AdRoll
San Francisco adtech company founded in 2007 by Aaron Bell and Adam Berke as a display ad network, pivoted to retargeting, renamed its parent to NextRoll in 2019, then reunified everything under the AdRoll brand in 2025 with RollWorks folded in as AdRoll ABM.
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- Location
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Country
- United States
- Known for
- Adtech platform for retargeting and multi-channel advertising; now an AI-powered connected platform with an ABM (account-based marketing) product
- Founded
- 2007 in San Francisco, California, by Aaron Bell (CEO) and Adam Berke (President)
- Origin
- Began as an ordinary display ad network; pivoted to retargeting around 2008–2009 as ad exchanges rose
- Brand arc
- 2019 — parent company AdRoll Group renamed to NextRoll Inc.; AdRoll continued as a business unit. 2025 — portfolio reunified under the AdRoll brand; RollWorks folded in as AdRoll ABM; the NextRoll name retired as a brand
- Early investors
- Accel and angel investor Peter Thiel (reported 2012)
- Leadership endpoints
- Toby Gabriner was CEO from November 2017 (2019 rebrand era); Roli Saxena was CEO at NextRoll at the 2025 reunification
- Early scale
- 5,000 customers and 85 San Francisco employees by 2012; profitable since 2011 with 400%+ growth
Overview
AdRoll is the San Francisco adtech company that has spent nearly two decades — and two corporate renames — trying to escape the box it built for itself. Founded in 2007 by Aaron Bell and Adam Berke as a display advertising network, it pivoted into retargeting as ad exchanges rose, became synonymous with the category, then outgrew it: in 2019 the parent company renamed itself NextRoll, and in 2025 it reversed course and reunified everything under the AdRoll brand (AdExchanger; TechCrunch; PPC Land). It was not, at any point, a merger with a separate company — it is one company that renamed itself twice, six years apart.
An ad network that survived 2008
AdRoll “began its life in 2007 as an ordinary ad network,” as AdExchanger put it, founded by CEO Aaron Bell and President Adam Berke with a mission to make display advertising work for everyone — the way Google had scaled AdWords for advertisers large and small (AdExchanger). The timing was brutal: AdRoll closed its Series A in August 2008, weeks before Lehman Brothers crashed. Rather than expanding sales into the downturn, the founders focused on product, asking their few customers what they would spend money on in a bad economy. The answer was always ROI — and retargeting, then used only by the largest brands, turned out to be the way to deliver it (AdExchanger).
The rise of ad exchanges around 2008–2009 was the unlock: AdRoll became one of the first buyers on Google’s AdEx, built a self-service SaaS platform for retargeting, and grew fast — 5,000 customers adding 500 a month, 85 employees in San Francisco, profitable since 2011 with north of 400% growth, backed by Accel and angel investor Peter Thiel (AdExchanger; Search Engine Journal). In 2015 it extended the model into email with SendRoll, bringing retargeting to what VentureBeat called the most lucrative channel in digital marketing (VentureBeat). By then the company’s identity was firmly “the retargeting company” — the pigeonhole its CEO would later complain about (TechCrunch).
Two renames: NextRoll, then back to AdRoll
The first rename came in September 2019. The AdRoll Group became NextRoll Inc., a change CEO Toby Gabriner — who had taken the role in November 2017 — said was designed to reflect the company’s moves beyond retargeting: “We have, for the longest time, been pigeonholed as a retargeting company, but the reality is that we have really been evolving” (TechCrunch). To be clear, the AdRoll retargeting business did not go away — it continued as one business unit. A second, RollWorks, offered B2B account-based-marketing tools (launched about 18 months earlier), and a third, NextRoll Platform Services, launched as a “marketing-technology-as-a-service” offering, selling access to AdRoll’s underlying technology through APIs — Channels-as-a-Service and Audiences-as-a-Service (TechCrunch).
The second rename came on August 27, 2025 — a reversal. The company announced a “brand transformation” unifying the portfolio under the AdRoll brand: RollWorks officially became the AdRoll ABM product, and the platform was repositioned as an AI-powered connected advertising system with two core offerings — multi-channel advertising and ABM — plus a newly launched AI Assistant for campaign creation and optimization (PPC Land). The NextRoll name was effectively retired as a brand — PPC Land’s own summary reads “AdRoll (formerly NextRoll)” (PPC Land). By then leadership had also changed: the 2025 announcement quotes Roli Saxena as chief executive officer at NextRoll and Vibhor Kapoor as chief business officer at AdRoll, where the 2019 era had Gabriner (PPC Land; TechCrunch). The company pitches the unified platform at mid-sized businesses, drawing on what it describes as nearly 20 years of advertising data (PPC Land).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not claim AdRoll ever merged with another company — the record shows two renames of one company, verified independently for both 2019 and 2025. It does not state when the CEO transition from Toby Gabriner to Roli Saxena occurred, because no independently read source gave the timing. It does not assert whether NextRoll Inc. remains the legal entity name after the 2025 brand reversion, nor what became of NextRoll Platform Services — neither appeared in the sources read. It deliberately does not cite the company’s own August 2025 press release; the reunification facts come from independent trade coverage. And it does not assert post-2025 partnership or product claims that appeared only in first-party materials.
Timeline
- 2007
- Aaron Bell and Adam Berke found AdRoll in San Francisco as a display advertising network, aiming to make display advertising work for advertisers of all sizes the way Google had done for search.
- 2008
- AdRoll raises its Series A in August 2008 — weeks before the Lehman Brothers collapse. The founders respond to the crash by focusing on product rather than sales, and begin experimenting with retargeting as ad exchanges emerge.
- 2012
- AdRoll raises $15 million (bringing total investment to $19 million), reaches 5,000 customers adding 500 a month, and is profitable since 2011. The company is described as one of the first buyers on Google's AdEx exchange.
- 2015
- AdRoll launches SendRoll, extending its retargeting technology into email marketing — email being, per VentureBeat, the most lucrative channel for digital marketers.
- 2018
- AdRoll launches RollWorks, a business unit offering B2B account-based marketing tools, alongside the core AdRoll retargeting business.
- 2019
- AdRoll Group is renamed NextRoll Inc. (announced September 10, 2019) to reflect the company's move beyond retargeting. The AdRoll retargeting business continues as a unit; RollWorks becomes a second unit; a third unit, NextRoll Platform Services, launches as a marketing-technology-as-a-service offering with Channels-as-a-Service and Audiences-as-a-Service. Toby Gabriner is CEO.
- 2025
- On August 27, 2025, the company announces a brand unification: the portfolio is consolidated under the AdRoll brand, RollWorks officially becomes the AdRoll ABM product, and an AI Assistant for campaign creation and optimization launches. The NextRoll name is effectively retired as a brand.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The timing of the CEO transition from Toby Gabriner to Roli Saxena was not found in independently read sources; only the two endpoints are stated.
- Whether NextRoll Inc. remains the legal entity name after the 2025 brand reversion is unresolved; only brand facts are stated.
- The fate of NextRoll Platform Services after 2019 is not covered in the sources read and is not asserted.
- Post-2025 partnership claims (Experian, HUMAN Security, InnovidXP) appeared only in first-party or later trade pieces and are not asserted.
Sources
5 sources (5 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
No first-party sources were used — not even the company's own August 2025 press release; the reunification rests on PPC Land's independent coverage. The founding and pivot rest on AdExchanger's founder interviews and Search Engine Journal; the 2019 rename on TechCrunch; the SendRoll launch on VentureBeat. Wikipedia was used only as a lead index, never cited.
- Supports: Founded 2007 as ad network; founders CEO Aaron Bell, President Adam Berke; $15M round (total $19M); pivot to retargeting via ad exchanges '08/'09; first buyers on Google AdEx; 5,000 customers, 500/month; 85 employees SF; profitable since 2011; Series A Aug 2008 before crash Open original source
- Supports: AdRoll Group → NextRoll parent rename; AdRoll retargeting business continues; RollWorks B2B unit (launched ~2018); NextRoll Platform Services launched (Channels/Audiences-as-a-Service); CEO Toby Gabriner since Nov 2017; "temporary placeholder" quote Open original source
- Supports: Brand unification announced Aug 27, 2025; RollWorks → AdRoll ABM; "AdRoll (formerly NextRoll)"; two core offerings; AI Assistant launch; CEO at NextRoll Roli Saxena; CBO Vibhor Kapoor; ~20 years of ad data; mid-market positioning Open original source
- Supports: Founded 2007 (Berke quote on democratizing the technology); SendRoll extends retargeting to email; retargeting explained Open original source
- Supports: Founded 2007; self-service platform; SF team of 45; investors Accel and Peter Thiel; cofounder Adam Berke interview Open original source
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