Phorm gets £15m of good news amid mounting pressure

by Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh, revolutionmagazine.com 10-Jun-09, 11:12

LONDON - Phorm has raised £15 million through a stock sale to fund expansion plans in Britain and Korea.

The company said the capital will be used ‘to continue the implementation of its service in the UK and Korean markets, and for general working capital purposes, as it continues partnership discussions with ISPs both in the UK and internationally.

Phorm has developed technology that allows ISPs to track what their users are doing online by scanning for keywords on websites visited. The data is sold on to media companies and advertisers that can use it to place more relevant ads on websites that the user subsequently visits.

Last year Phorm sold 1.61 million shares for £20 each - more than four times the value of the latest offering. Phorm has been battling to win the confidence of the public and some brands, and faced scrutiny from privacy groups, the Government and the European Commission over data privacy concerns.

Earlier this year Amazon and Wikipedia said they would not allow Phorm to collect data from their sites.

Kent Ertugrul, chief executive of Phorm said the 3.3 million shares sold for £4.50 each, account for 19.4 per cent of the company, and were bought up by existing shareholders and new financial institute investors.

Last month NebuAd, seen by some a competitor of Phorm, closed down after US authorities forced the company to abandon its targeting practices with local internet service providers in September.