Viant is booming, according to its latest earnings report.
Yesterday, the DSP reported 32% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1, with $70.6 million compared to $53.4 million in Q1 2024. The result beat the high end of the $65–$68 million guidance issued last quarter, making it an unmistakable win. It marked not only a record first quarter for Viant, but also, by our count, their biggest quarter of growth to date as a public company.
Viant, run by brothers Chris and Tim Vanderhook, attributed the performance to sustained demand for CTV, increased use of its addressability solutions – see their Household ID and Iris ID – and growing adoption of its agentic AI layer that tries to simplify Viant’s workflow.
Why This Matters:
Viant is an interesting DSP because, as more of a challenger, it’s had to focus on creating clearer points of differentiation against larger players like Google, Amazon, and The Trade Desk. A few areas the company highlighted on the call include:
First, Viant’s focus on the mid-market — and its positioning as a “true self-service” DSP — was emphasized as a differentiator. When an analyst asked whether larger DSPs could “come down to the mid-market” and compete, the Vanderhooks were quick to point out that Viant is a “true” self-serve platform. By contrast, they suggested Amazon only targets the mid-market when demand for its O&O inventory is low.
That said, Viant also noted it’s finding opportunities to move upmarket, stating that it is now “getting bigger swings on larger accounts.” The takeaway: Viant wants to own the mid-market while also competing for enterprise and Fortune 500 brands.
The company also highlighted opportunities beyond retail and CPG, areas where Amazon has an obvious data advantage. This was smart. Here’s how Tim Vanderhook explained it:
“If you look at other verticals like automotive, quick service restaurants, travel and tourism, the dataset that Amazon possesses has no benefit to that vertical category, and they have no position of strength there… I think, overall, it’s less just about a mid market versus big customer setup, and more about what proprietary data does Amazon have and where does that give them a competitive advantage. That’s squarely for the most part in retail and not so great in most other categories.”
Experts React:
Karsten Weide has been a go-to for us on earnings recaps, and he has a solid one on Viant linked here. According to Weide: “With consistent growth, rising profitability, and strategic positioning in high-demand segments like CTV and AI-driven advertising, Viant is quietly building a platform with staying power.” He also adds that Viant is well-capitalized to make more acquisitions in the future, following up on their Lockr buy.
Our Take:
Viant’s quarter is an interesting datapoint. Big Tech companies – through their ad businesses – mostly reported strong earnings. We may start to see the same trend play out in the independent, dedicated adtech space. While many have predicted a pullback in ad spending this year due to macroeconomic concerns, based on the numbers so far – at least among the players we’ve covered – it hasn’t materialized yet.
