Anuj Bhandari is redefining outdoor advertising through data and automation. His vision for DGTOOHL focuses on making digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaigns smarter, measurable, and transparent. By combining technology with audience intelligence, he is helping shape the future of India’s advertising ecosystem.
Interview with Anuj Bhandari
Q: Can you briefly introduce yourself and your entrepreneurial journey?
My entrepreneurial journey started early in my career. I was fortunate to work with leaders who entrusted me with entrepreneurial responsibilities from the outset, encouraging me to think like a business owner rather than just an employee. Those experiences gave me the confidence to build, innovate, and take ownership. Later, I became the Co-founder and Business Head of my previous organization, where I was responsible for driving business operations across multiple verticals. That role deepened my understanding of building scalable businesses, nurturing client relationships, and leading high-performing teams.
One belief has consistently guided my journey: that technology has the power to transform even the most traditional industries. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption across sectors and reinforced this conviction. Having spent over two decades in the media, advertising, and Out-of-Home (OOH) industry, I witnessed how digital transformation reshaped almost every advertising medium, while outdoor advertising remained largely untapped.
That realization inspired me to launch DGTOOHL. Our vision is to build an intelligent, programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH) platform that empowers advertisers, agencies, and media owners with automation, data-driven decision-making, and measurable outcomes. Every milestone we’ve achieved has strengthened my belief that meaningful innovation comes from solving real industry challenges while creating long-term value for the entire ecosystem.
Q: What inspired you to launch DGTOOHL?
The inspiration to launch DGTOOHL came from recognizing the immense untapped potential of the outdoor advertising industry. While digital advertising had evolved into a highly automated, measurable, and audience-driven medium, Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising continued to rely largely on manual processes. The COVID-19 pandemic became a defining moment in my career. It fundamentally changed the way advertisers evaluated media investments, with accountability, verification, and measurability becoming essential across every channel.
I saw an opportunity to bridge this gap by building a platform that connects advertisers with digital screens in real time, making outdoor advertising smarter, more accessible, transparent, and measurable. DGTOOHL was founded with the vision of accelerating the adoption of programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH) in India while empowering media owners to maximize the value of their inventory and enabling brands to execute more intelligent, data-driven campaigns.
Q: What problem is DGTOOHL solving in the outdoor advertising industry?
DGTOOHL was founded to address one of the biggest gaps in the outdoor advertising industry: the lack of measurability, transparency, and data-driven decision-making. While digital advertising has long enabled marketers to target specific audiences, optimize campaigns in real time, and measure performance, traditional OOH has largely relied on estimates, manual planning, and static inventory. DGTOOHL bridges this gap by transforming outdoor advertising into an intelligent, measurable, and programmatic medium. Its platform combines geospatial intelligence, audience movement data, real-time inventory, and automation to help brands identify the right locations, reach the right audiences, and accurately measure campaign outcomes.
Beyond improving campaign effectiveness, DGTOOHL is also solving the industry’s accountability challenge. By providing verified impressions, real-time performance insights, audience analytics, and attribution models, the platform gives marketers greater confidence in their media investments and allows them to connect offline exposure with business outcomes. Ultimately, DGTOOHL is redefining outdoor advertising from a static branding medium into a dynamic, data-driven communication channel that integrates seamlessly with omnichannel marketing strategies.
Q: How has your experience in OOH advertising shaped your leadership style?
My experience in the OOH industry has primarily taught me resilience. It is an industry that has traditionally evolved at a slower pace, where change often requires challenging long-established practices and mindsets. Building something new in such an environment demands patience, persistence, and the ability to keep moving forward despite setbacks. These experiences have shaped my leadership style. I believe in staying focused on the larger vision rather than short-term competition. While competition is inevitable, I strongly believe that the industry’s real opportunity lies in creating a larger, technology-driven ecosystem that benefits advertisers, agencies, media owners, and consumers alike.
Q: What makes DGTOOHL stand out from other players in the market?
What truly differentiates DGTOOHL is our ecosystem-first approach. Our vision has never been to build just another DSP or SSP; we believe that technology alone is not a differentiator anymore. Many companies today have similar capabilities. Our focus is on accelerating the growth of the programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH) ecosystem in India through collaboration rather than isolation. We actively work towards integrating with multiple DSPs and industry partners to ensure advertisers have access to the most relevant, high-quality, and impactful inventory across the country.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge in building DGTOOHL, and how did you overcome it?
One of the biggest challenges has been driving industry adoption. Since programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH) is still an emerging space in India, convincing publishers to view it as a sustainable, mainstream revenue channel rather than an occasional source of incremental income required significant education and engagement. Similarly, encouraging advertisers and agencies to embrace a new way of planning and buying outdoor media took time. We addressed these challenges by staying consistent, demonstrating measurable value, and building strong partnerships instead of simply selling technology. Today, the conversation has shifted. We regularly receive inbound enquiries from publishers, agencies, and brands looking to explore programmatic opportunities.
Q: What achievement in your career are you most proud of so far?
I believe the biggest achievement is still ahead of me. As an entrepreneur, I don’t think the journey is ever complete; every milestone simply becomes the foundation for the next one. That said, earning the confidence and trust of global technology leaders like Google is certainly among the achievements I value the most. It validates our vision, our technology, and the work we’ve put into building DGTOOHL. More importantly, it reinforces our belief that an Indian company can build world-class solutions that contribute meaningfully to the global evolution of programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH).
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to build a technology-driven business?
If I had to give just one piece of advice, it would be this: always have a business co-founder. Technology can build a great product, but building a successful business requires much more than that. You need someone who complements your strengths, challenges your thinking, shares the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and focuses on customers, partnerships, and growth while the product continues to evolve.