Melbourne-based independent retail media platform Zitcha has secured $15 million in Series A funding, led by US investment firm VMG Partners, to further growth in North America.
Australian venture capital business OIF Ventures, which raised Zitcha’s seed funding round in 2022, has also invested in the Series A round which will support new offices in the US, hire sales and customer success teams.
Zitcha currently works with retailers across seven countries including Coles Group (Australia), The Warehouse Group (New Zealand) Peavey Mart (Canada) Leroy Merlin (South Africa) and global brands including Unilever, Fisher & Paykel and Microsoft, Lego and Sennheiser.
Earlier this year Zitcha partnered with Axonet to leverage first party convenience store data and retail media touchpoints across tens of thousands of North American convenience stores (C-store).
Zitcha co-founder and CEO Troy Townsend said the US presents an enormous opportunity for Zitcha.
"Our platform is uniquely positioned to help retailers and brands fully leverage the third wave of digital advertising and as US retail media networks mature, the demand for integrated, data-driven ad solutions has never been higher," Townsend said.
VMG Technology general partner Carle Stenmark said Zitcha has enjoyed impressive momentum since launching just two years ago.
"Troy and Jack have built a talented team of specialists and pursued a scalable program of global expansion. Their ambition and deep expertise in retail media made them an ideal match for us," Stenmark said.
"We look forward to supporting the business and helping drive its US acceleration.”
Zitcha chief operating officer and co-founder Jack Byrne said this investment allows Zitcha to scale its US presence.
"But while the US is an obvious important growth opportunity, Australia, New Zealand and other key territories in Europe and Asia remain a priority," Byrne said.
"We are a proudly Aussie founded business and are committed to ensuring retailers and brands continue to receive the best of what we have to offer and the level of service they have come to expect.”
Troy Townsend will relocate to the US to spearhead the expansion.
Australia will remain as Zitcha’s headquarters with APAC as its platform and engineering hub and Jack Byrne will continue to manage Zitcha operations outside of the US.
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