Toronto’s Crucial Interactive Acquires Montreal’s OkraMedia

Digital media company Crucial Interactive this week announced the acquisition of OkraMedia, a two-year-old tech startup that specializes in building rich-media, cross-platform, smart ads.

Crucial, which is based in Toronto, has been using the technology of Okra, which is based in Montreal, practically since it launched in 2012.

 “At this point, integrating Okra into Crucial just makes sense strategically for everyone,” explains Petar Bozinovski, president of Crucial Interactive. “We can now bring Okra’s amazingly effective ad technology to more clients across Canada, Latin America and soon the US to facilitate the demand and growth of this product.”

But Okra’s flagship product, Contobox, can instantly and seamlessly integrate brand assets or any type of dynamic content—from video to image galleries, store locators and social media feeds—into a banner. The HTML5 smart technology adapts across desktop, mobile or tablet platforms, so that advertisers never have to build multiple ad versions to support digital campaigns. Essentially Contobox ads are robust, mini microsites that users can navigate without having to leave the trusted website they are already on. 

The result is “comprehensive marketing with limitless features that boosts engagement rates by interacting with consumers whenever and wherever they want,” according to Okra.

 “Being acquired by Crucial Interactive means we can now focus entirely on what we do best—building and improving our technology,” said Joe Younes, president of Montreal-based OkraMedia. “With Crucial, Okra instantly gains an experienced sales force that can introduce our products to a wider market.”