Castoola

What Castoola does

Castoola d.o.o. is a Slovenia-based addressable TV technology and managed services provider, founded in 2014 and operating from Ljubljana and Murska Sobota. The company sells a fully managed ad tech platform to TV broadcasters, TV operators/telcos, and OTT platforms across European markets (notably Slovenia, Italy, and Montenegro, with an Adriatic-region VIDAA/Hisense mandate), enabling clients to monetize TV inventory through household-level targeted advertising rather than broad linear-TV buys.

The company's core product is the Castoola Addressable TV Platform, which supports HbbTV standards and Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) across IPTV, OTT, and DVB environments. The platform integrates both Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) and Client-Side Ad Insertion (CSAI), with Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) highlighted at IBC 2024, along with advanced analytics dashboards for real-time campaign planning, delivery, and measurement. It leverages first-party subscriber and audience data (via Operator CRM, DMPs, CDPs) to deliver different ads to different households watching the same program, supporting pre/mid/post-roll video ads, display overlays, and UI-embedded ad placements. Privacy controls include GDPR compliance and participation in IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework.

Castoola operates a fully managed service model in which it handles all technical and operational aspects of ad delivery — validation, setup, targeting, measurement, and reporting — leaving clients responsible only for selling ad inventory. Pricing is custom and quote-based on multi-year contracts, sourced through direct enterprise field sales, supplemented by an OEM/embedded channel (e.g., VIDAA/Hisense exclusive ad sales house for the Adriatic) and channel partnerships (e.g., ThinkAnalytics for personalized recommendations). Revenue is generated through managed services, programmatic advertising enablement, and direct ad sales commissions where Castoola acts as an exclusive ad sales house.

Name

Castoola

Legal name

Castoola d.o.o.

Website

https://castoola.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Castoola is a Slovenia-based provider of a fully managed addressable TV advertising platform that lets European TV broadcasters, operators, and OTT platforms monetize inventory through household-level targeted ads using HbbTV, SSAI, CSAI, and analytics tooling.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Addressable TV Advertising Platform

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (54183)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Ad Insertion & Monetization (SCTE-35, DAI/SSAI) (MPAHAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pay-TV Value-Added Services (DVR, VOD, TV Everywhere, Apps) (MPABAGAG), IPTV Pay-TV Operators (Telco TV) (MPABAGAC)

Keywords

• Addressable TV advertising
• HbbTV ad technology
• Dynamic ad insertion
• TV ad monetization
• Programmatic TV advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Murska Sobota

HQ country

Slovenia

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Addressable TV Advertising Platform: Castoola provides a fully managed addressable TV technology and ad operations service to TV broadcasters, operators, and OTT platforms. They handle all technical and operational aspects of ad delivery, targeting, and measurement, enabling clients to monetize TV inventory at premium CPM rates through data-driven personalization. The platform supports direct ad sales and programmatic advertising strategies.
2. Programmatic Advertising: Enables automated ad delivery and monetization of TV inventory through programmatic advertising, enabling higher conversion rates and optimized campaign execution for broadcasters and operators.
3. Exclusive Ad Sales House (VIDAA Partnership): Castoola serves as the exclusive ad sales house for Hisense Vidaa Smart TV inventory in the Adriatic region, generating revenue by selling targeted advertising on the VIDAA/Hisense Smart TV platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Castoola provides a fully managed addressable TV technology platform and ad operations service for TV broadcasters, operators, and OTT platforms. The platform enables delivery of personalized ads to different households watching the same content using HbbTV standards, Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), SSAI, CSAI, and programmatic advertising across IPTV, OTT, and DVB environments. Castoola handles all technical and operational aspects of ad delivery, targeting, measurement, and reporting while clients focus on selling ad inventory.

Product overview

Castoola is a provider of Addressable TV platform solutions that enables monetization for broadcasters, telcos, and OTT platforms. The core offering is the Castoola Addressable TV Platform, which supports IPTV, OTT, and DVB environments using HbbTV standards and Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) technology. The platform delivers personalized ads to different households watching the same content using first-party data. Key product features include Video Ads on Demand (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll), Display Ads (static overlays and banners), Ads Within the User Interface, and an Advanced Analytics Dashboard for campaign management. Castoola provides a fully managed ad operations service, handling campaign validation, setup, delivery, measurement, and reporting while TV publishers focus on sales.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Castoola Addressable TV Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 30% higher engagement rate vs traditional linear campaigns
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability5 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VIDAA (Hisense Vidaa Smart TV)coreTechnology or Integration · 6 July 2023Castoola and VIDAA Hisense Europe formed a strategic partnership making Castoola the exclusive ad sales house for Hisense Vidaa Smart TV inventory in the Adriatic region. The partnership combines VIDAA's global Smart TV OS and content platform with Castoola's data-driven addressable TV advertising technology to provide brands with unparalleled advertising effectiveness and customer engagement on Vidaa Smart TVs.
• M:tel MontenegrocoreTechnology or Integration · 1 October 2019Castoola launched an HbbTV portal for M:tel Montenegro, enabling subscribers to access interactive TV features on TVCG channels. M:tel is the first company in Montenegro to offer HbbTV services. The solution combines linear TV with internet connectivity and will be used for targeted and personalized advertising. M:tel has approximately 80,000 subscribers, with about 60% using Smart TVs.
• ThinkAnalyticscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2019Castoola and ThinkAnalytics (the most widely deployed real-time personalized content recommendations engine) entered a partnership to combine intelligence-driven insights from ThinkAnalytics with Castoola's targeted ad serving capabilities. The partnership aims to deliver more relevant TV ads to audiences through advanced personalization and targeted advertising, creating new revenue streams for TV operators.
• Discovery Media (Italy)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019Castoola and Discovery Media signed a partnership for addressable TV advertising campaigns using HbbTV technology through the DConnect solution. The partnership transformed linear TV advertising to addressable TV level, simplifying data management and enabling user profiling and behavioral targeting. Discovery's 5 FTA channels reached over 1 million unique connected TV devices within months of launch.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• FreeWheel: Comcast-owned ad management and monetization platform for traditional TV broadcasters and OTT, offering similar ad server, DAI/SSAI, and audience-targeting capabilities that directly compete with Castoola's managed addressable TV stack.
• Yospace: Specialises in server-side dynamic ad insertion for live and on-demand streaming, serving broadcasters and operators with similar DAI/SSAI technology to Castoola's core offering.
• Innovid: Independent ad-tech platform for connected TV and addressable TV, providing creative, delivery, and analytics tooling that overlaps directly with Castoola's addressable TV platform and analytics dashboard.
• smartclip: European-focused addressable TV and programmatic video ad platform serving broadcasters and operators across DE/AT/CH and broader EU, directly comparable in product positioning and broadcaster customer base.
• Broadpeak: Provides streaming and ad insertion infrastructure (SSAI/DAI) for telcos and broadcasters, overlapping with Castoola's HbbTV and dynamic ad insertion capabilities targeted at the same operator customer segment.
• Beachfront Media: Server-side ad insertion and programmatic video monetization platform for broadcasters and streaming services, addressing the same DAI/SSAI workflow that Castoola sells to broadcasters and operators.

Broad incumbents

• The Trade Desk: Large independent programmatic DSP whose CTV/addressable TV products reach many of the same broadcasters and operators, often competing with managed-service stacks like Castoola's via open programmatic pipes.
• Google Ad Manager: Dominant broad ad server/monetization platform used by many broadcasters and OTTs; competes indirectly with Castoola by offering addressable TV inventory monetisation as part of a much larger ad-tech portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/castoola

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Castoola