Australian marketing platform raises $7.5m for US expansion

Investors in the round included Australia's Perle Ventures and Korean VC fund SparkLabs Global Ventures, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review linked from the company's Twitter account. Simple previously received A$3 million in 2013; the company expects to raise more capital next year.

Founded in 2012, Simple creates software to help marketing teams organize campaigns across multiple online channels and manage their workflow efficiently, operating on a software-as-a-service basis. It has offices in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, and recently launched operations in San Francisco. The company's client base is mostly Australian and includes Westpac, AMP and Commonwealth Bank.

Simple claims to have doubled its size in the most recent financial year, but expects the San Francisco office to offer even greater growth opportunities due to the high volume of technology start-ups in the area. It is planning to relaunch its platform later this year with greater emphasis on integration abilities with other advertising platforms.

SparkLabs was founded in 2012 by a group of South Korean serial entrepreneurs to connect domestic companies with their global counterparts. The firm operates both a global seed-stage fund and an accelerator program based in Seoul. It initially focused on South Korean technology start-ups such as KnowRe and Memebox, but recently began to broaden its reach. Its participation last year in a S$11.5 million ($8.5 million) investment in Singapore's DocDoc marked the firm's first deal in Southeast Asia.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Australia
• Venture