After just about a year of operations, AdAsia is not just reportedly a profitable venture it has also managed to close $12 million Series A round of funding – from Japanese investor JAFCO.
Founded in April by CEO Kosuke Sogo and COO Otohiko Kozutsumi, between April-December AdAsia has grossed $12 million in sales and is growing at about 20-30 percent each month. Serving 300 clients, their annual revenue target for the year is $30 million.
AdAsia offers a single digital platform which integrates elements like real-time buying and social targeting. In addition, the company also offers large exchanges like Adwords, DoubleClick and Facebook along with video and mobile solutions and influencer marketer program.
While the company is headquartered in Singapore, they have offices in Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam (two), Indonesia and Thailand. They plan to utilize the funding for expansion plans into China (Shanghai), Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan – all within the year. They are also looking to grow their work force from the current 80 to 400 before next year’s end.
They will also be using the investments to develop the artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and machine learning for ad products in current and future scenarios and will establish a development centre in Vietnam.
Since the concept of digital ad spend is still in its nascent stage in Southeast Asia, AdAsia may be able to capture a considerable market share. However, going up against a more saturated market like China is a much harder challenge. While Sogo agrees that China may continue holding domination is the space, he is confident of getting “some marketshare [and] generate revenue” through integration with companies like Tencent.
