Aperiam

A milestone for the open internet, and for our portfolio. Index Exchange today launched Index Cloud, a neutral compute environment inside the exchange where partners deploy their own models, data, and bidders at the point of transaction. Sub-5ms and ARTF-aligned. A structural answer to the infrastructure advantage walled gardens have held for a decade. Bedrock Platform, an Aperiam investment, is the first DSP running its bidder inside Index Cloud. Competing on decisioning quality, not infrastructure spend. This is exactly the thesis we backed, so it's great to see it materialize. Congratulations to Andrew Casale and the Index Exchange team, and to Shane Shevlin and the Bedrock Platform team. Infrastructure-layer innovation is a big part of how the open internet wins.

The Aperiam team will be in Miami for POSSIBLE (April 27-29)... and we're going to be busy. Managing Partner Corey Ferengul will be serving as a judge for the Brand Challenge on the Innovation Stage, where six finalists will pitch their most innovative AI-powered marketing solutions. We'll also be hosting meetings and sessions with our portfolio companies and partners throughout the event. If you're attending POSSIBLE and think we should connect - whether you're a founder building AI-first infrastructure or an brand/agency/platform looking to explore the space - let us know. We'd love to meet. Drop a comment or DM us to get on the calendar. See you in Miami.

Always fun to chat with Corey Ferengul and Joe Zawadzki on the state of the markets for the Aperiam podcast. Link in comments.

A new episode of the Aperiam Podcast is live. Michael Richardson, VP of Product at Index Exchange, joins Joe and Corey to talk about ARTF (Agentic Real-Time Framework), what agentic ad tech actually means, and why the window to move is open right now. Agentic is coming to digital advertising. If you are trying to understand where ad tech infrastructure is headed, this is a conversation worth spending time on. Index Exchange has also published a practical startup guide for ARTF, which makes this episode even more actionable. Links to episode and the guide in comments.

Check out the latest Aperiam podcast with Gareth Glaser, founder and CEO of our latest portfolio company Gamera, Inc. Gareth has big ambition: build a unique dataset to make the open web as measurable and performant as the walled gardens. Corey and Joe go deep with Gareth on why and how. A must listen! Link in comments.

Check out the latest Aperiam Podcast with Oz Etzioni, CEO of Clinch. Corey and Joe dive into something we’re hearing from a lot of brands and agencies: the growing gap between media and creative - and how AI is finally starting to close it. Clinch has been focused on this for years. Their view: the “connective layer” between creative and media is where real performance lives. Simple idea, tough to execute. But with AI accelerating everything, that middle layer is quickly becoming one of the most important parts of the stack. A few points Oz breaks down clearly: -Creative isn’t fixed anymore - it’s dynamic and personalized. -Media buying is automating fast, and most orgs aren’t built for it. -The next big unlock comes from merging creative and media intelligence, not running them in silos. Great conversation about where this is all heading over the next year. Link to episode in comments.

Aperiam and Index Exchange hosted an intimate Advertising Week gathering at Index’s NYC HQ, bringing together some of the industry’s most promising startups. Attendees connected with peers, sparked meaningful relationships, and heard from Aperiam’s Joe Zawadzki and Index’s Mayuran Yogarajah on how our firms are partnering to advance the opportunity for startup innovation in advertising. Big thanks to the Index team for hosting and to so many Aperiam founders for joining us.

On this week’s Aperiam Podcast, Joe and Corey sat down with Ari Paparo to discuss his new book, Yield. Ari has long been both a builder and a commentator in our industry - from helping shape the foundations of programmatic to calling it like it is on Marketecture Media. With Yield, he’s captured the history of programmatic advertising, the personalities behind it, and the lessons learned along the way. What makes the book unique is Ari’s perspective: he’s not writing from the sidelines. He’s lived the ups and downs of building in this space, making the book not just a history, but also a candid reflection on what worked, what didn’t, and why. In the conversation, they explored: -Why now was the right moment to publish -The themes he wanted to highlight -What readers - whether operators, investors, or curious observers - can take away If you care about how digital advertising evolved, how programmatic became the backbone of the industry, or just want an insider’s view told with humor and honesty, this episode (and book) is well worth your time. Link below.

Beyond Attention: The Trust Gap in a Fragmented World Audience fragmentation today isn’t just about where people spend time - it’s about who they trust. On the latest episode of the Aperiam Podcast, Joe and Corey unpack how the splintering of media channels has reshaped the very foundation of trust. They explore: • Why traditional anchors of credibility - publishers, institutions, and even brands - no longer carry the same influence • How trust is shifting to influencers, niche communities, and peer networks • What this means for advertisers seeking to build lasting relationships with their audiences The key takeaway: in a fragmented world, earning attention isn’t enough. Trust is the real currency - and it’s harder, and more critical, than ever. Link in comments.

The Return of the Ad Network (?) In the latest episode of The Aperiam Podcast, Joe, Erica, and Corey examine a model once considered outdated: the ad network. For years, “ad network” carried negative connotations = opaque, arbitrage-driven, and expected to fade as programmatic took hold. Yet today, the model has re-emerged across the ecosystem. Key themes from the discussion: - A universal model: Retail media, CTV, mobile gaming, even agencies are adopting network-like structures by aggregating supply, demand, and data. - Managed service evolves: Enhanced by AI and agentic workflows, managed service is returning - this time with greater transparency and efficiency. - Enduring intermediaries: The role of the middle layer remains, but with a sharper focus on adding value through data, automation, and simplification. Tune in for a great conversation. Link below.