AdTech firm receives $7.6m for shopping centre screens
Start-up Shopper Media, founded by former oOh! Media executives Ben Walker and Ed Couche, has secured almost AUD10m ($7.6m) in a funding round led by Blue Sky Private Equity. The money will be used to install Shopper Media's advertising screens across more than 300 Australian shopping centres over the next two years. The company, launched in 2015, offers free WiFi, overlaid by an intelligent analytics platform that monitors user behaviour and provides tailored information to advertisers. Among Shopper media's clients are Coca Cola, American Express and Johnson & Johnson. 

Mr Walker told The Australian Financial Review that, in addition to Australia, Shopper Media also had its eye on the broader Asia Pacific market.

However he said the company needed to move fast to secure shopping centres against rivals in a competitive market.

"The sector is very competitive, all media companies with similar products ensure exclusivity in each shopping centre. as suppliers tended to sign deals with shopping malls on an exclusive basis," Mr Walker said.

"The growth opportunity is enormous, we have a best in market product which we will aggressively expand throughout Australia and into APAC."

Shopper Media competes against the likes of ASX-listed SkyFii, which also supplies Wi-Fi in shopping centres and provides the operators with data about the activity of shoppers that log on.

Shopper Media installs screens in malls, which display ads that are tailored to the activity of customers logged into the free WiFi network.

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However Mr Walker said its screens made it a more attractive package to retailers and centres as well as advertisers. It is already installed in 150 shopping centres, which gave it an estimated reach of more than 2.8 million shoppers a week.

"On top of the Wi-Fi we overlay an intelligent analytics platform that allows us to understand customer movements in each of our shopping centres," Mr Walker said.

"This system is linked to the content management system that powers our panels, allowing us to programmatically serve targeted advertising based on what is happening within the environment."

Blue Sky Private Equity investment director Nick Miller said Shopper Media Group fitted Blue Sky's portfolio as a tech-based company in a high-growth industry. Its venture capital arm has also backed online wine seller Vinomofo and it is also an investor in health tech firm Alcidion.

"Digital OOH media is Australia's fastest growing media market, with 50 per cent per annum growth driven by digitisation, audience reach and performance," Mr Miller said.

"Shopper Media Group has established itself as a player with 100 per cent digital reach in 150 shopping centres. Its experienced management team has launched the sector into a new phase with market leading technology that adds value for shopping centres and media buyers."

Mr Walker said the funding round would set Shopper Media up for its current plans and expected its future expansion strategy to require a follow-on funding round in three to five years.

He said it hosted a database of more than 100,000 unique shoppers and planned to become Australia's largest shopping centre consumer database in the near future.