RetargetLinks

RetargetLinks, operating as Inbound Retargeting Technologies Inc., is a Vancouver-based ad-tech company founded in 2015 by CEO Serge Salager. Salager, a Harvard MBA, leveraged his extensive background in marketing at Procter & Gamble and experience as a CEO of a TSX-listed tech company to launch the venture. The inspiration for RetargetLinks stemmed from Salager's own experience with a retargeting campaign, where he identified a need for more accurate ad targeting. He is joined by a technical co-founding team that includes Sam Vincent and Dylan Tredger, who previously worked at the site-retargeting company Chango.

The company's core offering is a patented "link retargeting" technology that enables advertisers to display banner ads to individuals who click on specific short links. Unlike traditional site retargeting, which targets visitors of a specific website, RetargetLinks allows marketers to embed a retargeting pixel within a shortened URL. When a user clicks this link—which can be shared across social media, emails, or blogs—they are tagged with a cookie, and subsequently shown a series of approximately 15 banner ads over a two-week period as they browse the internet on premium ad networks like Google AdX, OpenX, and AppNexus. This model is designed for hyper-targeting, serving clients from small businesses and individual marketers to large enterprises such as Procter & Gamble, Uber, and Staples. Revenue is generated on a cost-per-impression (CPM) basis, with a typical rate of $8 per 1,000 ad impressions, and does not require a subscription.

Initially bootstrapped, RetargetLinks built its minimum viable product and then secured $500,000 in an angel round to develop its infrastructure. Over time, it has raised a total of approximately $1 million through various funding rounds, including participation from investors like 500 Global, Techstars, and The Brandery. The company has participated in multiple accelerator programs, including one sponsored by Procter & Gamble and the Techstars accelerator in Singapore, sponsored by Rakuten. A notable milestone includes the acquisition of competitor Primeloop in November 2016 for its intellectual property.

Keywords: link retargeting, ad-tech, banner advertising, targeted ads, short link advertising, Serge Salager, online advertising network, cost-per-impression, marketing technology, audience tagging, remarketing, digital advertising, user tracking, social media advertising, email marketing tool, content retargeting, startup advertising, Vancouver startup, ad campaign management, click-through retargeting