Israeli Big Data Firm EXelate Acquired By Nielsen For Est. $200M

If big data is the new oil, then Israel’s eXelate is the rig that removes it from the ground as well as the refining plant.

U.S.-based market research firm Nielsen has acquired Israeli big data analytics firm eXelate. Geektime‘s sources say it was acquired for $200 million. The acquisition will enable Nielsen’s customers to take faster and smarter marketing and media decisions in real-time.

eXelate was founded in 2007 by Elad Efraim and Meir Zohar, who is now a board member and consultant for the company. The company has raised a total of $32 million so far from Carmel Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Trident Capital and NewSpring Capital.

eXelate employs about 100 people at offices in New York, Tel Aviv, Chicago, San Francisco, London and Paris.

eXelate’s technology analyzes big data and uses it to allow ad buyers to target their ads in an optimal way. eXelate collects, analyzes and distributes data from the Internet, including demographic data, interests and purchase intentions that it receives from 200 information providers that track user behavior on the Internet as well as off-line.

eXelate’s information market as well as its platform are very fast, and Nielsen plans to continue to expand them.

“This acquisition creates an outstanding opportunity for Nielsen in the digital media market,” said Steve Hasker, Nielsen’s Global President in a statement. “Adding eXelate’s solutions to the Nielsen family furthers our ability to help marketers improve the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and to help media companies better sell their content.”

“eXelate’s mission is to power the digital marketing ecosystem with data and insights to better inform the buying and selling of advertising,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of eXelate.

Nielsen’s funding activity in Israel

In early 2014, Nielsen launched an incubator in Israel called the Nielsen Innovate. Based in Caesarea, it focuses on startups disrupting digital technology and adtech. They have also made a number of substantial acquisitions in Israel, including Buzzmetrics for $100 million in 2009.