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Join The Information for AI Agenda Live on Wednesday, September 23, at SFMOMA. We’re bringing together the industry’s most influential researchers, founders, and investors to preview the next wave of innovation—from breakthroughs in continual learning models to the latest bleeding-edge applications.Learn more here. Welcome back! It’s Catherine and Valida. Walmart’s $1.4 billion purchase of New York–based advertising technology startup Vibe on Tuesday is a reminder of how serious the retail giant is about building its ad business. Walmart is paying a big price for Vibe, which helps small businesses buy ads on streaming platforms and will allow Walmart to reach more advertisers looking to buy spots on its site. The $1.4 billion price, which includes a $180 million executive retention payment, is more than three times the startup’s last private valuation of $410 million last September. Vibe’s investors include London-based venture firm Hedosophia, Sequoia’s Scout Fund and former Meta Platforms executive Carolyn Everson. Vibe made $105 million in gross revenue in 2025, although its net revenue—after forking over a share of advertiser purchase to streaming platforms—was only $44 million. It estimates net revenue will more than double to $111 million this year, according to financial projections seen by The Information. (Its financials haven’t been previously reported.) On that basis, Walmart is paying 12.6 times projected 2026 revenue for Vibe. In contrast, a Vibe competitor, MNTN, is trading at only about 1 times this year’s expected revenue, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The Trade Desk, another ad tech firm that works with Walmart, among others, is trading at 2.4 times projected 2026 revenue, according to S&P data. A spokesperson for Walmart declined to comment. Vibe didn’t respond to requests for comments. Walmart already has a string of partnerships with ad tech firms to help sell ad inventory on its site, including with Yahoo, Google and The Trade Desk. Advertising is a small but fast-growing part of Walmart’s business. The retailer uses data it gathers on its shoppers to target people wherever they go on the internet. Walmart’s ad revenue rose 46% last year to $6.4 billion. That’s a fraction of the $68 billion Amazon generated from advertising last year, but it’s ahead of digital ad firms such as Snap and Pinterest. The purchase of Vibe allows Walmart to control more of the tech for its own ad business, which it has shown a penchant for doing. Walmart’s acquisition of Vizio for $2.3 billion in 2024 enabled it to control the operating system in its house-brand TVs, on which it can run ads. Previously, Walmart relied on Roku’s operating system to power its televisions. Walmart archrival Amazon also has been emphasizing its ad tech capabilities in conversations with advertisers. In recent years, Amazon has been pitching its advertising technology as the ideal place to buy ads across the web and TV, and not just on its own website, The Information has previously reported.
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