Sydney adtech startup Linkby has raised US$15 million (A$23m) in a Series B to expand its US presence.
The round was led by Boston VC Volition Capital, making its first Australian investment.
Alongside Linkby’s US expansion, the 5-year-old startup will invest in developing its platform, which helps media publishers monetise content with brands seeking their audience.
Positioned between branded content and affiliate programs, Linkby lets advertisers pitch directly to over 600 premium publishers and pay only when readers engage, using cost-per-click, or CPM, pricing for greater control and transparency on content-led marketing campaigns.
Linkby was cofounded by Andrew Chak, Chris Wirasinha and Adrian Fagerlund in 2020. The startup previously raised a $4 million Series A in June 2024, and a $5 million Seed raised in early 2022. Its backers include Perennial Private Investments and OIF Ventures.
More than 3,800 brands, including Charlotte Tilbury, T-Mobile, and Lululemon, use Linkby with publishers such as The Daily Mail, News Corp and Condé Nast among its clients too.
Wirasinha, the CEO, who previously founded the media brand Pedestrian.tv before exiting to Nine, said Linkby will use the investment to grow its US go-to-market team and accelerate product development.
“Volition shares our belief in the potential for Performance PR to become a primary growth channel for brands,” he said.
“This funding allows us to move faster on building tools that make campaign setup easier and more intelligent, and to bring our offering to more advertisers in more markets.”
The focus also includes features to help advertisers identify the best publisher partners, streamline campaign setup, and allocate budgets toward outcomes such as conversions, awareness, or traffic.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), aka SEO 2.0, using AI-powered search engines, is also on the cards.
Volition Capital partner Jim Ferry said Linkby is building a performance-driven solution for brands to scale through trusted editorial.
“By bringing accountability and efficiency to a traditionally high-cost, opaque part of the media mix, Linkby has unlocked a new channel for customer acquisition. Their model aligns with how modern brands want to buy media, and we believe they’re well-positioned to lead this category.”
The company now teams in the US, UK and Australia .
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