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Australian digital ad platform CitrusAd has been turbocharged by the surge in online shopping resulting from COVID-19 restrictions, doubling its revenue and securing five new major international retail clients.
The company, co-founded by entrepreneur and former AFL player Brad Moran (pictured), has signed five new international clients including Groupon in the US and Sainsbury's in the UK, as revenues hit $1 million per month.
The CitrusAd Software as a Service (SaaS) platform allows brands to buy space for their products on retailer websites, which has proved to be a successful business model in the time of COVID-19.
CitrusAd will be used by Sainsbury's, one of the two largest supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, and Chicago-based Groupon, the American global e-commerce marketplace which connects subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 15 countries.
The Brisbane-based ad-tech company will also now add by Ocado (the world's largest dedicated online grocery supermarket), PC Components (Spain's leading digital e-tailer), UK retailer Argos and leading international technology distributor Tech Data, to its client base.
In Australia, the CitrusAd digital advertising platform is already used by major retailers including Coles, Woolworths, Officeworks and Dan Murphys.
Co-founder and CEO Moran, one of Business News Australia's Top 100 Young Entrepreneurs of 2019, says the COVID-19 lockdowns globally have bolstered sales for the company.
"It has catapulted us 10 years into the future," says Moran.
"In the past eight weeks, we've seen online orders for retailers increase by four to give times, which has put a rocket under our revenues."
While COVID-19 has resulted in some sweet news for CitrusAd the pandemic derailed the company's plans to conclude a $6.5 million investment by Moelis Australia's Growth Capital Fund as part of a $7.5 million capital raise to fund growth.
"COVID-19 really changed the landscape," says Moran.
"Just as we were finalising the Moelis Australia investment after a six-month capital raise process, the first wave of the COVID-19 economic tsunami hit, with stock markets plunging, death rates climbing and countries starting to close their borders.
"That uncertainty meant we had to do a lot more work proving our potential to Moelis Australia, but they ended up supporting us as promised and now two months on from that investment - our business is booming. CitrusAd is now working with 40 clients in 22 countries including 10 of the top 50 e-commerce companies in the world."
To support its new growth CitrusAd has established three offices in the US (NYC, Chicago, and LA), and has opened offices in Spain and the Netherlands.
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