FEBRUARY 21 2022

Published in the Australian Financial Review

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Pedestrian co-founder-turned-advertising tech entrepreneur Chris Wirasinha says brands are turning away from the big tech giants thanks to Apple’s iOS privacy changes, and traditional publishers stand to gain.

Mr Wirasinha, who has raised $5 million to accelerate the growth of his latest adtech venture Linkby, believes the decision by Apple to allow users to block the app tracking technology that underpins the likes of Facebook’s targeted advertising revenue is the biggest factor transforming the advertising and media landscape – far more so than the media bargaining code.

“Before, the tech lead Facebook and Google had over publishers seemed insurmountable,” he said.

“But now there are tonnes of direct-to-consumer brands whose return on investment on Facebook is going backwards and are hungry for more advertising channels.

“It’s created a moment for publishers to re-enter the conversation when it comes to contextual and mindset-based targeting.”

Mr Wirasinha and Oscar Martin sold Pedestrian TV to Nine in two tranches between 2015 and September 2018, for just shy of $50 million in total. Nine is also the owner of The Australian Financial Review.

The former Young Rich Lister launched Linkby alongside Andrew Chak and Adrian Fagerlund in 2020 to help direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce brands get more editorial coverage from publishers, by creating a cost-per-click advertising model.

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‘Halo of trust’

Publishers are remunerated for every click driven to a brand’s website, not just if it results in a sale.

Its software is used by brands such as Koala, Bed Threads, Modibodi and Brosa, and it is used by publishers such as Refinery29, Condé Nast, Vice and Marie Claire. It works with the publishers across Australia, the US and Britain.

The bulk of its revenue is generated in the US, which overtook Australia and Britain last year. It is growing by 300 per cent year-on-year.

Mr Wirasinha said the cost of advertising with the big tech giants was making less economic sense for brands, as the return on investment was falling.

“DTC brands see publisher coverage as enabling them to build trust with their audience,” he said.

“Anyone scrolling through a news feed on social media sees so many new brands emerging, but what publishers give these brands is a halo of trust.”

Our Innovation Fund led Linkby’s $5 million seed round and the funds will be used to expand its team, launch into more global markets including Singapore, France, Germany and potentially India, and build its newest product that automatically creates listicles for publishers that resurface branded content.

OIF has also backed the likes of education tech unicorn Go1, breach and attack penetration testing software XM Cyber and employee onboarding platform Enboarder.

Mr Wirasinha first met OIF partner Jerry Stesel in high school, when he would sit behind him in maths and try to sneak a look at his answers because he was “good with numbers”.

The two have remained acquainted over the years but reconnected when he launched Linkby.

“He has had a lot of success with Pedestrian ... In the final years there he was thinking about what came next, and he came up with Linkby,” Mr Stesel said. “We connected and I really like him, and also what he was working on, connecting the long tail of brands with publishers.

“It makes a lot of sense for publishers and, on the brand side, there’s nothing better than editorial content.”

Mr Wirasinha said he liked OIF’s approach to investing, which is built around having a smaller portfolio and working closely with founders.

“They’re not trying to have the biggest fund, but a curated number of investors and a portfolio size where they can pay attention to the companies they invest in,” he said.