Ad tech business Viant Technology this morning announced it has acquired IRIS.TV, a specialist in CTV content data, for an undisclosed fee. The acquisition will strengthen Viant’s positioning in the CTV space, while the two companies also say it will help expand IRIS’s CTV content identification across more major CTV publishers. IRIS will continue to operate independently following the acquisition, led by co-founders Field Garthwaite and Richie Hyden.
IRIS is known for its IRIS_ID, an identifier used to classify video content in a standardised way. The identifier is generated using AI-powered technology which analyses video metadata and normalises it, regardless of how it’s presented. This can then be used for contextual targeting and brand safety classification, as third parties are able to enrich the ID with their own video-level data, while also helping advertisers understand the CTV content they’re buying.
IRIS says it has indexed over 60 million streaming video files via integrations with more than 1,400 video content owners, platforms, and content management systems. Viant says it is committed to expanding this reach, with the ultimate goal of making the IRIS_ID available to the entire ecosystem.
“The IRIS team has built an outstanding platform that addresses a huge problem in the ecosystem around standardising content classification in CTV,” said Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Viant Technology. “We are excited to support their mission to enhance the value of premium CTV content in the bidstream. IRIS’s position at the intersection of CTV and the ad tech ecosystem aligns seamlessly with Viant’s vision for the future.”
“We are excited to join the Viant team while continuing our global CTV content identification mission,” said Field Garthwaite, co-founder and CEO of IRIS.TV. “Tim and Chris are true industry visionaries, who have withstood the test of time in an industry that is constantly evolving. Their leadership in AI, CTV, and innovation will provide us with the support we need as we continue to expand IRIS.TV’s reach.”
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