This morning, the Santa Monica, CA-based Science Inc. – the tech startup creation studio that aims to create, scale, and acquire successful digital businesses – announced that it has acquired PlayHaven, one of the leading mobile ad networks, from the mobile apps enterprise analytics and marketing platform, Upsight.
While no statements from either side have been made about the financial value of the acquisition, Re/code has reported that the acquisition will possibly be a little more than $20 million – sizable, considering that Science itself has raised only $40 million in financing. This is the company’s fourth acquisition to date, with two other acquisitions earlier this year: social bookmarking site, delicious, back in May, as well the mobile app development company, IconApps Inc., this past July.
“Science was looking for the highest quality mobile advertising firm and we found it in the PlayHaven Ad Network,” said Science Inc. Managing Director, Jason Rapp, in a statement. “PlayHaven’s reputation among advertisers and publishers for its transparency and performance is impeccable, and its growth and profitability are remarkable. We are thrilled to welcome the team to our company.”
With this acquisition of PlayHaven, Science Inc. gains access to a profitable mobile game ad network that generates more than 5.7 billion monthly sessions across 1.5 billion devices around the world. Upon acquisition, the company plans to immediately merge PlayHaven with Chirp Ads, Science’s mobile marketing unit, to capitalize on this network and to support mobile businesses acquire and monetize additional users with ads.
Altogether, Science Inc.’s portfolio of investments and acquisitions spans across more than 40 companies, including notable investments in Dollar Shave Club, Medium, and Dog Vacay.