Tech veteran and iSchool Alum Craig Coblenz ‘95 is no stranger to building success at early-stage companies and startups. Armed with a degree in Information Management and Technology from Syracuse University, Craig used his college experience to launch a rewarding career applying tech to business and later co-found his own startup.
Drawing from his previous experience at then-startup Facebook, Craig helped create VidMob, a creative technology company that helps marketers improve digital ad performance. Founded in 2014 alongside business partners Alex Collmer and Jason Donnell, VidMob surfaces insights around what aspects of a marketers advertising creative is driving performance and what is hindering performance in ad creative and then applies that data to the production of new, better performing creative assets. This process enables marketers to optimize, or make changes to the creative, to achieve the best possible business results for every campaign. VidMob is calling this concept of data-informed creative Intelligent Creative. The company partners with most of today’s leading digital platforms, including Google, Meta, Amazon Ads, Snap, TikTok, Reddit, Hulu, etc and is making quick inroads into CTV and programmatic, allowing clients to always build the best creative for each unique platform.
Originally based in New York, VidMob has expanded globally with offices all across the US, EMEA, and LATAM. With over 300 employees, VidMob is a leader in tech and work culture and has been recognized by Ad Age as one of the best places to work in 2022. It is also known as a mission-driven organization, funding pro bono creative projects for non profit organizations through their foundation, VidMob.Gives.
And VidMob is just getting started. In August of 2022, Vidmob closed a Series D investment round for $110 million dollars. Led by Shamrock Capital, a leading growth equity investor, this latest funding will help innovate, scale the business and further establish VidMob as the leader in Intelligent Creative. Shamrock is joined by several other investors, including eGateway Capital, Proof Ventures, ID Fund, Drive by Draftkings, Swingbridge, Transformation Ventures, Jetty Cove, and Herington LLC. The Series D is a significant achievement, especially alongside VidMob’s Series C funding round for $50 million in early 2021. As a whole, VidMob has raised over $200 million and is valued at around $500 million.
In addition to expanding the company’s growth, VidMob’s new capital will also be used to continue innovating and building product to best serve their clients and partners. VidMob plans to continue building an innovative platform that combines the power of technology with human creativity to pioneer the category of Intelligent Creative and play a critical role in the future of marketing.
Coblenz credits his iSchool experience for giving him the blend of technical, business and communications skills that have served him throughout his career, and spurred his trajectory from working with large tech companies and startups to taking the entrepreneurial route and building his own company.
“My iSchool education gave me the foundation and confidence to first go after highly sought after roles at leading technology companies such as Facebook and then harness my entrepreneurial spirit to start a technology company where we’re using data and advanced technology to reinvent the way brand’s communicate with their consumers. It’s unlikely I would have gone down this path were it not for the iSchool.”
In addition to running a successful company, Coblenz stays connected with the SU community, having recently met with Chancellor Kent Syverud and gifting funds to endow a scholarship. He plans to increase his engagement with SU and the iSchool to continue to inspire students who are eager to make an impact in the tech and business world.
