Viant Technology (DSP), an ad tech company, could unlock significant shareholder value by adopting a bitcoin (BTC) treasury strategy according to Eric Semler, the chairman of Semler Scientific (SMLR), the scientific-equipment maker that also adopted a bitcoin-buying policy.
Viant joins Zoom Communications (ZOOM) and Coursera, Inc. (COUR) on Semler’s list of “Zombie Zone” companies that, he says, have untapped capital and an urgent need to rethink strategic direction. Neither of the previous two followed his advice.
In a post on X, Semler highlighted Viant’s stock performance as a key indicator of investor skepticism toward the company’s long-term growth prospects. The shares are down 44% since the company’s 2021 IPO and slumped 50% in February alone.
Despite this, Viant maintains a strong financial foundation, including $205 million in net cash — about 25% of its $900 million market cap — and $34 million in free cash flow in 2024, with expectations for steady growth through 2028.
Viant faces intensifying competition from tech giants like Google and Amazon and the commoditization of demand-side platforms. Chris Vanderhook, one of the three brothers that founded the company, has publicly expressed enthusiasm for decentralized technologies, referencing crypto, blockchain, and NFTs as core to a “New Open Web” vision.
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