Media and Games Invest plc (formerly Blockescence plc) announced today that its subsidiary PubNative GmbH has acquired the development department and advertising technology of award-winning German mobile publisher TVSMILES GmbH to further strengthen its position in the mobile ecosystem and expand its reach into new advertising formats.

TVSMILES is a fellow pioneer in mobile native advertising which owns and operates a popular quiz app and ad platform. The Berlin-based startup boasts a unique business model whereby users are rewarded for engaging with brands and products through digital advertising. Ads are staged as quiz games and rewards can be exchanged for products or vouchers. By combining games and quizzes with advertisements, TVSMILES offers an engaging and rewarding experience to over two million registered users in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

PubNative’s acqui-hire of TVSMILES’ development team and technology will allow the expansion of its mobile team with a successful and well-established publisher which can contribute to the growth of its in-app header bidding tool ‘HyBid’ and Prebid products. Furthermore, as TVSMILES ventures into the world of Connected TV advertising, PubNative will also be able to further accelerate its CTV business. In addition, TVSMILES will help PubNative to accelerate the development of its consent management platform (CMP) within Europe.

Media and Games Invest plc is the parent company of leading video game publisher gamigo AG and owns an impressive games portfolio. PubNative's new mobile team and technology promise further expansion into video and rewarded video, key units in mobile game monetisation.

“PubNative continues to accelerate its advancements into the mobile gaming sector since we partnered with MGI and the Gamigo Group. Acquiring the development team and mobile advertising technology of TVSMILES comes at a key time for us as we expand our in-app bidding stack. I am confident that TVSMILES’ expertise in analytics, monetization, and operations combined with our innovative technologies and resourceful team marks a significant milestone in our journey of building the next generation mobile advertising platform."
- Ionut Ciobotaru, founder & CEO of PubNative

“TVSMILES has always been driven by a mobile-first approach. As we recently branched into Connected TV, PubNative’s advanced tech stack supports our continued growth and allows us to expand our business internationally. Advancements on demand-side business development will be introduced gradually across the entire product line.”
- Gaylord Zach, co-founder & CPO of TVSMILES