Funds raised will be used for product development and market expansion
AdEasy, Southeast Asia’s first online marketplace for buying offline advertisement space, has raised over RM 850,000 (over US$200,000) from angel investors, bringing the total investment amount to over RM 1.8 million (approximately US$455,000). The previous funding rounds included a successful crowdfunding campaign through the pitchIN platform and a seed funding round from Cradle. The investment will be used to expand its technology on campaign planning and analytics, as well as to improve the user experience.
Founded in 2017, AdEasy is an online marketplace for offline advertising. AdEasy helps advertisers discover, compare and book ad space in magazine, newspaper, radio, television, cinema, and out-of-home media, empowering businesses big and small to launch real-life advertising campaigns in just a few clicks. The marketplace is committed to making the buying and selling of offline ad space faster, more transparent, and as simple as booking a holiday online. Besides the marketplace, AdEasy provides creative services as well as an ad delivery service to make the whole advertising process easy and seamless.
Melissa Sim CEO and Co-Founder of AdEasy, said, “This investment is a testament to the impact that we are having on the industry. The funding will help us scale our business even faster, and give us a strong financial base on which to expand our platform’s offerings. We will double down on our efforts to improve our features and implement new technologies, which will help our clients leverage the full benefits of offline advertising.”
AdEasy was founded in 2017 by Melissa Sim and COO Therine Goh, both veterans in the industry. After experiencing the inefficiency in booking offline ad spaces directly from media owners, they decided to apply a digital solution to offline advertising, making it convenient for small and medium business owners to advertise themselves. This would allow any brand even with a small budget to be able to easily purchase advertising space on billboards, magazines and other traditional advertising platforms. In the last couple of years, AdEasy has built a strong portfolio of clients, including global and regional powerhouses like FashionValet, WeWork and Klook.
An online solution to an offline problem
The advent of social media and increasing Internet penetration has forever changed the advertising industry. The growth of the digital advertising space has drastically shifted how brands spend their marketing budgets over the last decade. However, offline advertising still has an important role to play in reaching your target audience. Online ads increase in cost over time, and consumer trust in traditional formats still remains high.
The major stumbling blocks for brands looking to explore offline advertising has been the time it takes to do research and gather information, the perceived cost involved in securing advertising space, and the complicated process of buying spaces directly from media owners. The AdEasy platform solves this problem by providing these simple and effective features:
- Quick browsing of over 800 real-time ad spaces across 16 offline media types
- Easy and transparent comparison of media rates and information
- An easy and automated way to book ad spaces in just a few clicks
Adhwa Zalil, Senior Digital Marketer at FashionValet and an AdEasy user, said, “AdEasy made our offline advertising experience hassle-free and easy. We saved a lot of time as all the information we needed was on one website, and the entire process of booking a radio campaign is simplified. This is a convenient way for us to try out different media, and further expand our advertising in the offline space.”
Bringing offline advertising into the future
Part of the investment will be used to further develop solutions to improve offline ad campaigns’ measurement and ROI. This will allow AdEasy’s users to make better-informed decisions, track campaign progress, and gain insights from a traditionally offline medium.
Therine Goh, COO and Co-Founder of AdEasy, shared, “There is a need for a better solution to make offline advertising more appealing to brands, and quantifiable measurement is crucial. At AdEasy, we are always looking to improve our features and provide the best value to our users. These new funds will allow us to put renewed focus on developing crucial technology solutions for both brands and media owners.”
