Jon Walsh, co-founder of FindAdtech.com, talks to Andy Oakes of New Digital Age about his new venture and why a growing, increasingly fragmented industry needs a better way to navigate itself.
Adtech exists to connect advertisers with publishers and brands with consumers, yet finding the companies inside the industry remains surprisingly hard. Jon Walsh has spent years building communities and connecting people in adtech via his network of WhatsApp groups and JobsInAdtech. With JobsInAdtech.com co-founder Toby Harwood, he has now launched FindAdtech.com to tackle the problem.
Jon, you’ve worked in this industry for years. What prompted you to launch FindAdtech.com?
We’ve built an industry designed to connect advertisers with publishers, brands with consumers and businesses with opportunities. Yet finding the companies operating within our own industry is surprisingly difficult. Toby and I built JobsInAdtech.com, which has served the industry since 2023, so we felt well placed to do something about it.
How much has the industry changed?
Think back to 2007. Ad networks and ad servers were central to the market, programmatic was still developing, and many technologies we take for granted today were in their infancy or didn’t exist. Now you have SSPs, DSPs and ad exchanges, identity providers, measurement platforms, CTV specialists, retail media technology, DOOH and AI-powered advertising tools. The industry has split into countless specialisms. Alongside the household names are thousands of smaller companies building innovative products that many professionals have never come across.
So how many adtech companies are there?
Nobody knows for certain. There’s no definitive database covering every active business, and the answer depends on whether you include adjacent areas like martech, data and analytics. Our research into commercial company databases suggests the wider market could be around 17,000 businesses or more, depending on how broadly you define it. That’s an estimate, not a verified count, but it shows the scale of the challenge.
And it keeps moving.
Constantly. New businesses launch, established companies move into new categories, and emerging technologies create fresh opportunities. Keeping track of who does what is difficult even for people who’ve worked in adtech for years.
If I’m a publisher looking for a new monetisation partner, where do I start today?
The usual routes are Google, asking your network, industry events, LinkedIn, or recommendations from communities like the Adtech Chat WhatsApp groups. I’ve used all of them myself and they’re useful. But they have limits. You tend to find companies you already know, those with the biggest marketing budgets, or those within your immediate network. Plenty of relevant options get missed.
Is it the same problem from the vendor side?
It works in reverse. You can have a great product and a strong team, but if the right people don’t know you exist, winning new customers is an uphill battle. I’ve been there myself. This industry runs on relationships, and I’ve seen how many opportunities come from simply introducing two people who should have known each other already. With so many businesses in so many specialisms, there’s a clear opportunity to make those connections easier.
What is FindAdtech.com, in practical terms?
The idea is simple: a place where people can discover adtech companies from around the world without having to piece the market together themselves. For buyers, it’s a starting point for researching suppliers and potential partners. For vendors, it’s another way to get discovered. For start-ups, it’s a way to establish a presence alongside much bigger players. The aim is to make finding relevant businesses straightforward, with useful categories and coverage that evolves as the market does.
Directories can go stale quickly. How do you keep this one relevant?
It’s an ongoing challenge. You have to keep accounting for new companies, changing specialisms and emerging technologies. But that’s exactly why I believe a dedicated resource has a place.
What do you hope people get out of it?
One of the things I enjoy most about this industry is the variety. Some of the most interesting businesses aren’t the biggest or the loudest. They’re the ones you discover through a conversation, an introduction or a chance meeting at an event. I’d like FindAdtech.com to help people discover more of them. Whether you’re a publisher, advertiser, agency, investor, recruiter or technology vendor, a clearer view of the market can help you find a supplier, identify a partner or uncover a solution you didn’t know existed.
