There’s no shortage of companies that help advertisers make better sense of how ad campaigns perform online. But what about an older medium, such as television? That’s where Lucid Commerce — a Seattle startup that announced $8 million in fresh funding today — is trying to make its mark.

The recent financing — led by Rho Ventures and supported by StarVest Partners, Positec USA, OVP Venture Partners and Greycroft Partners — brings total funding in the company to about $17 million.

Lucinda Stewart, a partner at Kirkland-based OVP, tells GeekWire that the Lucid has solved the complex problem of telling large brand advertisers whether their TV ad campaigns are resonating with the right people. It does this by monitoring online purchasing behavior after TV ads air.

For example, it could tell an advertiser like Apple whether an iPad commercial resonated with its core demographic during a broadcast of a sporting event or talk show.

While many companies (including Microsoft and Google) are trying to solve the online advertising equation, Stewart said few have attacked the TV market. And, even though dollars are shifting online very quickly, TV advertising still represents a multi-billion dollar opportunity.

If Lucid can move the “needle” just a few percentage points on those TV ad campaigns, she said it can save companies millions of dollars.

Lucid employs about 15 people, and it plans to open a New York Office as a result of the financing. Stewart said investors were happy with the valuation placed on Lucid, but it wasn’t some insane increase.

That’s driven in part by the fact that the company is just now starting to aggressively roll out the offering — one of the reasons it plans to set up a beachhead in New York.

Founded in 2005, the company is led by former aQuantive employee Tyson Roberts. As a result of the financing, Rho Ventures’ Doug McCormick — the former CEO of iVillage and Lifetime Entertainment — will join the board.

 

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