Rita gathers data from a community of 200,000 members on online behaviours, with users granted control over what data they allow firms to access.

As part of the acquisition, John Arts, chief executive at Rita, along with his core team of developers and data scientists, will join Adelaide.

Adelaide said its investment in the company would help expand Rita’s panel worldwide and provide greater access to insights and improve data quality for Adelaide clients.

The deal will also see Adelaide use Rita’s expanded panel to train its AU media quality measurement models, including in areas such as linking advert exposures to subsequent actions, including product searches, website visits, app installations and purchases.

Marc Guldimann, chief executive and founder at Adelaide, said: “John and I share a vision of empowering individuals to reclaim control of their data and actively participate in the data marketplace.

“Adelaide will utilise Rita’s data in a completely privacy-friendly manner to continue refining the accuracy and utility of AU.”

Arts added: “Marc and I are very aligned on the problems and needed changes in today’s data economy. We aim to bring transparency to the industry and put power in the hands of the individual.”

The acquisition comes as Adelaide secured an additional $1.4m in a seed-extension round led by AperiamVentures.

The seed funding round also included new investments from GOAL Ventures and Nishat Mehta, along with participation from previous investors BlueTree and Human Ventures.

The new capital will be used to improve Adelaide’s products and support team growth globally.

Guldimann said: “We are thrilled to have the support of Aperiam as we continue to redefine media quality measurement.

“This funding will help us advance our mission to build the most precise media quality metric, fostering a healthier media market and better outcomes for both advertisers and publishers.”  

Joe Zawadzki, general partner at AperiamVentures, added: “Our investment is a testament to our confidence in Adelaide’s vision and capacity to fundamentally transform the advertising industry.”