DURHAM – Kevel announced today that it has closed $10 million in a Series B fundraising round, led by Fulcrum Equity Partners, with participation from prior investors.

The company said in a statement that the capital will be allocated to expand the Kevel team, as well as acquire more partnerships, develop product features, and expand into “retail media.”

“We plan to expand from a team of 75 to 110 in 2022,” said James Avery, Kevel founder and CEO, in an interview with WRAL TechWire.  “The roles will cover all departments, including marketing, sales, customer success, product, and engineering, but a majority of the hires will be in PM/engineering.”

But while many of these employees may be located in Durham, Avery noted that the company is distributed, and more than 50% of its U.S. workforce is located geographically outside of the Triangle.  “We expect that trend to continue.”

The company, which changed its name from Adzerk to Kevel and raised $11 million in a Series A round in December 2020, said that digital advertising is at “a pinnacle” with user privacy an important factor in the landscape.  At the time, the company employed some 45 workers, Avery said.

New name (Kevel), new cash ($11 million) for emerging Durham adtech firm Adzerk

“We are delighted to be partnered with investors who have recognized our growth over the past year. More businesses than ever want to build custom ad platforms like Facebook and Amazon, and we are happy to do our part in taking back some power from the large monopolies dominating the internet,” says James Avery, Founder and CEO of Kevel in a statement.  “This funding will allow us to continue expanding our client base and offer advanced features that allow them to monetize their ad platforms in the quickest and most affordable way.”

The company noted in its statement that its partners and customers include Ticketmaster, Klarna, WeTransfer, and Yelp, and Avery told WRAL TechWire that the company “will hit 60% growth in 2021.”