• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, April 9, 2015

Clypd, a supply-side platform (SSP) for programmatic TV advertising, on Thursday announced it has closed a $19.4 million Series B round of funding led by RTL Group, a German broadcaster owned by Bertelsmann.

Other investors include Atlas Venture, Data Point Capital, Duke University, TiVo Inc., Transmedia Capital and Western Technology Investment. Clypd has now raised a total of nearly $30 million in funding.

The company plans to use the funding to grow out its programmatic TV platform -- something it was already doing. Last week, the company struck a partnership with Discovery Communications to handle more programmatically sold TV inventory, and integrated TiVo’s research and analytics data into its platform to enhance audience insights.

Several weeks ago, Janice Finkel-Greene, EVP of buying analytics at Magna Global, warned the industry against overpromising what is truly possible with programmatic TV technologies today. 

In response to that statement, Doug Hurd, co-founder and EVP of business development at clypd, said: “It all goes back to educating the market and setting the right expectations. The technology that is available today will help both the buyers and the sellers of TV inventory,” asserting that “at the tactical level, the right conversations and promises are being made.”

“At its core, programmatic TV is about automating the workflow and leveraging data to enhance the way that the media is valued and transacted,” Hurd added.

With a fresh $19.4 million in its pocket from an array of investors, it’s clear that many see a big future in automated TV advertising technology.

RTL Group’s decision to invest in clypd (and lead the round) is fitting, considering the company bought a majority stake in programmatic video SSP SpotXchange last year. SpotXchange is focused in the digital video space, while clypd’s specializes in television. RTL's investment in the latter helps the broadcasting giant diversify its portfolio.