Flashpoint aiming to raise more than €2m in Series A funding round

22 Apr 2014

Irish ad technology company Flashpoint is in the process of raising more than €2m in a Series A funding round to support the global roll out of its proprietary technology that offers advertisers a social media campaign management and optimisation platform.

Flashpoint is being advised by Mediaventura, a specialist corporate finance adviser for the technology, internet, media and entertainment sector. Mediaventura specialises in growth capital raises in the €1m- €5m range. The company recently established a representative office in Ireland.

Flashpoint, which is chaired by former Irish rugby captain Ciaran Fitzgerald, has received a commitment from Enterprise Ireland to participate in the funding round.

The company’s BIONIC product allows advertising agencies to manage Facebook advertising campaigns on behalf of their clients, removing the need for third-party service providers.

An algorithmic bid optimisation capability and intuitive agency support features are designed to simplify and automate the process of managing a large volume of campaigns concurrently.

Research conducted by the company estimates that BIONIC delivers a labour saving of up to 60pc when compared to the use of other offerings. The product also promises a significant improvement in advertising performance and purchasing power.

Optimising social

Clients already using BIONIC include the Irish and European divisions of some of the world’s leading advertising agencies.

Online advertising is complex and can be difficult to manage effectively,” said Flashpoint CEO Paul Ward.

“As it is a manual process, it is very time consuming and costly for advertising agencies to deliver successful campaigns for advertisers. We believe BIONIC addresses this need and is unrivalled in its ability to deliver.

“The addressable market for the platform will be worth over €1.3bn in 2014, with a target audience of advertising agencies in Ireland, the UK and Central Europe.

“We plan to expand into the US in the medium term and ultimately to take the product global. While BIONIC is currently focused on Facebook advertising, we have plans in place to encompass Twitter and LinkedIn,” Ward said.

Social media image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com