The race to dominate Connected TV (CTV) advertising just crowned a new front-runner. Anoki, the startup pushing the limits of multimodal AI, has been named “Best Overall CTV Solution Provider” in the 8th annual MarTech Breakthrough Awards—a global program that saw more than 4,000 nominations this year.
That puts Anoki in elite company. The 2025 winners’ circle includes tech heavyweights like Adobe, HubSpot, ZoomInfo, and Sitecore, alongside in-house innovations from Verizon and Capital One. For a relative newcomer, Anoki’s recognition signals that its technology is not just buzzworthy—it’s setting a new benchmark for how CTV advertising works.
What Makes Anoki Different
At the heart of the win is ContextIQ, Anoki’s flagship platform. It bills itself as the first end-to-end multimodal AI solution built for CTV, capable of reading a show’s DNA scene by scene. Instead of simply tagging content by genre or rating, ContextIQ analyzes video, audio, dialogue, sentiment, and even emotion.
The result: advertisers can place ads at precise moments in premium content—think a celebratory touchdown scene or a heartfelt conversation—rather than relying on broad demographic data. That means better brand suitability, higher engagement, and stronger privacy safeguards, since the targeting hinges on content relevance instead of personal data.
The platform also comes with an interactive AI copilot, giving advertisers hands-on tools like brand safety filters, scene-level previews, and campaign forecasts. It’s contextual targeting, but with a cockpit view.
“Anoki’s platform represents a paradigm shift,” said Steve Johansson, Managing Director at MarTech Breakthrough. “Scene-level contextual targeting at scale is transforming how advertisers, viewers, and publishers experience CTV.”
Industry Impact: Contextual Makes a Comeback
Anoki’s win comes at a moment when advertisers are scrambling for privacy-safe alternatives to audience targeting. With cookies fading and data collection under scrutiny, contextual intelligence is enjoying a renaissance—this time powered by AI.
By integrating with platforms like Magnite’s SpringServe and soon with The Trade Desk’s Ventura TV OS, Anoki is ensuring its multimodal tools aren’t siloed—they’re embedded where buyers already spend their budgets. That positions the company as more than just a niche player; it’s becoming an infrastructure layer in the CTV ad stack.
“Contextual intelligence creates a virtuous cycle,” said Raghu Kodige, CEO and Co-Founder of Anoki. “Viewers get relevant ads without privacy trade-offs, advertisers see stronger performance, and publishers sustain quality programming.”
The AI push is also led by Susmita Ghose, Co-Founder and Head of AI, recently recognized in the 100 Women in AI awards. “With ContextIQ, we capture the full sensory context of every scene,” she explained. “That’s how we ensure value without compromise.”
The Bigger Picture
CTV has become one of the fastest-growing ad channels, with spending projected to top $30 billion in the U.S. this year. But as inventory explodes, advertisers are demanding better control—avoiding wasted impressions, brand misplacements, and generic buys. Anoki’s scene-level approach could set the blueprint for how AI reshapes contextual advertising in streaming.
The MarTech Breakthrough recognition doesn’t just give Anoki bragging rights—it validates a strategy that could soon become standard practice in an industry hungry for precision, privacy, and scale.
