Scaleup Mediafund launches new fund to provide advertising + marketing inventory to start-ups

Scaleup Mediafund, Australia’s only dedicated media for equity fund, today announced the launch of its second three-year fund and the call for applications from start-ups aiming to grow their business and brand.

In addition, REA Group will be joining the fund, offering its digital media network as inventory, along with shareholders News Corp Australia, NOVA Entertainment, Network Ten, Foxtel and Fox Sports. To date, shareholders have committed a total capacity of over $30 million in advertising and marketing inventory to the fund.

Scaleup Mediafund was established in 2017 to give Australian start-up businesses access to unrivalled advertising and marketing inventory and take their message to Australia’s biggest media audiences. The fund works directly with businesses and venture capital to provide discounted advertising and marketing inventory in exchange for equity.

Scaleup Mediafund has been highly successful supporting seven growth businesses, including the recently listed PointsBet which raised $75 million in its June listing and is looking to expand to the United States. Other start-ups include pet boarding business Mad Paws; Hey You – an app allowing you to order ahead at cafes and restaurants; Local Agent Finder – a leading real-estate agent comparison service; Spacer – Australia’s leading marketplace for self storage and parking spaces; neighbourhood babysitting and nanny network, Juggle St; and Mable, a marketplace to find aged care and disability support workers in their local area.

The fund assesses businesses based on their potential to scale through advertising, existing traction in-market and the size of the consumer problem they are solving.

Says Richard Skimin, Scaleup Mediafund chairman and general manager of M&A and strategy at News Corp Australia: “We are proud of the fund in successfully helping to grow the next generation of Australian start-ups. The unrivalled reach of the Scaleup Mediafund partnership means we can deliver niche audiences at scale to start-ups aiming to build their brand.”

Says Michael Lamont, fund manager, Scaleup Mediafund: “We have had a massive three years. When we started the fund we had the ambition of being a driver of brand and customer growth for great start-ups that had a clear need for advertising. Today with a portfolio of successful investees we can point to the realisation of that ambition.

“With Scaleup Mediafund 2.0 we are looking to grow our portfolio with early stage businesses that have a strong product fit and a clear case for media and marketing support.”

The fund completes a limited number of deals each year and invites start-up and growth companies to apply via www.scaleupmediafund.com.