Xapads Media: Building a Global Full-Stack AdTech Powerhouse from India
When Nitin Gupta was a university student back in 2004, he was already making ₹35,000 a month as a freelance developer—roughly the same as a top-tier IT professional's salary at the time. While his peers were joining the campus placement lines for Infosys and TCS, Gupta was planning something much larger. Today, as the Founder of Xapads Media, he leads one of India's biggest AdTech companies, reaching 1.7 billion people globally and operating 11 offices across eight countries.
Nitin's journey is a masterclass in bootstrapped resilience and strategic pivoting. From starting in a vacant terrace room at his parent's house to becoming the exclusive mandate partner for Xiaomi across multiple continents, Xapads Media has evolved from a software services firm into a full-stack programmatic powerhouse. By owning the entire funnel—from the demand side (DSP) to the supply side (SSP) and the data intelligence—Gupta has built a "One-Stop Shop" that brings transparency and supply path optimization to the world's largest advertisers.
Supply Path Optimization (SPO)
In the complex web of digital advertising, the more middlemen in the chain, the higher the price for the brand and the lower the revenue for the publisher. Xapads Media is one of the few companies globally that has built the complete tech stack. By removing all middlemen and connecting advertisers directly with their 75,000+ publishers, they offer the shortest, most efficient link in the programmatic ecosystem.
From Humble Beginnings to a 200-Person Pivot
Nitin Gupta identifies his roots in a lower-middle-income family in Lucknow. His father's long illness during his school years taught him the value of money early. By 10th grade, he was funding his own expenses through tuitions. During his B.Tech in IT, he mastered the "behind the curtain" side of web development—PHP and server-side logic—which allowed him to build high-end web applications for clients in the US and UK while still in college.
After graduating, he convinced his childhood friends to join him in building Xaprio Solutions in 2005. They scaled to 200 people by 2008, but the global recession hit their software services business hard. "People were cutting tech budgets, but they were still spending on advertisements," Gupta recalls. This insight sparked the 2009 pivot to AdTech. While a team of 200 was struggling in services, a small team of six handling AdTech was generating higher margins and equivalent revenue. The choice was clear: Xapads was born.
"The time of 'Lala-based' companies is gone. If I work 14 hours a day, I can expect my team to work 12. I never sit in a cabin; I stay on the shop floor with my team to understand what's actually happening at the ground level."
The Full-Stack Advantage: 1.7 Billion Data Points
Xapads isn't just an agency; it's a Programmatic Technology company. They use real-time bidding (RTB) to connect the world's largest brands—including Unilever, Maruti, and Mercedes—with 75,000+ publishers. Their secret weapon is their proprietary AI data set, covering 16% of the global population.
The Xapads Intelligence Engine
- Data Filtration: Processing zillions of terabytes generated by 1.7 billion people to identify anonymous device IDs and interests.
- Predictive Algorithms: Figuring out which users are "likely" to convert. For example, identifying shoppers who buy from competitors but don't actively use Amazon.
- OEM Partnerships: Exclusive mandates with Xiaomi, Samsung, Vivo, and Oppo allow Xapads to access high-consent data directly from the device level.
- Compliance: 100% GDPR compliant, ensuring they can operate in strict markets like the UK and EU.
Scaling Globally: The "Native Russian" Strategy
Xapads Media operates 11 offices globally, with headquarters in Noida and outposts in Singapore, Dubai, Jakarta, London, and New York. One of their biggest markets today is **Russia**. Nitin admits that their initial expansion failed when they sent Indian managers to Dubai. "We wasted a year. You need to adhere to local cultural values to do business there," he says.
Today, their strategy is simple: hire locals. Their team in Russia is 100% native Russian; their UK office is led by a born-and-bred Brit. This allows Xapads to operate not as an "Indian company abroad," but as a Global Tech Firm with headquarters in India. This cultural adaptation has been the key to scaling their programmatic sales across diverse regulatory landscapes.
Xapads Media: Global Reach (Jan 2026)
- Global Reach: 1.7 Billion users across websites, mobile apps, and OEM devices.
- Publisher Network: 75,000+ active publishers globally.
- Global Footprint: 11 Offices in 8 countries.
- Exclusive Mandate: One of only five core agency partners for Xiaomi globally.
- Market Position: India's second-biggest company in the independent AdTech segment.
The Future: Carbon Neutrality and AI Video
Looking ahead, Nitin is focused on two major trends: Sustainability and Attention. In the UK market, brands are already demanding carbon-neutral advertising. Xapads is now calculating the carbon footprint per thousand impressions (CPM) and partnering with UN-verified agencies to plant trees on behalf of their clients.
Technologically, they are solving the "Attention Gap." It's no longer enough to know an ad was visible; brands want to know if the person actually looked at it. They are also building AI-driven localized video, where a single ad recording can be automatically lip-synced and slang-matched for regional languages across India and the globe.
Founder's Wisdom: The Sustainable Bootstrap
Work on the Shop Floor: Don't have a bird's eye view. Know what's happening at the ground level of every department—sales, tech, and accounting.
Revenue is the Only Signal: The signal-to-noise ratio is lowest when people are paying for your product. Don't chase "artificial money" (VC) until your business makes sense on paper.
Stay Profit-Obsessed: In a world of overfunded startups that burn out, Xapads has remained bootstrapped and profitable for 20 years. Sustainability is the ultimate competitive moat.
The Meaning of Entrepreneurship
For Nitin Gupta, entrepreneurship is a 14-hour-a-day hustle that never ends with just "building a company." It's about being ahead of the curve, managing smart teams, and understanding the shift from "Lala-based" firms to global tech powerhouses. As he reflects on his 20-year journey, his advice to future founders is simple: "Build a sustainable business first. If the business is generating money, the investors will follow you."
As Xapads Media continues to expand its reach into connected TV and smart devices across the US and Europe, it stands as a testament to what's possible when Indian tech acumen is applied to a global scale. From a terrace room in Noida to the digital screens of 1.7 billion people, Nitin Gupta is reshaping how the world sees—and interacts with—advertising.
About the Guest
Nitin Gupta is the Founder and CEO of Xapads Media. A pioneer in the Indian AdTech space, Nitin holds a B.Tech in IT from Crystal University. He started his career as a freelance developer in 2002 before co-founding Xaprio Solutions in 2005. Under his leadership, Xapads Media pivoted to AdTech in 2009 and has since grown into a global leader in programmatic advertising. He is a recognized authority on real-time bidding, data privacy compliance, and supply path optimization. Nitin is a strong advocate for bootstrapped entrepreneurship and "lead-from-the-front" organizational cultures.
Xapads Media is a full-stack global AdTech platform providing 360-degree digital marketing solutions. By owning its proprietary AI, DSP, and SSP technologies, Xapads offers transparent, high-performing programmatic advertising for world-class brands. The company reaches over 1.7 billion users through its massive publisher network and exclusive OEM partnerships, operating across 11 global offices with headquarters in Noida, India.