Co-Founder & CEO @ Airtasker

Building a marketplace requires multiple growth channels. When we launched our first ad on Channel 7, we saw an immediate 30% week-on-week increase. Over five years, our brand awareness surged from 6% to 60% in Australia, and revenue grew 25x. No digital ad platform or PR strategy alone could have achieved that level of impact.

Investment Principal @ Scaleup Media Fund

The model works for a media company because they can acquire clients that they would otherwise not typically address. If done right, media capital deals are structured as revenue-generating for the business. Also, the broadcaster or publisher who is participating is not taking an investment risk, but a credit risk, meaning they've supplied ads that they're going to get paid for in the future. We don’t just supply ads; we guide businesses in crafting effective campaigns. The result? A pathway to becoming a future advertiser while optimizing capital use. It’s a funding model that aligns incentives for startups and media companies alike.