Outbrain Revenue, Valuation, Funding & Investors

Outbrain is valued at $921M as of July 2015, a 1.0x multiple on its last reported $950M revenue.

Last Outbrain valuation

$921M

Undisclosed stage · Jul 2015

Last Outbrain funding round

$200M

Undisclosed stage · Jul 2021

Outbrain revenue

$950M

Undisclosed stage · Jul 2015

Key investors in Outbrain

  • Lightspeed Venture Partners
  • Index Ventures
  • Viola Ventures
  • Vintage Investment Partners
  • HarbourVest Partners
  • Susquehanna Growth Equity

Outbrain Overview

About Outbrain

Outbrain is a recommendation engine for open web publishers, powering personalized content discovery through on-site feeds. It facilitates advertiser access to engaged audiences via targeted campaigns. New York-headquartered since its 2006 founding, the company maintains offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Singapore, Japan, and Australia. Participating publishers include ESPN, CNN, Le Monde, Fox News, The Guardian, Slate, The Telegraph, New York Post, India.com, Sky News, and Time Inc.


Founded

2006

HQ

United StatesNew York City, NY

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Advertising, Subscription

Revenue

$950M (Jul 2015)

Valuation

$921M (Jul 2015)

Outbrain Valuation

Outbrain is currently valued at $921M, based on its undisclosed-stage round in July 2015.

The $50M round was led by Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Outbrain's valuation has moved from $1B at its Series E in October 2013 to $921M in July 2015, across 2 priced rounds.

Outbrain valuation by funding round

Revenue multiple
Outbrain valuation by funding round
DateStageValuationRevenue Multiple
Jul 2015Undisclosed stage$921M1.0x
Oct 2013Series E$1B-

Outbrain Revenue

Outbrain's latest recorded revenue is $950M, as of its undisclosed-stage round in July 2015. At a $921M valuation, that implies a 1.0x revenue multiple.

Outbrain revenue by funding round

Outbrain revenue and valuation multiple by funding round
DateRevenue *ValuationRevenue MultipleStage
Jul 2015$950M$921M1.0xUndisclosed stage

* Revenue (or ARR) figures are the values recorded alongside each funding round. Typically run-rate revenue at the time of the deal, or a reported LTM (last 12 months) revenue.

Outbrain Funding History

Outbrain has raised a total of $330M across 4 funding rounds.

Outbrain's first fundraising round was a $35M Series E in October 2013. The most recent completed round was a $200M undisclosed-stage round in July 2021.

Outbrain funding rounds

Outbrain funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
Jul 2021Undisclosed stageThe Baupost Group (lead)$200M-Outbrain, a leading recommendation platform for the open web, secured $200 million in funding from The Baupost Group on July 6, 2021, as part of its strategic financing ahead of its planned IPO. The investment took the form of senior subordinated secured notes, which were intended to convert to convertible notes post-IPO, with protective valuation floors such as $236 million if the IPO occurred before August 15, 2021, or $240 million between August 15 and December 31. Outbrain reported strong Q1 2021 financials in its IPO prospectus, with revenue surging 29% to $228 million from $177 million the prior year, alongside a net profit of $10.7 million versus a $9.6 million loss. The company, founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York with global offices, partners with publishers and marketers in over 55 countries, powering content discovery for one-third of the world's online consumers via recommendation feeds on media sites. This funding supported Outbrain's expansion plans, innovation for premium media partners, and growth of its advertising platform, coming shortly after filing its S-1 for a Nasdaq IPO on June 29, 2021. Baupost, managing $31 billion with a value-oriented approach led by Seth Klarman, aligned with Outbrain's vision. The IPO later occurred on July 27, 2021, raising funds at $20 per share.
May 2016Undisclosed stage-$45M-Outbrain, a content discovery engine founded in 2006, closed a $45 million funding round in May 2016 from undisclosed investors. The company's CEO Yaron Galai announced the round via blog post, stating the capital would be used to continue scaling operations and enhancing technology, including investments in talent, R&D, organic product innovation like Outbrain for Chat, and acquisitions such as Revee. By the time of this funding round, Outbrain had raised a cumulative total of $195 million in equity financing across multiple prior rounds, including a $35 million Series D led by Index Ventures and a $50 million injection from SIG fund Susquehanna Growth Equity in the preceding year. The company operated 14 offices globally and had invested more than $75 million in R&D to date.
Jul 2015Undisclosed stageSusquehanna Growth Equity (lead)$50M$921MOutbrain, an Israeli-founded content recommendation platform established in 2006 by Yaron Galai and Ori Lahav, raised $50 million in a private equity round on July 27, 2015, led by Susquehanna Growth Equity to support strategic acquisitions and growth. Susquehanna Growth Equity, a firm targeting growth-stage companies in software, internet, and information services, highlighted Outbrain as a notable investment alongside others like MMIT and Zyme Solutions. Outbrain's platform connects publishers globally, enabling consumers to discover content and helping premium publishers reach wider audiences with relevant recommendations. The investment aligned with Outbrain's expansion in content discovery, competing in a space later marked by merger talks with rival Taboola. Outbrain went public via IPO in July 2021 raising $160 million, and in 2024 pursued an acquisition of Teads involving debt financing.
Oct 2013Series EHarbourVest Partners (lead); GlenRock Israel; Index Ventures; Vintage Investment Partners; Rhodium; Viola Ventures; Lightspeed Venture Partners; Gemini Israel Ventures$35M$1BOutbrain is a content recommendation platform founded in 2006 that generates revenue for publishers by displaying feeds of content and ads, known as chumboxes, on websites and mobile platforms. Advertisers pay on a pay-per-click basis, with approximately 75% of that revenue shared with publishers. The company, headquartered in New York with Israeli roots, had raised $194 million in total funding by 2020 from investors including Index Ventures, HarbourVest Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. It acquired companies like Surphace in 2011, Scribit in 2012, Visual Revenue in 2013, Revee in 2016, Zemanta in 2017, and Ligatus in 2019 to expand its capabilities in content recommendation and native advertising. The specified 2013 funding round involved investors such as Daniel Recanati, Gemini Israel Ventures, GlenRock Israel, HarbourVest Partners (lead), Index Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Rhodium, Vintage Investment Partners, and Viola Ventures, around October 22, 2013. Later developments include a planned $850 million merger with Taboola in 2020, valuing the combined entity over $2 billion, which was called off due to pandemic impacts on ad budgets and financing issues. Both companies claimed about $1 billion in annual revenues at that time and were profitable.

Who has invested in Outbrain?

10 investors have backed Outbrain across its funding rounds, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Viola Ventures, Vintage Investment Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Lead investors include The Baupost Group, Susquehanna Growth Equity and HarbourVest Partners.


Outbrain Investors

Investors in Outbrain by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
GlenRock IsraelIsraelHerzliya1ParticipantOct 2013
Index VenturesUnited KingdomLondon1ParticipantOct 2013
Vintage Investment PartnersIsraelHerzliya1ParticipantOct 2013
The Baupost GroupUnited StatesBoston, MA1LeadJul 2021
RhodiumIsraelHerzliya1ParticipantOct 2013
Viola VenturesIsraelHerzliya1ParticipantOct 2013
Lightspeed Venture PartnersUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantOct 2013
Susquehanna Growth EquityUnited StatesPhiladelphia, PA1LeadJul 2015

This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 10 Outbrain investors.

Start Free Trial

Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples

Sign up to see data on 350K+ funding rounds and disclosed revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples, from seed, through growth stage, to pre-IPO.

Start Free Trial

Acquisitions by Outbrain

Outbrain has acquired 6 companies to date.

Last acquisition by Outbrain was on August 1st 2024. Outbrain acquired Teads Holding for $900M.


Latest Acquisitions by Outbrain

Teads Holding
video intelligence by Outbrain
Ligatus
AdNgin
Description
Teads Holding Co is the omnichannel outcomes platform for the open internet, driving full-funnel results for marketers across premium media. Its Focus on meaningful business outcomes for branding and performance objectives, the combined company ensures value is driven with every media dollar by leveraging predictive AI technology to connect quality media, beautiful brand creative, and context-driven addressability and measurement.
video intelligence by Outbrain is a New York-based contextual video advertising platform using AI to match ads with editorial content. The system analyzes videos for topics, sentiment, and audience fit, placing programmatic buys alongside publisher inventory on sites like ESPN and Time. Integrated with Outbrain's recommendation engine, it delivers billions of monthly views across desktop and mobile for brands in automotive and finance.
Ligatus is a Cologne-headquartered native advertising platform operating across ten European countries including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. As a subsidiary of Bertelsmann's Gruner + Jahr, it provides supply-side and demand-side platforms for publishers and brands. Ligatus delivers billions of ad impressions monthly on over 1,400 premium sites, utilizing dynamic algorithms for audience engagement.
AdNgin is a technology platform designed for premium publishers to optimize and manage advertising inventory. Backed by specialists in online advertising and R&D, it delivers tailored solutions for ad monetization. Founded in 2016, the company operates from its base in Asia with a focus on high-value publisher needs.
HQ CountryUnited StatesSwitzerlandGermanyIsrael
HQ City
New York City, NY
Zurich
Cologne
Tel Aviv
Deal Date1 Aug 202422 Nov 202126 Feb 20195 Jun 2018
Valuation$900M$55Mundisclosedundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Outbrain acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples.

Start Free Trial

Outbrain Competitors

Outbrain competitors include listed companies like Ibotta, Vobile and Taboola, and private ones like Madhive, CHEQ and iSpot.tv.

Public and private companies comparable to Outbrain
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
MadhiveUnited StatesNew York City, NYPrivate$125M-$900M7.2x
IbottaUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$342M$7M$972M2.4x
VobileUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$366M$63M$976M2.6x
TaboolaUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$1.9B$121M$993M0.5x
CHEQIsraelTel AvivPrivate$4M-$1B250.0x
iSpot.tvUnited StatesSeattle, WAPrivate$75M-$1B13.3x

Outbrain Public Comps

Outbrain is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Ibotta, Vobile, Taboola, MNTN, Criteo, PubMatic, Septeni Holdings, Sprout Social, MediaAlpha and Yext.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Ibotta$342M$7M2.5x2.4x114.9x15.3x
Vobile$366M$63M3.1x2.6x18.0x20.1x
Taboola$1.9B$121M0.5x0.5x8.4x4.5x
MNTN$290M($10M)2.1x1.8x(63.5x)6.7x
Criteo$1.9B$323M0.4x0.7x2.2x2.1x
PubMatic$283M$22M2.4x2.3x30.9x10.1x
Septeni Holdings$195M$36M3.0x2.8x16.1x15.6x
Sprout Social$458M($31M)1.3x1.2x(18.6x)8.1x

This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Outbrain competitors and their valuation data.

Start Free Trial

Common questions about Outbrain

When was Outbrain founded?Outbrain was founded in 2006.
Where is Outbrain headquartered?Outbrain is headquartered in New York City, NY, United States.
Is Outbrain publicly listed?No, Outbrain is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Outbrain's valuation?Outbrain was last valued at $921M in its undisclosed-stage round in July 2015.
How much funding has Outbrain raised?Outbrain has raised $330M across 4 funding rounds.
What was Outbrain's last funding round?Outbrain's last funding round was a $200M undisclosed-stage round in July 2021, led by The Baupost Group.
Who are Outbrain's investors?Outbrain's investors include GlenRock Israel, Index Ventures, Vintage Investment Partners, The Baupost Group, Rhodium, Viola Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Susquehanna Growth Equity, Gemini Israel Ventures and HarbourVest Partners.
What is Outbrain's revenue?Outbrain's latest recorded revenue is $950M (July 2015).
What is Outbrain's revenue multiple?Outbrain's latest valuation implies a 1.0x revenue multiple ($921M valuation on $950M of revenue).
Which companies are comparable to Outbrain?Companies comparable to Outbrain include Madhive, Ibotta, Vobile, Taboola, CHEQ and iSpot.tv.
How many companies has Outbrain acquired?Outbrain has acquired 6 companies, including Teads Holding, video intelligence by Outbrain, Ligatus, AdNgin and Zemanta.
What was the largest acquisition by Outbrain?The $900M acquisition of Teads Holding in August 2024 is the largest acquisition Outbrain has made to date.

See companies similar to Outbrain

Start Your
Free Trial Today

Try Multiples for free for 3 days. Got questions or need a demo? Schedule a call with us below.

Start Trial