Almost six years since it was first formed, mobile ad specialist Smaato has done little else but expand.

Back in June, news that the network was serving 7 billion ad requests a month was taken as a sign as to its rude health.

Half a year on, and Smaato's monthly total now sits at almost 20 billion ad requests served – a rate of growth that suggests its latest $7 million strong funding round is money well invested.

An eye on Asia

The funding round – led by Singapore's EDBI and backed up by existing investors – is to be used to fuel Smaato's growth in Asia, the company reports, with its movements planned from its headquarters in Sinagpore.

"We have seen a tremendous growth in Smaato's revenues in 2010," said CEO and co-founder Ragnar Kruse.

"For 2011, we expect even more exponential growth by partnering with leading mobile publishers and app developers worldwide. Singapore has proven to be an excellent location to expand our Asian business. This new round of funding will help us improve our reach, foster product innovation and grow the Smaato team worldwide."

Smaato can also boast sign ups of 11,000 publishers in total, with the firm planning to take on 55 new members of staff to strengthen its position over the course of the year.

[source: Smaato]