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Ex.co

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EX.CO
FormerlyPlaybuzz
Founded2012
FoundersTom Pachys, Shachar Orren
Headquarters
New York City
Key people
Tom Pachys, CEO[1]
Shachar Orren, CMO/CRO
Yaniv Lubinski, CFO
Oren Regev, Chief Product Officer
Websiteex.co

EX.CO is a Disney-backed,[2] publisher video technology platform.[3] It is used by publishers such as Nasdaq and News UK.[4]

History

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EX.CO was founded as Playbuzz in 2012 by Shaul Olmert and Tom Pachys. Pachys is a graduate of IDC as well as the co-founder of Whimado.

In September 2017, the company announced it had raised an additional $35 million in a Series C funding round led by Viola Group with participation from existing investors including the Walt Disney Company and Saban Ventures.[5][6] This brought Playbuzz's total funding to $66 million.[7]

In 2019, Shaul Olmert stepped down as CEO, with co-founder Tom Pachys assuming the role. Olmert eventually departed the company entirely.[8] Playbuzz then changed its name to EX.CO[9] and Shachar Orren was later named a co-founder of the company in 2021.[10]

In January 2024, EX․CO was chosen as the preferred video platform by the Local Media Consortium (LMC), a group focused on providing strategic partnerships for approximately 5,000 local media outlets including Bonneville International and WRAL.[11]

Acquisitions

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In 2021, EX.CO acquired video monetization technology company Cedato.[12]

In 2022, the company announced the acquisition of the machine-learning company Bibblio.[13]

Products

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In 2023, EX․CO announced new AI-driven content recommendations and premium video libraries for publishers that aim to identify the most contextually relevant video for each article and the highest-yielding feed for a page on a publisher's site.[14]

In 2024, EX․CO launched a vertical video player for publishers' mobile and desktop websites to help monetize content.[15]

Later that year, the Local Media Consortium—an organization representing approximately 5,000 local media outlets—named EX.CO as its preferred provider of video technology solutions.[16]

In early 2025, EX․CO expanded its ad serving capabilities to include support for connected TV (CTV) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) formats. The company leverages a proprietary yield optimization engine, powered by machine learning, to analyze large datasets and determine the most effective demand sources. This system continuously adjusts pricing in real time, aiming to improve ad performance and maximize revenue potential across channels.[17]

Awards

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1. 2022 Business Insider: Hottest Marketing Tech Companies of 2022[18]
2. 2023 Digiday Video & TV Awards: Best Digital Video Monetization Program [19]
3. 2024 Digiday Media Awards: Best Video Platform [20]
4. 2024 Digiday Technology Awards: Best Sell-Side Programmatic Platform [21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Playbuzz CEO Shaul Olmert to Step Down". Calcalist. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  2. ^ Blount, Leslie (25 March 2022). "How Personalization Helped Alex and Ani Boost Conversions 65%". Adweek. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  3. ^ Johnson, Lynne d (27 March 2023). "Ex.Co Gets Into the AI Content Recommendation Business: A Chat with CEO Tom Pachys". AdMonsters. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ Griffin, Rob (9 January 2024). "How online publishers can turn video into a top revenue earner". Press Gazette. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  5. ^ Shead, Sam (27 September 2017). "Playbuzz raised $35 million for its platform that aims to help publishers engage with the 'Snapchat generation'". The Business Insider. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  6. ^ Marshall, Jack (27 September 2017). "Disney-backed Playbuzz raises $35 million to grow content creation platform". MarketWatch. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  7. ^ Ellingson, Annlee (27 September 2017). "Disney invests more in accelerator graduate Playbuzz". L.A. Biz. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. ^ Kahan, Raphael (10 October 2019). "Playbuzz CEO Shaul Olmert to Step Down". Calcalist. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  9. ^ Ha, Anthony (18 November 2019). "Playbuzz becomes Ex.co and expands its content marketing platform". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  10. ^ Spiro, James (13 October 2021). "EX․CO appoints Shachar Orren as Co-Founder". CTECH. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  11. ^ Lafayette, Jon (24 January 2024). "Local Media Consortium Picks Ex.Co Video Publishing Technology". Broadcasting + Cable. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  12. ^ Ha, Anthony (22 April 2021). "EX.CO acquires video adtech company Cedato". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  13. ^ "EX.CO Acquires Machine-Learning Company Bibblio to Expand Website Personalization Capabilities for Brands, Publishers, and E-commerce Businesses". Martech Series. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  14. ^ Johnson, Lynne d (27 March 2023). "Ex.Co Gets Into the AI Content Recommendation Business: A Chat with CEO Tom Pachys". AdMonsters. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  15. ^ Meier, Dan (3 January 2024). "EX.CO Launches Vertical Video Player for Publishers". VideoWeek. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  16. ^ Lafayette, Jon (24 January 2024). "Local Media Consortium Picks Ex.Co Video Publishing Technology". Broadcasting + Cable. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  17. ^ Meier, Dan (7 January 2025). "EX.CO Makes CTV Move with Machine Learning-Driven Auctions". VideoWeek. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  18. ^ Johnson, Lauren (28 November 2022). "The hottest marketing tech companies of 2022". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  19. ^ Awards, Digiday (7 March 2023). "PlayStation and MOCEAN, PinkNews, TheSoul Publishing and INNOCEAN USA are 2023 Digiday Video and TV Award winners". Digiday. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  20. ^ Awards, Digiday (14 May 2024). "Salesforce, TIME and Fortune Media are among this year's Digiday Media Awards winners". Digiday. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  21. ^ Awards, Digiday (10 September 2024). "Adobe, Soundcloud, Disney and Spectrum are 2024 Digiday Technology Awards winners". Digiday. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
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