Drawbridge Expands Into Europe, Hiring Kate Burns, Former Top European Executive for Google and AOL

SAN MATEO, CA - October 25, 2013 - Today Drawbridge, the leader in cross-device advertising, announces the newest member of their executive team, ex-Director of Google UK and ex-CEO of AOL EU, Kate Burns.  Burns will be based in London to lead Drawbridge’s entry into Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) markets. She brings with her more than 16 years of sales, business development, and digital expansion experience on an international level for major technology brands including Google and AOL. Drawbridge expects tremendous growth in the global market for cross device advertising, with Burns leading the way as VP, EMEA Sales and Business Development.
 
“Having Kate on board at Drawbridge brings a level of expertise that will continue to fuel our international growth,” Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, CEO of Drawbridge, said. “Kate was instrumental in driving Google’s early growth in Europe and her effort building AOL’s advertisers and publishers networks, made her a perfect choice to lead our international expansion. She provides an ideal mix of sales experience, creativity, and knowledge of the needs of European advertisers to help their evolving businesses.”
 
During her most recent tenure at AOL, Burns led her team through an incredible business turnaround--returning the business to profitability and efficiency--and was responsible for all business, operations, and strategy in Europe.  Burns scaled the online giant’s advertising products for their third-party ad network, Advertising.com. She offered advertisers and agencies consumer insights to power brand solutions and engagement strategies with consumers.
 
Before working with AOL and AOL’s social media company, Bebo, Burns made history as Google’s first international hire in 2001.  She served as Google’s Sales Director for the UK, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Burns also created her own entrepreneurial venture, KT3, a commercial development firm helping technology businesses expand into Europe. She has held key sales positions at Altavista, Doubleclick, Ziff Davis, and News International. Burns was named one of the “50 Most Influential Britons in Technology” by Telegraph News in 2009, and recognized in Red Online’s Hot Women of 2011 for her astronomical successes in business.
 
“I’ve been incredibly impressed by the Drawbridge technology and the stellar team already in place,” said Burns. “They are perfectly positioned to take their success into Europe. I feel privileged to be given the opportunity to expand their business on a global scale.” 
 
Drawbridge, known for pioneering cross-device ad targeting and retargeting products, has paired over 800 million users across devices.  Alongside Burns are the existing executives of the Drawbridge team, including CEO, Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, former AdMob and Google scientist, COO, Eric Rosenblum, former Director of Product for Google, and VP of Marketing, Daryl McNutt, former SVP of Marketing at BrightRoll. The company has raised a total of $20.5M in Series A and B funding rounds from prominent investors such as Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Northgate Capital.
 
To learn more about Drawbridge, visit http://www.drawbrid.ge.
 
About Drawbridge
Drawbridge has developed the first machine-learning ad technology that leverages insights from cross-device signals to enable advertisers and marketers to reach targeted audiences across multiple devices. Drawbridge’s unique approach is built on a foundation of large-scale machine learning algorithms that correlate audience behavior across screens. Through its innovative technology, the company is able to gain insights and a much deeper understanding of audience behavior without the use of PII than was previously possible. The company is located in Silicon Valley and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, and Northgate Capital. For more information, visit http://drawbrid.ge/.

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