John Snyder, the co-founder of contextual targeting provider, Grapeshot, has joined contextual AI specialist Illuma Technology as a shareholder and active investor.
Snyder built Grapeshot from a start-up in Cambridge, UK, in 2006, into a global adtech data provider, which he sold to the Oracle Corporation in 2018.
“GDPR has had a profound impact on the adtech market since 2018 when we sold Grapeshot,” said Snyder. “The market has witnessed an ever-increasing swing towards more contextual methods for reaching audiences, away from third-party cookies and stale behavioural data which has no GDPR rights.”
“Over many years of research, Illuma has found a way to use contextual signals from live campaigns to power audience expansion without needing cookies or identifiers,” Snyder said. “This gives traders the power to scale campaigns without compromising audience relevance.”
“I am excited to draw upon my own experience of growing Grapeshot from start-up to acquisition to help Illuma bring this next-generation capability to market; both as an active investor and as a champion of contextual and its power to deliver greater campaign performance.”
Illuma Technology was founded in London in 2016 by Peter Mason and a team of data academics. John Snyder and Peter Mason, have crossed paths briefly before when Grapeshot was in its infancy.
Peter Mason added: “John was an early pioneer of contextual advertising, and our shared passion for context goes back a long way. His expertise is second-to-none and we’re excited to have his support as Illuma expands.”
