In-game advertising firm Anzu has revealed that it has raised $20 million from its latest funding round, which brings its total capital raised to date up to $37 million since 2017.

The funding round saw participation from NBCUniversal and HTC, with other investors included Sony Innovation Fund, Bitkraft Ventures, HBSE Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, The Chicago Cubs, Goal Ventures, and WPP for the third time. Additionally, Riot Games president of games, co-founder and co-chairman Marc Merrill was a prominent angel investor.

Previous investment rounds have allowed Anzu to bring in-game advertising to Roblox, earn Unity verification and more. This latest funding is planned to further enable Anzu to develop its in-game advertising platform.

"I am proud to have iconic investors who share in Anzu’s vision and enable us to bring in-game advertising and our best-class tech to more gaming platforms and global brands," said Anzu co-founder and CEO Itamar Benedy.

"This funding will further expand our in-game advertising solution, helping even more advertisers understand where their brand fits in, and how they navigate these immersive, digitally-connected spaces."

Investors and partners

NBCUniversal’s involvement in the funding round follows the company’s recent partnership with Anzu as its global sales partner and exclusive third-party seller in the US and the UK.

On the investment, NBCUniversal president and CBO Krishan Bhatia said: "Anzu understands the importance of integrated advertising and by working directly with video game publishers, NBCUniversal can help marketers create engaging content that enhances the gamers’ world."

HTC VP of content and platform Joseph Lin commented: "We are excited to assist in bringing this new dimension to digital marketing services, providing safe and private user experiences while enabling brands and developers to bring more creativities and new monetization models in the metaverse."

Anzu recently partnered with analytics firm Oracle Moat to launch its first-to-market viewability measurement for in-game ads.