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Nigeria’s Digital Ad Startup S&T Media Raises $1M Seed Funding From EchoVC Partners

Nigeria’s Digital Ad Startup S&T Media Raises $1M Seed Funding From EchoVC Partners

Nigeria’s digital advertising startup S&T Media said on Thursday it had raised $1 million in seed funding from early-stage technology venture capital firm, EchoVC Partners.

The startup runs a digital advertising network known as AdPump, that places screens at petrol stations in major cities of the West African nation to display video ads to the filling stations patrons.

S&T Media, which piloted its first 160 AdPump screens at 17 filling stations across the country’s commercial capital Lagos in 2014, said in an emailed statement it will use the seed funding for “expansion, product development, hardware and staff acquisition”.

The startup’s founders, Tolu Roberts and Soji Ogundoyin, told TechCabal in October 2015, when news broke that they were among startups that had received seed funding from EchoVC, that they had only raised between $200,000 and $600,000 total funding by then.

“Since inception we wanted to create platforms that can give brands the location-based reach they crave in a more efficient and targeted manner,” Roberts said in the statement.

“Securing institutional funding with the right investor has allowed us to accelerate that vision, as we rapidly develop and install platforms that connect brands with digitally-captivated consumers.”

AdPump has content deals with some of Nigeria’s largest broadcasters, including Channels TV, HipTV and Pulse.Ng, to show the latest news, sports and entertainment news.

Some of the petrol station chains they are signed up with include Total, Oando and Forte Oil. They are also planning to partner with other major downstream players that operate across Africa.

S&T estimates that its screens have been viewed over eight million times since they were set up.

Roberts said the Ad company is now targeting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with an “online media purchasing tool” that will allow those with low budgets to be able to place their product on the screens.

“With this innovative tool, SMEs will be able to pick and choose which locations they would like to advertise across our network of screens, either at the pump and at retail stores, directly from our website,” he said.

“This empowers small business owners, who have limited advertising budgets, to have more control over their marketing messages. This is also a first in Africa.”

Nigeria has one of the fastest growing advertising markets in the world with an Ad spend of about $500 million a year, according to audit firm PwC.