U.S. ad network Collective enters the UK

Online ad network Collective (formerly Collective Media) has opened its doors in the UK. It’s the first part of an “aggressive growth strategy” to get in to the European market, says the heavily funded U.S. company. As part of that expansion, Steve Filler, former Commercial Director of Unruly Media, has been appointed as managing director to lead the UK wing of Collective.

Launched in 2005, the company offers publishers an ad network management platform to create their own branded, vertical ad networks, letting them use advance audience targeting, manage ad networks, and access analytics.

The company raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding, led by Greycroft Partners and iNovia Capital, in October 2007, while in April last year it received a further cash boost of $20 million in Series B funding led by Accel Partners and iNovia Capital.

More details on Collective’s new UK MD: Prior to Unruly, Filler spent three years at Video Jug where he “managed and delivered all global revenue streams”. Previously he was at Guardian Unlimited where he is said to have helped to deliver growth that outpaced the UK display market, “leading its adoption and understanding of behavioral targeting solutions using Revenue Science (now AudienceScience).”