ironSource is an advertising technology company backed by Carmel Ventures, a Viola Group affiliate, as well as CVC Capital Partners. The company focuses on developing technologies for app monetization and distribution, with its core products focused on gametech. Among others, ironSource was chosen as one of the '20 hottest startups' in 2013 and was listed in the Wall Street Journal "Billion Dollar Startup Club". In September 2015, ironSource was named by the World Economic Forum as a Global Growth Company. ironSource has also been named one of the hottest pre-IPO tech companies by Business Insider, and one of Israel's most innovative companies by Fast Company. ironSource has over 850 employees, with more than half dedicated to R&D. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, ironSource also has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tokyo, and Seoul.
History
Founded in 2010 in Tel Aviv, ironSource provides platforms and tools for application developers including analytics, user monetization, conversion, acquisition and optimization for all devices. In the first quarter of 2013, ironSource acquired Israeli advertising technology and network company AfterDownload Ltd. for $28 million to expand its integrated distribution, installation and value-building tools for software developers, publishers and advertisers. The company also utilizes the C.A.S.T. native platform, kudosKit appreciation platform, which brings mobile application developers distribution and engagement services. ironSource opened US offices in San Francisco in August 2013 and opened an office in Beijing, China in May 2014. ironSource established a UK presence in April 2015. ironSource raised approximately $85M from a group of international investors and acquired the mobile game studio Upopa in the fall of 2014. In September 2015, ironSource merged Supersonic into its mobile operation for a price estimated to be $200 million. The new organization re-branded itself as ironSource. In July 2016, ironSource announced the acquisition of Sequoia-backed video technology company StreamRail. The 15 person StreamRail team joined ironSource's Advertiser Solution division, where their proprietary technology for video delivery and monetization will work to enhance ironSource's existing video advertising platform for brands - ironSource Neon. In August 2017, ironSource was reported to be "in advanced talks" to be bought for $1.8 billion by a consortium of investment funds. In October 2019, CVC Capital Partners acquired a minority stake in ironSource for over $400 million. ironSource announced the launch of its new mobile game studio, Supersonic Studios, in February 2020. Within 10 days of its founding, Supersonic Studios has already published a chart-topping game, with Sort It 3D reaching the top of the major European, U.S., South Korean, and Japanese charts within a day of launch. Within a couple of months, Supersonic Studios "scored three games in the top 10 mobile charts" which amassed more than 35 million downloads.
Applications
In September 2014, ironSource acquired gaming company Upopa. Upopa has launched 10 highly successful mobile games on the App Store and Google Play, including the Hopeless series, Mutation Mash, Sugar Slide, and Ruby Run. “With each successive mobile game the team releases, we gain an even better understanding of what app developers need in order to turn their great products into scalable businesses,” said Tomer Bar Zeev, CEO and Co-Founder of ironSource. ironSource is one of the first mobile SDK providers to support Augmented reality Ads for game developers. On October 3 2018, ironSource released the ad revenue measurement tool that allows developers to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns aligned with other similar tools used amongst developers as means of evaluating return on ad spend.
