66.2 | 48.8 | 79.8 | 55.1 |
| 10 | Knowde | 65.2 | 53.1 | 70.3 | 52.5 |
| 11 | Postscript | 64.9 | 46.4 | 77.9 | 57 |
| 12 | Ceros | 64.8 | 45.2 | 75.4 | 61.8 |
| 13 | Wunderkind | 64.6 | 48.9 | 69.5 | 59.4 |
| 14 | Howl | 64.4 | 43.4 | 77.9 | 61.1 |
| 15 | CreatorIQ | 64 | 43.1 | 75.6 | 62.8 |
| 16 | VideoAmp | 63.9 | 54 | 69 | 47.4 |
| 17 | CallRail | 63.7 | 42.9 | 77.7 | 60.2 |
| 17 | WME | 63.7 | 48.4 | 70.4 | 56.3 |
| 19 | Mutiny | 63.4 | 44.8 | 67.6 | 65 |
| 20 | Statusphere | 62.6 | 73.7 | 72.2 | |
| 21 | Nativo | 61.5 | 44.4 | 67.5 | 59.7 |
| 22 | VidMob | 61.4 | 51.2 | 62.8 | 50.3 |
| 23 | Rock Content | 59.5 | 41.5 | 76.3 | 49.5 |
| 24 | Arcads | 59.1 | 63.6 | 80 | |
| 25 | Conviva | 58.8 | 38.6 | 67.3 | 61.9 |
*GFD’s Tech100 score is a final composite score of the Funding Score, Website Score, and the Branded Keyword score.
Key Takeaways:
- The three highest-ranking advertising companies in February 2026 are Legendary Entertainment, ShopMy, and Agentio, leading their industry based on their overall Tech100 score, a mix of funding strength, website performance, and branded search demand.
- Samba TV posted the largest month-over-month gain, climbing 2630 positions compared to last month, and ranking #240 this month, signaling accelerating momentum for the company.
- Agentio, FloSports, Crunchbase, Foursquare, Postscript, Ceros, Wunderkind, Howl, CreatorIQ, CallRail, WME, Mutiny, Nativo, Rock Content, Arcads, and Conviva rank high among the top 25 advertising brands despite lower than median funding scores — that means their website and brand are powering them up in the ranking.
- 0 of the top 25 advertising companies also place in the top 25 of the Tech 100, which ranks companies across all industries.
Recent News:
- The first footage for Legendary’s live-action ‘Street Fighter’ film adaptation was recently released.
- ShopMy recently raised $70 million in funding at a $1.5 billion valuation to scale its curated commerce infrastructure.
- Agentio recently released “The Ultimate 2026 YouTube Creator Marketing Playbook,” a data-driven report on scaling successful YouTube Creator partnerships.
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 | Legendary Entertainment | $3.73B | $150M | 1/15/2026 | 83.7 |
| 2 | Statusphere | $18M | $18M | 1/20/2026 | 73.7 |
| 3 | Samba TV | $76M | $30M | 12/8/2025 | 66 |
| 4 | ShopMy | $175M | $70M | 10/22/2025 | 65.4 |
| 5 | Agentio | $56M | $40M | 11/18/2025 | 64.5 |
| 6 | Arcads | $16M | $16M | 12/17/2025 | 63.6 |
| 7 | Looma | $26M | $10M | 12/16/2025 | 62.3 |
| 8 | Prorata.AI | $65M | $40M | 9/5/2025 | 59.8 |
| 9 | AdsGency AI | $15M | $12M | 10/20/2025 | 56.8 |
| 10 | VideoAmp | $607M | $150M | 9/13/2023 | 54 |
*GFD’s Funding Score captures funding volume and velocity by combing total funding with recent funding amount and recency.
Key Takeaways:
- Ranking #1, Legendary Entertainment leads with $3.73B in total funding and a GFD Funding Score of 83.7/100.
- Of the 71 Advertising companies analyzed, Legendary Entertainment recorded the largest recent raise at $150M on January 15, 2026 (17 days ago).
- Statusphere raised $18M on January 20, 2026, which represents 100.0% of total funding to date.
- Samba TV moved 2730 positions in our funding rankings since last month.
1. Legendary Entertainment
GFD Funding Score*: 83.7
Total Funding Amount: $3.73B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $150M
Days Since Last Funding: 17
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, Legendary Entertainment ranks #1 in funding. The company’s total funding is $3.73B and the last time they were funded was on January 15, 2026 for $150M. The last funding type was Secondary Market. The total amount of lead investors that Legendary Entertainment has is 10 and their top investors are: Accel, Apollo, IDG Capital, Founders Fund, Bank of America.
2. Statusphere
GFD Funding Score*: 73.7
Total Funding Amount: $18M
Most Recent Funding Amount: $18M
Days Since Last Funding: 12
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, Statusphere ranks #2 in funding. The company’s total funding is $18M and the last time they were funded was on January 20, 2026 for $18M. The last funding type was Series A. The total amount of lead investors that Statusphere has is 2 and their top investors are: 1984 Ventures, LAUNCH, Volition Capital, How Women Invest, Ulu Ventures.
3. Samba TV
GFD Funding Score*: 66
Total Funding Amount: $76M
Most Recent Funding Amount: $30M
Days Since Last Funding: 55
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, Samba TV ranks #3 in funding. The company’s total funding is $76M and the last time they were funded was on December 8, 2025 for $30M. The last funding type was Debt Financing. The total amount of lead investors that Samba TV has is 5 and their top investors are: Gaingels, Draper Associates, Bossa Invest, Horizon Technology Finance, August Capital.
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 | Brave | 627.3M | 530.2M | 4.56% | 95.8 |
| 2 | AppsFlyer | 151.2M | 164.7M | 3.07% | 92.5 |
| 3 | InVideo | 12.8M | 12.7M | -1.54% | 85.8 |
| 4 | ShopMy | 7.7M | 5.6M | 20.16% | 85.4 |
| 5 | Crunchbase | 4.7M | 5.5M | -16.41% | 82.5 |
| 6 | Solv | 3.1M | 2.8M | -5.17% | 81.9 |
| 7 | Loop | 2.5M | 2.6M | -7.53% | 81.4 |
| 7 | LOOP | 2.5M | 2.6M | -7.53% | 81.4 |
| 7 | Loop | 2.5M | 2.6M | -7.53% | 81.4 |
| 10 | Arcads | 658K | 380K | 44.03% | 80 |
*GFD’s Website Score captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the company’s website growth trends.
Key Takeaways:
- Brave ranks #1, and earns the most average monthly website traffic over the last six months with 530.2M visits per month.
- The advertising industry leaders with the most average monthly website traffic volume over the last six months are Brave (530.2M) and AppsFlyer (164.7M).
- Arcads (+44.0%) and ShopMy (+20.2%) have seen their website traffic increase the most month over month.
- Solv moved 108 positions in our funding rankings since last month.
1. Brave
GFD Website Score*: 95.8
Last Month’s Total Visits: 627.3M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 530.2M
Monthly Visit Growth: 4.6%
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, Brave ranks #1 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 627.3M total visits and increased by 4.6% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 530.2M.
2. AppsFlyer
GFD Website Score*: 92.5
Last Month’s Total Visits: 151.2M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 164.7M
Monthly Visit Growth: 3.1%
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, AppsFlyer ranks #2 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 151.2M total visits and increased by 3.1% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 164.7M.
3. InVideo
GFD Website Score*: 85.8
Last Month’s Total Visits: 12.8M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 12.7M
Monthly Visit Growth: -1.5%
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, InVideo ranks #3 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 12.8M total visits and decreased by -1.5% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 12.7M.
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 | ShopMy | 61K | 5K | + | 69.7 |
| 2 | Agentio | 4K | 400 | + | 65.5 |
| 3 | Mutiny | 110K | 3K | + | 65 |
| 4 | Singular | 201K | 252 | + | 63.8 |
| 5 | CreatorIQ | 18K | 865 | + | 62.8 |
| 6 | Crunchbase | 165K | -1K | – | 62.4 |
| 7 | Moloco | 22K | 809 | + | 62.1 |
| 8 | Conviva | 33K | 826 | + | 61.9 |
| 9 | Joveo | 4K | 315 | + | 61.8 |
| 9 | Ceros | 110K | -350 | – | 61.8 |
*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 ranks #1 for branded search demand with 61K total monthly branded keyword searches and a Keyword Ranking Score of 69.7.
- Ceros is the advertising company whose branded search is increasing the fastest relative to their size. Search demand is rising for them this year at a pace equivalent to adding 11.1% of today’s volume each month.
- Singular ranks #4 and leads in total branded keyword demand with 201K searches this month.
- Agentio moved 439 positions in our rankings since last month.
1. ShopMy
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 69.7
Total Keyword Search Volume: 61K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 5K
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, ShopMy ranks #1 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 61K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 5K, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
2. Agentio
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 65.5
Total Keyword Search Volume: 4K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 400
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, Agentio ranks #2 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 4K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 400, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
3. Mutiny
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 65
Total Keyword Search Volume: 110K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 3K
Out of our 71 ranked Advertising companies, Mutiny ranks #3 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 110K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 3K, indicating an increase 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
Update Log
- February 1st, 2026: Monthly update.
- January 2nd, 2026: Monthly update.
- December 1st, 2025: Monthly update.
- November 1st, 2025: Monthly update.
