Industry Moves: AdMeld Taps Former FIM Exec Barrett As CEO; Completes $7M First Round
This story was written by David Kaplan.
Online ad optimizer AdMeld has named former *Fox Interactive Media* and *AOL* exec Michael Barrett to the new post of CEO. Barrett left FIM (NYSE: NWS) amid an executive shake-up last April. Barrett joined FIM as EVP and chief revenue officer in 2006. Before FIM, Barrett was EVP for sales and partnerships at *AOL* Media Networks.
In addition to a new CEO, the NYC-based company has completed its $7 million first round. The round was led by Spark Capital and the Foundry Group. AdMeld secured $5 million for the round in June and has otherwise been in stealth mode since then. AdMeld was co-founded by Ben Barokas, a former *JumpTV* and *AOL* exec. Barokas and CTO Brian Adams had been leading the company through this point; Barrett is AdMeld's first CEO. In general, ad optimization providers like AdMeld have been hoping to use the economic downturn to increase their appeal to publishers by promising better inventory management.
By David Kaplan