Mojiva

About Mojiva

Mojiva Inc. operated as a mobile advertising technology company, carving out a niche in the burgeoning mobile ad space of the late 2000s and early 2010s. The company was established in May 2008 in New York City by co-founders Dan Goikhman, Krish Arvapally, and Miles Spencer. Goikhman and Arvapally, who have collaborated on multiple startups, brought their entrepreneurial spirit to the venture, with Goikhman focusing on business development and Arvapally leading the technology and engineering vision. The leadership team was further strengthened by the appointment of Dave Gwozdz, a co-founder of the influential ad network DoubleClick, as CEO from August 2008 to December 2013.

The firm's business was twofold, structured around two primary units: the Mojiva mobile ad network and the Mocean Mobile ad-serving platform. The Mojiva network connected advertisers with a vast portfolio of digital publishers and app developers, which grew to represent over 8,000 clients. It served both banner and full-screen interstitial advertisements to smartphones and tablets. A significant development was the launch of Mojiva Tab in 2012, the first ad network specifically dedicated to the rapidly growing tablet market. The Mocean Mobile platform provided a white-label ad-serving technology that empowered publishers, and even other ad networks, to manage their own ad inventory and campaigns with detailed control over targeting and reporting. This platform was designed as a response to market demand for a more robust, independent ad-serving solution. Revenue was generated by connecting ad buyers with mobile content sellers through these platforms.

Throughout its operation, Mojiva secured significant venture funding totaling approximately $42.3 to $45.5 million over several rounds from investors including Pelion Venture Partners, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), and Shamrock Capital Advisors. A major funding milestone was a $25 million Series C round in July 2011. In a strategic move to create a clear distinction between its media sales and technology licensing businesses, Mojiva spun off Mocean Mobile as a separate entity in early 2014. Shortly thereafter, in May 2014, Mocean Mobile was acquired by the advertising technology company Pubmatic.