Scaleup Mediafund, a dedicated media-for-equity fund, has invested in Hawkes Brewing Co and Bare Funeral Group.
The funding is part of a new round of $15 million in brand advertising and paid media for consumer-facing start-ups to accelerate their growth.
The fund, comprising publishers and broadcasters including News Corp Australia, NOVA Entertainment, Foxtel and REA Group, has also expanded its ranks with outdoor advertising company oOh!media joining.
The fund works directly with founder-led businesses to provide discounted advertising and marketing inventory in exchange for equity.
This gives early-stage businesses access to scale advertising and marketing inventory from publishers and broadcasters to help build their brands.
Since its inception in 2017, the fund’s investors have committed more than $45 million in advertising and marketing inventory to the nation’s start-up sector. Scaleup Mediafund has backed the growth of 17 businesses, with five of them reaching the milestones of acquisition or IPO.
Scaleup Mediafund investment principal, Michael Lamont, said the company has embraced the challenge that new brands face - how to best build their presence, attract consumers and scale effectively.
"Scaleup is the only Australian fund solely dedicated to addressing this issue, which offers substantial opportunity for startups to accelerate growth," he said.
“With our third funding round in place, we’re delighted to have completed our first two investments and now invite the next wave of startups who are interested in learning about media-for-equity and how it can support their growth plans."
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