Ad platform Lotame nets $13 million

Lotame, a targeted-ad start-up that focuses on social sites, announced Tuesday that it has raised $13 million in a Series B venture round. The lead investor is Emergence Capital Partners, and existing investors Battery Ventures and Hill Crest Management also contributed. The money, per a release, will be used for "product enhancements, marketing, and business development efforts." Nothing surprising there.

The company's primary offering is a technology called "Crowd Control," which pinpoints discussions on social-media sites related to a particular brand or its niche, and helps that brand get its name on the relevant discussions.

"Forty percent of Internet use is on social networks. This is no longer a wild frontier, and will soon be the primary use of the Internet," CEO and founder Andrew Monfried said in a statement. "Until Lotame, the basics of Internet advertising had not changed to address the unique challenges and opportunities presented by social media. Now advertisers can take full advantage of the basic premises of social networks--the user sets the content agenda and connects other users to ideas." That's a lot of new-media speak, but Monfried now has $13 million backing him up.

Some of Lotame's existing customers include the Huffington Post, Flixster, Fotolog, and ad agency Media Kitchen.