By TMR / Source pitchin.my

LEADING transit advertising agency, Rodeo, has secured US$270,000 (RM1.14 million) in funding via equity crowdfunding platform, pitchIN. 

Rodeo founder and CEO Valens Subramaniam said the funds would enable the company to build and create more revenue streams rather than sticking to just profit from the usual few media that it uses. 

“One of our key strategies that has been put in place will be reaching out to more customers via our Rodeo Home Elevators. 

“Despite the pandemic, we continue to expand our ecosystem rather than riding with the flow as there are just too many exquisite ideas out there that will be wasted if not put to use,” he said in a statement last Friday. 

Started in 2017, the homegrown ad-tech company has worked with multiple transportation modes to ferry advertisements and have onboarded 85 investors, including lead investment from Fidelity Funding and from a few angel investors and retail investors. 

Some of its prominent investors include former Gojek senior VP VJ 

Anand, Yayasan Usahawan Malaysia chairman Nitesh Malani, XES Shoes MD Simpson Wong, Zypp India CEO Akash Gupta, TanTanNews CEO Shoant Tan, and Simbiotik Tech CEO Dipankar Mitra. 

“I’m sold on their journey, passion, go-to-market strategy and upcoming data-driven or innovative solutions. This is a company to watch closely,” serial angel investor Saran Chandran said in the statement. 

Aerodyne Group founder and group CEO Kamarul A Muhamed said Rodeo is not unicorns as yet but it can be “sweetcorn” for any companies to place advertisements. “They have huge potential and hence, Aerodyne will explore opportunities together with Rodeo to create values for both parties,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic might have resulted in difficulties for advertisements to reach out to consumers, but the company designed Rodeo Home, a media placement inside residential buildings. 

It has access to over 100 condominiums within the Klang Valley. 

The company aims to expand to multiple locations within Malaysia with the Rodeo Home media, bringing the advertisements closer to consumers while also utilising its advertisement power to remind consumers to take care of themselves amid the pandemic. 

Rodeo is currently working on a super app that would give a bigger opportunity for vehicle owners, media owners, partners and brand owners to leverage on. 

Rodeo plans to expand beyond Malaysia to secondary markets such as India, Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia.