Video Ad Mavens TubeMogul Get $10 Million Funding From Singapore, Expand into China

Californian-based TubeMogul is a platform for the real-time buying of video ads on mobile devices. Aside from how annoying it must be to be hit with a video ad on your phone, it’s an interesting business. The investment arm of telco giant SingTel seems to agree that it has lots of potential, as today SingTel Innov8 has led a $10 million funding round in TubeMogul.

At the same time, TubeMogul is expanding into China and has just opened an office in Beijing to be headed by Sven Rossbach. His task, says today’s announcement, is to “introduce Chinese brand marketers and publishers to the programmatic buying of video ads, and grow TubeMogul’s presence.”

TubeMogul’s main product is PlayTime media buying, which also enables brands to get assurances that their video ad was watched, and gives analytics on where it was viewed and who saw it. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is on the board of TubeMogul (Updated: No longer on board).

This is TubeMogul’s third major funding round and it already has offices across the US, plus one in London, and more recently opened bases in Singapore, Japan, and Sydney to begin its Asia-Pacific expansion.

SingTel Innov8 director Punit Chiniwalla said today:

TubeMogul fits perfectly into our strategy of investing in top advertising companies that are poised for rapid growth in Asia. We are impressed by the product and team on the ground and look forward to working more closely with the company.

The last time we saw SingTel Innov8 splashing some cash was just last month when it put $5 million into a Chinese startup that helps overseas gaming developers publish in and monetize from Chinese gamers.

Cross Creek Capital, a venture fund linked to Wasatch Advisors, also participated in this series C round along with existing investors Digital Advertising Consortium, Foundation Capital, and Trinity Ventures.