Firefly Raises $30 Million To Expand Its Billboard Business To Tops Of New York Taxis, Ubers

Six months after emerging from stealth, Firefly is bringing its digital taxi toppers to New York City, thanks to a fresh $30 million funding round led by GV (formerly known as Google Ventures) with participation from existing investor NFX.

On June 1, Firefly will start rolling out its car-top billboards on Ubers and Lyfts, giving drivers an extra income source. It will also be swapping out some static advertisements on top of traditional taxis thanks to the acquisition of media company Strong Outdoor's digital operations, which has a contract with the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade.

"A lot of people thought we were crazy," says Firefly cofounder and CEO Kaan Gunay. "But now having the validation from [GV] and being able to use Google resources where we can serve content more specifically and can get better data analytics back to the advertisers, I think we are becoming a new advertising format."