What happened
Viant, an advertising technology company, reported strong Q3 results with over $110 million in revenue, up 29% year-over-year. CTV ad spend increased nearly 40% and now represents more than half of Viant's total ad spend. The company also announced the completion of its acquisition of Waymark, an AI video creative production platform, for $20 million in cash. Waymark's technology enables rapid creation of video ads from brand inputs, helping advertisers produce CTV ads more efficiently. Viant plans to integrate Waymark with its Household ID, Iris Content ID, and TVision attention data to deliver personalized, dynamic creative for CTV. Despite the positive earnings, Viant's stock dropped about 7% in after-hours trading, possibly due to rising costs from recent acquisitions like TVision and Waymark, which are not yet contributing significant revenue.
Key facts & figures
- ·Viant acquires Waymark for $20 million in cash.
- ·Viant reports Q3 revenue of over $110 million, up 29% YoY.
- ·CTV ad spend increased almost 40% YoY, representing over half of Viant's total ad spend.
- ·Waymark's platform enables rapid creation of video ads with custom script, visuals, and voiceover.
- ·Viant expects costs to rise about 25% next quarter due to acquisitions like TVision and Waymark.
Why it matters — our perspective
The biggest friction point keeping small and mid-sized performance advertisers out of Connected TV is rarely DSP access—it is the cost and lead time of producing broadcast-quality video spots. By acquiring Waymark's AI video generation platform for $20M alongside 40% CTV spend growth, Viant lowers the creative barrier to entry so performance and retail-media budgets can activate CTV as easily as social video.
Key questions for investors and operators
When evaluating transactions, technology stacks, or commercial partnerships in this space, we recommend looking closely at three questions:
Companies & platforms involved
Viant reported Q3 revenue of over $110 million and acquired Waymark.
Waymark is an AI video creative production platform acquired by Viant.
TVision is an attention measurement company previously acquired by Viant.
Local media sellers including Spectrum Reach use Waymark to produce linear and CTV spots.
Local media sellers including Comcast use Waymark to produce linear and CTV spots.