What Virtual Minds does

Virtual Minds GmbH is a German-headquartered, privately-held adtech company founded in 2001 and operating for more than 20 years in European advertising technology. The company offers a full-stack programmatic ecosystem composed of five integrated products: Media Manager (a holistic TV advertising engine for planning, delivery, and measurement across broadcasters), Adition (a modular ad-serving platform), Active Agent (an omnichannel DSP positioned as the first fully-fledged omnichannel DSP on the German market), Yieldlab (a supply-side platform for real-time inventory monetization), and The Adex (a data management platform for cross-device audience intelligence). The platform covers TV, radio, cinema, DOOH, and digital channels, and supports sell-side, buy-side, and hybrid operating models for agencies, advertisers, broadcasters, and publishers.

The business model is enterprise B2B, with quote-based multi-year contracts, transaction-fee and subscription-style revenue streams, and direct enterprise sales complemented by API-first distribution through programmatic platform integrations such as The Trade Desk Price Discovery and Provisioning API. Operations are anchored in an ISO 27001 certified, carrier-neutral data center in Germany, with sovereign cloud infrastructure provided through WIIT, enabling strict German and European data protection compliance. The customer base spans large European broadcasters (ProSieben, ORF), major agency holding companies (dentsu, GroupM, Publicis Media, Havas), and enterprise advertisers across automotive, retail, finance, telecom, and consumer goods (Sixt, Otto, ING DiBa, 1&1, L'Oreal, Payback).

Recent strategic activity has focused on extending platform relevance in a post-cookie environment: launching Any ID Frequency Capping with Utiq, securing a sovereign cloud partnership with WIIT, and integrating with The Trade Desk's automated deal management infrastructure as one of three German SSP partners. The company has executed three acquisitions since 2014 (UNITED COLO, The ADEX, AdClear) to broaden infrastructure, data, and verification capabilities. Leadership comprises co-founder and CEO Andreas Kleiser alongside CPO Nils Röhrig and CSO Hendrik Kempfert, with former Managing Director Tom Peruzzi departing in January 2026.

Name

Virtual Minds

Legal name

Virtual Minds GmbH

Website

https://virtualminds.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Virtual Minds is a German adtech company offering a full-stack programmatic ecosystem (DSP, SSP, DMP, ad server, TV engine) to European agencies, advertisers, broadcasters, and publishers, with GDPR-compliant, ISO 27001 certified infrastructure and 20+ years of operating history.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Programmatic Advertising Technology

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (541830), Media Buying Agencies (54183)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital & Programmatic Media Buying (Display, Video, CTV, Audio) (BPAFABAB)

Keywords

• Programmatic advertising platform
• Ad serving technology
• Demand-side platform
• Supply-side platform
• Data management platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Freiburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Programmatic Advertising Platform Services: Virtual Minds generates revenue through programmatic advertising technology solutions including DSP, SSP, DMP, and ad serving services. The platform enables agencies, advertisers, and publishers to conduct omnichannel digital advertising campaigns with pricing likely based on transaction fees, subscription tiers, or usage-based models typical for adtech platforms.
2. Enterprise Software Licensing: Revenue derived from licensing modular advertising technology solutions to publishers, broadcasters, and advertisers in the European market, with individual tailored implementations and ongoing support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Virtual Minds builds and licenses an integrated suite of programmatic advertising technology platforms — Adition (ad server), Active Agent (DSP), Yieldlab (SSP), The Adex (DMP) and Media Manager (TV advertising engine). These products are sold to media agencies, brand advertisers and publishers/broadcasters across Europe to plan, buy, sell, target and measure digital and TV advertising campaigns.

Product overview

Virtual Minds is a European ad technology company offering a comprehensive programmatic advertising ecosystem with multiple integrated products. The portfolio consists of five core products: Media Manager (TV advertising engine for planning, delivery and measurement), Adition (modular adserving platform), Active Agent (omnichannel DSP for media purchasing), Yieldlab (SSP for yield optimization and real-time inventory monetization), and The Adex (data management platform for data aggregation and analysis). The company positions itself as providing the programmatic ecosystem from a single source, serving sell side, buy side and hybrid needs with omnichannel and targeting capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Media Manager: Holistic TV advertising engine enabling combined and harmonized planning, delivery and measurement of all broadcasters' video inventories.
• Adition
• Active Agent
• Yieldlab
• The Adex

Products and services

• Adition Adition is Virtual Minds' ad serving platform that delivers, manages and optimizes digital advertising campaigns across display, mobile and video inventory for agencies, advertisers and publishers.
• Active Agent Active Agent is Virtual Minds' demand-side platform (DSP) used by agencies and advertisers to buy programmatic digital media, with real-time bidding, audience targeting, frequency capping and cross-device campaign optimization capabilities.
• Yieldlab Yieldlab is Virtual Minds' supply-side platform (SSP) that enables publishers and broadcasters to monetize their digital ad inventory through header bidding, real-time auctions and access to a broad demand-side ecosystem.
• The Adex The Adex is Virtual Minds' data management platform (DMP) that enables agencies, advertisers and publishers to collect, segment and activate audience data for programmatic targeting and campaign personalization.
• Media Manager Media Manager is Virtual Minds' TV advertising engine used to plan, manage and optimize linear TV advertising campaigns, extending the company's programmatic capabilities into broadcast TV for advertisers and broadcasters.

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Trade DeskcoreTechnology or Integration · 6 February 2026Virtual Minds secured integration with The Trade Desk's Price Discovery and Provisioning API as one of three German SSP partners (alongside Ströer and YOC). This marked The Trade Desk's first deployment of automated deal management infrastructure in Germany. The API enables advertisers to configure and verify programmatic deals directly within the platform, replacing manual coordination with standardized infrastructure.
• WIITcoreTechnology or Integration · 8 October 2025Partnership with WIIT for OpenStack cloud infrastructure to support sovereign cloud operations. WIIT provides the cloud infrastructure enabling Virtual Minds to maintain data sovereignty and compliance requirements for their German and European customers.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Adform: Denmark-based European adtech offering a comparable full-stack programmatic platform (DSP, SSP, DMP, ad server, creative) with similar sell-side/buy-side/hybrid positioning. Closest direct competitor given overlapping product breadth and European DNA.
• Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer): France-based independent adtech platform combining SSP, ad server, and DSP capabilities for agencies, advertisers, and publishers. Comparable European full-stack positioning and customer base (agencies and premium publishers).
• Ströer: German digital media and SSP operator directly competing with Yieldlab in supply-side yield optimization and programmatic. Also a fellow German Trade Desk Price Discovery API partner, making it a head-to-head rival for German SSP share.
• YOC: German-based digital adtech company specializing in high-impact and mobile programmatic advertising, also named alongside Virtual Minds as one of three German SSPs integrating with The Trade Desk's automated deal management.
• Criteo: French-founded SSP/retargeting platform serving European agencies and advertisers with programmatic demand and supply monetization. Comparable in being a publicly-scaled European programmatic platform with sell-side and buy-side offerings.

Broad incumbents

• The Trade Desk: Global independent DSP leader that competes with Active Agent for buy-side spend and is simultaneously an integration partner via the Price Discovery API. Larger scale and global demand make it the dominant incumbent DSP in Europe.
• Magnite: Largest independent SSP globally with strong CTV focus, competing with Yieldlab for premium publisher inventory. Overlaps in omnichannel sell-side monetization and is the typical 'global incumbent' alternative to a regional SSP like Yieldlab.
• Google Ad Manager (DV360 / Google AdX): Largest global ad exchange and DSP stack; competes with both Active Agent (buy-side) and Yieldlab (sell-side) across European agency budgets. Represents the principal walled-garden competitor for independent full-stack platforms.
• Pubmatic: Independent global SSP competing with Yieldlab for European publisher supply and offering buy-side header bidding wrappers. Comparable supply-side technology business with broader geographic reach.

Emerging players

• Lotame: Independent global data management platform (DMP) and data collaboration provider, overlapping with The Adex DMP in audience data aggregation and segmentation for advertisers and publishers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/virtual-minds-ag
• Xx.com/virtualminds1

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Virtual Minds