Boston, US, based investment firm Volition Capital has led a $US15 million ($23 million) Series B capital raising round for Sydney advertising technology company Linkby.
Linkby provides a platform which links e-commerce brands with publishers who seek the opportunity to promote their goods. Brands submit campaign briefs outlining what they want to achieve and their budgets. When a publisher agrees to accept a brief, the two parties work together to achieve the target. The commissioning business begins paying only when the campaign achieves measurable engagement.
Linkby was founded in 2020 by Andrew Chak, Chris Wirasinha and Adrian Fagerlund.
Supported by early backers including Perennial Private Investments and OIF Ventures, the company raised $5 million in seed funding in early 2022 and a $4 million Series A round in 2024.
Publishers on Linkby’s platform include UK newspapers The Times and The Independent, US newspaper USA Today and magazine publisher Condé Nast. More than 3,800 brands have now used the platform, including Apple, lululemon, Sketchers, Uber Eats and Disney.
Wirisinha, the company’s chief executive, said Linkby will use the new capital to promote growth in the US market and further develop its technology.
“This funding allows us to move faster on building tools that make campaign set-up easier and more intelligent, and to bring our offering to more advertisers in more markets,” he said.
Volition’s investment in Linkby is its first in an Australian company.
Partner Jim Ferry said Volition had been attracted to Linkby because it provided opportunities for brands to scale-up their marketing progressively using editorial campaigns that could be measured in real-time for effectiveness.
“By bringing accountability and efficiency to a traditionally high-cost, opaque part of the media mix, Linkby has unlocked a new channel for customer acquisition,” he said. Their model aligns with how modern brands want to buy media, and we believe they’re well positioned to lead this category.”
Image: Linkby founders Andrew Chak, Chris Wirasinha and Adrian Fagerlund.