REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Rocket Fuel (NASDAQ: FUEL), a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) advertising and marketing solutions for global agencies and brands, today announced its expansion to Latin America, with a new office based in São Paulo, Brazil.

Rocket Fuel continues its aggressive growth strategy for emerging markets with its entrance into Brazil. According to eMarketer, Brazil is set to register $2.88 billion in digital advertising spend in 2014, rising to $3.33 billion in 2015. Advertisers are also paying attention to the increase in mobile usage in Brazil, with mobile ad spend estimated to have reached $470.4 million in 2014. Rocket Fuel will partner and work closely with agencies in Brazil to develop products and solutions that best serve their clients' needs.

"Advanced technology has become essential in digital advertising, but it is very difficult to identify a difference between the players,” said Renato Paiva, Vice President of Webedia Group and former Havas Business Director. “The arrival of Rocket Fuel in Brazil shifts this paradigm using AI and Big Data to reach a marketer's desired audience with the right message, delivering business outcomes like brand loyalty or increased sales. Rocket Fuel's platform is an integral piece missing for Brazilian advertising players."

"With 120 million online consumers, a large and growing middle class, and strong support for advertising technology innovation, Brazil is primed to be a Latin American bellwether for programmatic media,” said Mark Prior, Rocket Fuel Vice President, International and Mobile. “Brazil currently represents half of the ad spend in Latin America, and with rapid advertising technology adoption, it was a natural starting place for Rocket Fuel to centralize our regional operations and demonstrate our commitment to the emerging BRIC markets."

Known for building businesses with a focus on high-quality customer engagement, Edvaldo Acir has been tapped to lead Rocket Fuel's Brazilian office and expansion into Latin America. Edvaldo, who will serve as Managing Director, has an extensive background in the Brazil and Latin American digital advertising and programmatic industry.

As Managing Director at Vizury, a Bangalore, India-based ad-retargeting startup, Edvaldo launched offices in Brazil and Mexico, building both teams and its client base while supporting its Series C funding round led by Intel Capital with participation from Ascent Capital and existing investors, Nokia Growth Partners, and Inventus Capital Partners. He previously held other leadership positions at Fox International Channels, Terra Networks from Telefonica Group, Movile from Naspers Group, and Abril Group. He also served as President of IAB's Adtech & Data Committee.

“Rocket Fuel sees 1.1 billion daily bid requests in Brazil with a strong reach in display, mobile, social, and video,” said Edvaldo Acir, Managing Director of Rocket Fuel, Brazil. “I'm excited to lead Rocket Fuel's emerging market expansion in Latin America. With my in-region digital advertising experience, I look forward to partnering with Latin American marketers to drive results-driven campaigns - from branding to performance - with Rocket Fuel's cutting-edge programmatic platform.”

About Rocket Fuel

Rocket Fuel delivers a leading programmatic media-buying platform at Big Data scale that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve marketing ROI in digital media across web, mobile, video, and social channels. Rocket Fuel powers digital advertising and marketing programs globally for customers in North America, Latin America, Europe, and APAC. Customers trust Rocket Fuel's Advertising That Learns® platform to achieve brand and direct-response objectives in diverse industries from luxury cars to financial services to retail. Rocket Fuel currently operates in more than 20 offices worldwide and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “FUEL.” For more information, please visit http://www.rocketfuel.com or call 1-888-717-8873.

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