Sweden: Search specialist Keybroker raises €5 million

Investment round completed

The Nordic online search specialist Keybroker AB raised €5 million to continue development of its search advertising system CampaignControl.

The money came from Investor Growth Capital, the wholly owned venture capital arm of Investor AB.

Fredrik Arnander, founder of Stockholm-based Keybroker, will lead the European expansion as new group CEO, while co-founder Fredrik Holmén will head Keybroker’s product development.

Keybroker CampaignControl system aims to increase online sales by placement of sponsored links on the Internet. The system manages the campaign and automates the advertising process.

The search advertising market is currently worth close to €1.5 billion in the UK alone, and is continuing to grow at double-digit rates across Europe.

“The future of advertising is digital, result based and exactly measurable. The right technology will be the difference between winning and losing in this financially driven market,” says Holmén

Keybroker says it has quickly established a leading role in the Scandinavian search market, with clients including the internet travel companies the Opodo Group and eBookers, financial services company American Express and world class brands such as Absolut Vodka.

The main competitors are US based firms such as iCrossing, Efficient Frontier and Advertising.com. Keybroker grew by more than 500 per cent in 2007.

“The market for online advertising is growing fast and the media market is evolving in a fundamental way. In Keybroker we found a company that is driving this change, has a proven track record and the potential to play a leading role in the European online market,” says Mikael Johnsson, Investor Growth Capital.