Programmatically sold ad impressions represent a huge global market worth $129.1 billion in 2020 and expected to reach $155 billion in 2021, with North America accounting for nearly three quarters of the market, according to Statista.

Carolina Abenante had the idea of creating a trading platform for ad impressions that would operate with the same transparency as electronic trading platforms used by the NASDAQ. In 2015, she co-founded NYIAX and invested a significant sum of her own money. Mark Grinbaum joined as a co-founder, and later Robert Ainbinder became the CEO.

Abenante met Grinbaum in 2009 when he was the chief architect of the International Securities Exchange (ISE). The ISE was the first automated options exchange, and Grinbaum played a key role in building the technology for it. Abenante and Grinbaum wanted to bring the methods used in financial markets to the ad impressions market and create an exchange with transparency and contract compliance. They initially took their idea to ISE and later to NASDAQ, eventually partnering with NASDAQ to develop the NYIAX platform.

NYIAX has experienced significant growth, with over 350% growth in the past year. Customers appreciate the platform's contract management, transparency, and blockchain security. The company has struck deals with top brands, agency holding companies, independents, and publishers.

Abenante's career path is atypical, as she spent most of her career in corporate law, corporate development, and M&A. She has a law degree and an MBA, and has worked in telecom, corporate law, and corporate development. She joined NYIAX in 2015 after working at various companies in digital and business development roles.

Looking to the future, NYIAX aims to enhance the advertising market by creating transparency and contract management similar to the NASDAQ. They hope to become a standard for contract management in advertising and believe there is much more potential for growth and innovation.