MY OOH firm Rodeo eyes at least RM500k in latest fundraising round

Malaysian OOH company Rodeo is targeting to raise at least RM500,000 for its first round of funds via equity crowdfunding platform pitchIN. The investment will be used to increase workforce, incorporate AI technology such as computer vision and machine learning and for marketing to scale the business and capture market share. According to Rodeo, brands, advertisers and agencies that come on board as an investor will be entitled to an exclusive 30% discount or rebate from all Rodeo media assets for a lifetime.

In a span of three years, Rodeo said in a press statement that its revenue hit RM4.4 million. Inspired by this feat, it upped the ante by setting a new target revenue of RM1.9 million by the end of 2021. To date, Rodeo said it has secured contracts worth RM924,200 and onboarded Perodua and Boon Siew Honda.

Rodeo aims to bring its platform and technology to the top e-hailing cities worldwide. Its first outreach within the Asia region is confirmed, with a partnership soon to be launched.

Rodeo launched in 2017 and is a self-funded start-up with only RM10,000 paid up capital, the press statement said. Over the years, it has onboarded more than 50 brands including AXA, Kleenex, iProperty.com.my, HappyFresh, 11 Street, Gamuda and Tune Protect, and also worked on more than 100 campaigns. According to the company, its fleet comprises 10,000 cars, taxis, motorcycles and trucks and is claimed to have contributed more than RM 1 million to the gig economy. The company's valuation has also grown to RM20 million.

During the Movement Control Order (MCO), Rodeo officially launched its influencer marketing gamification app RodeoGO inspired by Pokemon GO. A beta version of the app was first launched last July. Valens Subramaniam, CEO and founder of Rodeo, said RodeoGO is "just the perfect platform to overcome MCO by bringing in brands to go digital and rewarding target customers for every engagement for being attentive about ads".

Subramaniam added that during the pandemic, the company saw that there was a growing demand and trend for RodeoGO, its influencer marketing gamification app. This is especially when users are on idle mode at home and glued to their mobile phones, TVs and computers during the MCO. "this brings us a good mix of offline and online media," he added.

The company recently did its part in reminding Malaysians to wear masks while in public via its "Wear your mask campaign". This initiative saw Rodeo putting an image of a mask at the front of its cars and was rolled out nationwide.

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