TotallyAwesome, Australia’s most advanced digital advertising network for kids, teens, and families, announced it has raised US$10 million (debt and equity combined) seed funding from leading San Francisco based Partners For Growth and Singapore based boutique investment growth advisory firm Yefira Group specialising in adtech investment consulting.
What is the market offering of TotallyAwesome?
TotallyAwesome enables a youth-safe digital ecosystem by curating the largest supply of media inventory for brands to engage with over 500 million active under 18-users across APAC. Studies suggest that every-day 175,000 kids come online for the first time and by the age of 13, each one will have 72 million data points. At a time when there’s never been more scrutiny over data privacy, internet usage by under-18s accounts for 40% of daily traffic.
This structural shift has propelled the need for a proprietary and contextual data-graph that the advertising industry can rely on, and TotallyAwesome is well positioned to reinvent the engagement relationship with younger audiences, through its data-driven offerings- the Dynamic-Pricing-As-A-Service (DPaaS) and the Curation and Moderation Platform.
Through this new funding round the company aims to rewrite the current brand value exchange in the APAC region – by investing in product development to evolve its enterprise advertising platform, ramp up hiring across its sales, data science and machine learning teams, as well as exploring strategic mergers and acquisitions to accelerate growth.
Having quadrupled its revenue and increased its headcount by 200% in the last three financial years, TotallyAwesome will use the funding to solidify its position in a space where it has first-mover advantage, while expanding in markets like Indonesia, Philippines, Japan and Australia.
The investment marks the firm’s second major news in recent weeks, having previously unveiled TotallyPlay, the industry’s largest brand safe gaming platform for brands to engage with APAC’s 450mn+ under-18 gamers. TotallyAwesome is compliant with COPPA and GDPR data privacy regulations, with the company being a member of the kidSAFE Seal Program.
What were the executives’ thoughts on the funding?
Commenting on the funding, Will Anstee, Chief Executive Officer of TotallyAwesome said,“It gives me great confidence that ‘Venture Capital for good’ is gaining greater traction in our world at large and TotallyAwesome met that brief for both institutions. Additionally, the importance of cultural fit was at the top of my list when looking for both equity and debt partners. To this end, PFG and the Yefira Group are a perfect match. Exciting times ahead.”
Karthi Sepulohniamm, MD of Partners For Growth said, “We are excited to have the opportunity to support TotallyAwesome’s growth today and over the coming years, as they deliver solutions to brands to provide a safe environment for kids to interact with tech.”
“We’re excited to help TotallyAwesome scale their platform which curates safe digital worlds for young explorers. We look forward to welcoming TotallyAwesome into our portfolio.”
Commenting on the funding, George Kypraios, Chief Executive Officer, Yefira Group said, “We are very proud to partner TotallyAwesome at this critical juncture by arranging the venture debt facility with Partners for Growth, and investing our own capital as an equity investment.”
“TotallyAwesome is exactly the type of client we want to be associated with, one that is pushing innovation in the right direction within the adtech /martech industry but most importantly with purpose at its heart. This is just the beginning. Watch this space.”
The firm follows the most advanced Govt regulations protecting kids’ data and privacy, with its resident practising psychologist advising on what is age-appropriate and consequently helping shape its products and develop bespoke research solutions. This science-backed approach is combined with local language human moderators – including teenagers – to ensure brand safety and emphasise human interpretation over AI-based solutions.
For more information on TotallyAwesome visit here.
