For a startup, time can be the ultimate currency to achieving exponential growth. Since 2005 we have been fine-tuning our approach to helping young and established brands launch in India and shorten their path to growth. Looking ahead to 2022, we are bullish on the European startup ecosystem and expect a significant part of our portfolio to come from the region. Despite the current market volatility, we expect to grow our portfolio, even more, this year. We encourage founders to seek alternative forms of financing such as media for growth to grow their brands and revenue.

There is still a lot of capital flowing into the tech market, even though the investment market is becoming more volatile. In the current environment, the media for equity business model is even more attractive to both founders and media owners than before. As traditional reach media companies are starting to look for additional revenue possibilities/streams, media for equity is a viable model to diversify revenue.

Founders should be aware of using the best possible reach media to secure their growth, in close co-operation with media for equity professionals. The Nordic market is been developing fast. We expect this funding option to become more prevalent in the next few years.

In the current economic environment, media for growth can be an important strategic lever for consumer-facing companies. With media for growth investments, startups can shift their cash spend away from above the line marketing and extend their runway. At the same time, the growth engine keeps running at high power with premium media. At German Media Pool, we believe that this is an opportunity for top companies to rise up above the crowd by smartly working with media partners.

One of the reasons media for equity is still at an emerging phase in Southeast Asia is the fragmented media landscape. There are multiple players that are strong in key areas but their inventory doesn’t cut across multiple media formats. Looking ahead, I believe there is a technology-based aggregation that needs to happen, making all inventory visible and accessible on a shared digital platform. And FAME Media Global plays a fundamental role in bringing all these key players to the table and working with startups to understand their needs and build a plan that goes beyond one form of advertising.

One of the reasons media for equity is still at an emerging phase in Southeast Asia is the fragmented media landscape. There are multiple players that are strong in key areas but their inventory doesn’t cut across multiple media formats. Looking ahead, I believe there is a technology-based aggregation that needs to happen, making all inventory visible and accessible on a shared digital platform. And FAME Media Global plays a fundamental role in bringing all these key players to the table and working with startups to understand their needs and build a plan that goes beyond one form of advertising.

2022 has seen the 2nd largest no of deals closed on record (after 2021) and the formation of at least four new emerging funds (all independent funds aggregating media from various publishers). 2023 will be an economically challenging year, yet a defining one for our industry. I expect the no of media deals to rise as more late-stage companies will turn towards media capital to retain economic value. We may see lower entry ticket sizes (as low as 250K EUR) as the companies experiment with new channels (including Netflix signing up to BARB in the UK). Media agencies will play a more significant role in influencing the formation of new funds acting as LPs or launching their fund (leapfrogging media publishers).

In the face of global uncertainty (the war in Ukraine, the US economy, record-high inflation, increase in interest rates, and a possible recession), the funds will become more selective when investing in startups. Founders will have to focus more on being efficient and less on “growth at all costs”.

Although the economic outlook may seem to impact negatively the whole venture capital industry including the “media for equity” model, we see this financial crisis as an opportunity. High-growth startups who have invested in communication and brand building pre-2022 are realising that any cut in spending will come at the great expense of their revenue and staying “top of mind”. With less capital available in the market and having to prioritise cash flow efficiency, founders should know that media for equity funding is the perfect formula to continue growing their business while preserving cash and reducing dependency on raising new rounds of funding.