Outbrain Appoints Ziv Kop As COO

NEW YORK, March 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Outbrain, the leading content discovery platform, today announced that Ziv Kop, founding member of Outbrain's Board of Directors and former Managing Partner at GlenRock Israel, has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer.

Established in 2006, Outbrain was the first to market with its content discovery platform. It has led the category ever since and is backed by investors Carmel Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Gemini Israel Ventures, GlenRock, Rhodium, and most recently HarbourVest Partners and Vintage Investment Partners. Outbrain has raised $99 million to date and has more than doubled revenue year-over-year in the past 4 years.

In early 2014, Outbrain further expanded its global footprint to a total of 17 national offices and now serves over 150 billion personalized content recommendations every month. With an install base of more than 100,000 websites, top-tier premium publications that currently leverage the Outbrain platform include: CNN, ESPN, Le Monde, Fox News, The Guardian, The Telegraph and Sky News.

Mr. Kop will report to co-founder and CEO, Yaron Galai, and will be responsible for readying the company for the next phase of its evolution and growth. The move marks a significant advancement in Outbrain's plans for the future. Ziv will continue to serve as a member of Outbrain's Board.

Yaron Galai, co-founder and CEO said of the appointment:

"Ziv is a tremendous addition to the company and has a proven track record and ability to transform high-potential companies into high-growth businesses. He is an accomplished leader and has been involved with Outbrain as part of our Board of Directors since our very first investment. He joins the company at a pivotal moment in our advancement and we're thrilled to welcome such a seasoned professional to our executive team."

Ziv Kop said:

"I'm proud to join one of the most amazing user-centric technology companies and its wonderful team. Outbrain is the inventor of content discovery and remains at the forefront of the evolving online content marketing ecosystem, helping people 'discover what's next'.

"Now much more than a buzz term, digital content marketing has evolved and is something every marketer sees as a must - likewise Outbrain has moved far beyond its successful start-up credentials and is on the cusp of a new and promising chapter. I am delighted to be central to these important next steps and to take a more active role within this innovative, smart and grounded company."

Mr Kop's experience spans over 15 years, during which he has served on the board of more than 10 private and public companies. A Managing Partner at GlenRock Israel, from its inception in 2003, Ziv led a portfolio of some 15 companies, including Quigo, Mobileye, Kamada (Nasdaq:KMDA), Evogene (NYSE:EVGN), Outbrain and Rainbow Medical.

Prior to Glenrock, Ziv was the CEO of POC Management Consulting, a leading Israeli management-consulting firm, where he was involved in more than 100 cross-industry management-consulting projects for market-leading clientele. Ziv served for six years in the Israeli Navy as a captain and as a fleet commander and in 2009 was listed on the "40 under 40" by The Marker.

About Outbrain:

Outbrain's mission is to bring personalized, interesting and relevant content to the online audience.  By understanding each individual's content preferences, we help people "discover what's next." Our platform has been installed on over 100,000 sites and top-tier publications like CNN, ESPN, Le Monde, Fox News, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Sky News, Future Publishing, Express Group and Hearst. This enables us to provide online users with personalized content recommendations geared toward their interests, while enabling online publishers and content creators to amplify their reach with their target audience.

Outbrain is the solution that recommends online, mobile and video content, generating over 10 billion page views per month for the biggest brands in the world. Founded in 2006, the company is headquartered in New York with 17 offices globally, including the U.S., U.K., Israel, Singapore, Japan and Australia. www.outbrain.com

SOURCE Outbrain