PaeDae, a premium mobile rewards network, announced today that it has closed an $11.6 million venture round of equity and debt, with participation from over 20 strategic and angel investors. Participants include Ed Ojdana (FreeCreditReport.com, Experian), 3G Capital, Grind Games, and Silicon Valley Bank.

Proceeds from the round will accelerate PaeDae's expansion from premium rewards network to robust user-centric advertising and monetization platform for brands and mobile app developers alike. For developers, the expansion will be realized through new and innovative tools to increase user retention and engagement. For brand advertisers and digital agencies, the new offerings will include additional features encompassing mobile video, user acquisition, app discovery, and rich media.

The funding will also augment the proprietary mobile user-attribution technology that has won PaeDae campaigns from brands including 7-Eleven, Hershey's, State Farm, and Time Warner Cable.

'PaeDae's ability to combine technological innovation with top-notch creative makes it a force to be reckoned with in the mobile advertising space,' said investor Ed Ojdana. 'I'm thrilled to be involved as they realize their vision of providing brands and developers with an impactful way to engage consumers.'

The industry-wide shift toward mobile has provided brands with a tremendous degree of reach. However, reach alone does not build long-term, high-quality customer relationships. Consequently, focus within the mobile space is shifting toward targeted ads that go beyond displaying content by prompting user interaction and input.

'In order to continue to meet demand for quality mobile ads from the advertiser and developer communities, we must extend our reach beyond rewards and into other forms of premium advertising,' said PaeDae founder and CEO, Rob Emrich. 'Our scope may change, but our core mission will remain to provide users with ads that are non-disruptive, contextual, and connective. Our user-centric model will enable us to apply the attributes of reward-based advertising to new mediums including mobile video, rich media, and app discovery.'