Entering the stock exchange and 4 acquisitions — the results of 2021 from ironSource

Stanislav Sychenkov, lead for ironSource business development in Russia and the CIS, told how the past year has just passed for the marketing company. Among the results are numerous purchases and the launch of solutions for optimizing advertising campaigns.

Stanislav SychenkovHow did 2021 go for the company?

2021 was a very important year for ironSource. In June, we entered the New York Stock Exchange after 10 years of operation as a private company. During the year, we made a total of four acquisitions — Soomla, Luna Labs, Bidalgo and Tapjoy. We have launched many new products, continuing to deepen and improve our developer platform: from Custom Adapters that allow developers to integrate any network into ironSource LevelPlay mediation, to a set of tools for iOS that give developers an understanding of monetization optimization and UA in the iOS 14 and 15 era.

Everything we have done this year, from going public to acquiring and improving products, has been aimed at helping our partners. We offer developers a comprehensive platform for launching, growing, monetizing applications, creating creatives, analyzing and optimizing their gaming business. Our goal has always been to allow app developers to focus on what they do best (creating great content) and provide the tools to turn that content into a successful and scalable business.

This applies equally to both game developers and application developers who have historically used more traditional UA sources and monetization methods, such as IAP and subscriptions, and are now increasingly using our platform to grow their applications.

This summer we held a big and cool online conference LevelUp 2021 in partnership with Deconstructor of Fun with the most famous industry professionals as speakers. Several thousand people attended the event, and many more watched the recording.

What event or trend of 2021 do you consider central within your niche?

I would note two points: one that has become the expected central theme for the entire industry, and the second, which may have attracted less attention.

The first. The changes related to IDFA have understandably caused considerable concern in the industry. At ironSource, we closely followed the developments and invested a lot of resources so that our platform was ready for the new iOS realities. Today, we are one of the few platforms that have benefited from Apple‘s changes.

And the second. The announcement of the closure of the MoPub platform, which will occur after its acquisition by Applovin, was a significant wake-up call for the industry. Many developers are now forced to look for alternative advertising mediation in a short time. This may be a good opportunity to find a better way to grow your business together with a new partner — a platform that has a long history of working effectively with UA and monetization.

What will be the stake in the development of the company in 2022?

The app industry is huge. And it continues to grow. In 2022, we expect to continue to grow in a place with it. We will grow both organically and by resorting to M&A.