The Big Winners In DoubleVerify’s Public Debut

Digital media analytics platform DoubleVerify saw its stock pop about 33 percent on its first day of trading, closing at $36.

Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily

The company had priced its shares at $27, the top of its set range, but its stock opened at $35, about 30 percent above its IPO price.

DoubleVerify’s platform helps advertisers navigate the ad landscape, ensuring there’s transparency between buyers and sellers, and offering verification. As advertising has turned increasingly digital in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company generated $243.9 million in revenue in 2020, up 34 percent year over year.

“I think we’ve got great financial momentum, but when we look at what’s going on in the marketplace, in the digital ecosystem, there’s never been a greater need (for the platform),” CEO Mark Zagorski said in an interview.

The company had a solid year last year, despite some companies pulling back on advertising spending amid the pandemic. Because DoubleVerify is diversified across different sectors of the market and is seen as a utility, according to Zagorski, no matter how much or how little an advertiser on the platform spent on ads, it went through DoubleVerify, which receives a fixed fee on every transaction it analyzes.

“Our ultimate goal is to continue to make sure that ad dollars go to legitimate publishers … legitimate sources, and aren’t spent on fraud or invalid content or content that’s viewed by bots,” Zagorski said.

Among the biggest winners from the IPO are Providence Equity Partners, Blumberg Capital, and Tiger Global Management. Here’s a look at how their stakes shake out amid the IPO, based on the first day opening price: 

Blumberg Capital
Number of Shares Owned After Offering: 20,000,000
Value of Stake At Opening Price: $540 million
Notable Investment: Led $3.5 million Series A in May 2009.

Providence Equity Partners
Number of Shares Owned After Offering: 90,082,711
Value of Stake At Opening Price: $2.4 billion
Notable Investment: Providence Equity Partners bought a majority stake in DoubleVerify in 2017.

Tiger Global Management
Number of Shares Owned After Offering: 13,973,212
Value of Stake At Opening Price: $377 million
Notable Investment: Led $350 million private equity round in October 2020.

DoubleVerify is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DV.

Illustration: Dom Guzman