In this episode of The MadTech Podcast, ExchangeWire's head of content, John Still, and COO Lindsay Rowntree discuss Walmart acquiring Vibe.co, AppFlyer's $1B raise, and John's takeaways from Cannes.

The first story this week is Walmart's acquisition of Vibe.co to expand access to connected TV advertising. Their conversation looks into the convergence of CTV and retail media, leading up to the retail media panel Lindsay will be moderating at ATS Singapore next Wednesday. The second covers AppFlyer's $1B raise from advertising and technology leaders Moloco, Google, Meta, and Unity.

Finally, fresh from sunny Cannes, John shares his anecdotes, insights, and takeaways from the hot conversations that took place on La Croisette...

Walmart to acquire Vibe.co

Walmart is acquiring Vibe.co, a self-serve CTV advertising platform, for $1.4 billion. The deal is part of Walmart’s strategy to build more accessible, full-funnel advertising solutions through its commerce media business, Walmart Connect. 

Vibe.co's tools will be added to Walmart Connect alongside Vizio to help small and mid-sized businesses launch streaming campaigns and measure their business impact. It's the latest in Walmart's string of ad tech acquisitions, and part of a broader wave of CTV consolidation including Fox-Roku and Paramount-WBD.

AppsFlyer raises $1B in funding

AppsFlyer has raised more than $1 billion in Series E funding at a $2.7 billion post-money valuation, in a major investment round backed by advertising and technology leaders Moloco, Google, Meta, and Unity. 

The funding reflects growing industry demand for independent and trusted measurement and attribution as AI increasingly automates media buying and campaign optimisation. CEO and co-founder Oren Kaniel says the investment will help the business move faster on improving omnichannel measurement and building agentic workflows.