The FPC Podcast Episode 21: FPC launches Fund 2 with a strategic investment from Index Exchange
10 snips
Jun 11, 2025 
Andrew Casale, Founder of Index Exchange, shares his lifelong passion for ad tech, having started in the industry as a teenager. He discusses the launch of Fund 2, aimed at investing in innovative ad tech startups, backed by Index's strategic insights. Topics include the evolution of Index Exchange, the shift towards sell-side innovations, and the impact of AI on advertising practices. Casale also touches on the potential for future IPOs and the importance of fostering capital-efficient, differentiated companies in the fast-paced ad tech landscape.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Andrew Casale's Early Internet Journey
- Andrew Casale began his internet journey as a teenager creating popular websites and became an early adopter of ad tech as a publisher.
- His passion for the internet and ad tech eventually led him to build a company supporting publishers rather than just being a publisher himself.
Bootstrapped for Long-Term Vision
- Index Exchange remains 100% bootstrapped with no external funding, valuing long-term sustainability over quick investor returns.
- This approach allowed Index to focus on supporting publishers and building a durable business rather than maximizing short-term profits.
Scale of Index Exchange
- Index Exchange operates at massive scale, processing 500 billion daily ad slot requests and peaking at 21 million requests per second.
- This scale dwarfs other high-volume systems like Visa, showing the complexity and size of the open internet ad ecosystem.