Beeswax, the ‘Bidder-as-a-Service’ ad tech platform, has been acquired by Comcast’s digital TV ad platform, FreeWheel.

Freewheel said the acquisition will expand its current programmatic marketplace capabilities across all forms of television and video advertising, including Connected TV (CTV) and set-top Box Video on Demand (STB VOD). The transaction is expected to close in January 2021. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Beeswax offers programmatic advertising capabilities through its Bidder-as-a-Service™ (Baas) customizable bidding stack, used by leading media companies and brands. Freewheel said this capability will complement its existing technologies and add value to its current supply-side and demand-side clients.

In particular, Beeswax’s bidding technology will enable FreeWheel users to access broader pools of inventory to fulfil complex campaign requirements. This is important to FreeWheel clients across both the demand side and the supply side. Beeswax’s customers will benefit from the scale and expertise of FreeWheel within the video and CTV advertising sectors, while gaining the support, product investment, and technology leadership Freewheel provides.

The exponential growth of programmatic transactions has driven a need for more customizable and flexible bidding technologies to serve a diversifying user base, including publishers who increasingly use programmatic technology to acquire incremental inventory and extend audience reach for their advertisers.

“Together, FreeWheel and Beeswax can further enhance how television operates,” said Freewheel General Manager, Dave Clark. “As the ecosystem becomes increasingly complex, sellers and buyers of media want similar capabilities: great automation, simplicity, and the ability to manage data-driven campaigns across hundreds of endpoints. By incorporating Beeswax’s technology into FreeWheel’s offering, we can deliver even more value to clients of both companies, helping them better navigate and succeed in this new landscape.

“The team at Beeswax has a well-earned reputation for innovation and technological leadership. We couldn’t be more excited about combining our efforts, visions, and roles in the ecosystem to build technology that provides television with the transformation it so eagerly awaits.”