GTCR, a private equity firm, has invested in SQAD, an advertising software company, through GTCR’s portfolio company Dreamscape.

SQAD is a provider of dynamic software and data services for advertisers and agencies and has processed more than $1 trillion in actual transaction ad costs from advertising systems of record for its MediaCosts benchmarking platform. The firm serves its clients with its mission-critical MediaTools planning software, a robust and flexible end-to-end media planning service, and publishers with its MediaLogic audience analytics research tool.

Dreamscape, a partnership between Scott Knoll, David Hahn, Michael Iantosca, and GTCR, was formed in 2020 to develop a marketing technology business.

“SQAD’s cost data is essential for anyone buying or selling media and we believe this is an excellent investment for the Dreamscape team,” said Craig Bondy, managing director at GTCR. “Together, GTCR, Dreamscape and SQAD can grow SQAD’s existing capabilities and look for new tools to further enhance its offerings. This investment exemplifies the GTCR investment approach of bringing together experienced management leaders with well-positioned companies, and then partnering to build out best-in-class services, solutions and products.”

Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisor and LUMA Partners acted as financial advisor to GTCR and Dreamscape. Cooley acted as legal advisor and Lazard acted as financial advisor to SQAD.