HubSpot Alums Close Pre-Seed Round to Fix  OOH Advertising Industry

HubSpot Alums Close on $1M Pre-Seed Round to Fix the Broken Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising Industry

Led by TechFarms Capital, the investment will help OneScreen.ai build OOH's first all-in-one Market Network

BOSTON, Mass. — July 9, 2021 – OneScreen.ai, a startup that is solving the biggest problem in out-of-home (OOH) advertising, has closed its $1 million pre-seed funding round. The investment is led by TechFarms Capital, a Florida-based fund investing in tech and tech-enabled ventures, with participation from HubSpot co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, Wayfair's alumni fund (Wayfund), Lola.com CEO Mike Volpe, BuySellAds.com CEO Todd Garland, HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar, HappyNest CRO Jeanne Hopkins, and several OneScreen.ai customers who have become investors. OOH advertising, which encompasses everything from billboards and buses to event sponsorships and connected TV, is a growing $30 billion industry — but half of all OOH inventory goes unsold each month because the selling and buying process is so labor-intensive and archaic. OneScreen.ai is building a first-of-its kind solution to correct the inefficiencies plaguing OOH advertising.

Founded by former HubSpot, Google, and Wayfair executives and alumni, the OneScreen.ai team is building tools that have never before existed in OOH advertising, such as an inventory search engine, a platform for media companies to operate efficiently, and a marketplace to help marketers manage campaigns. The result is the first streamlined, connected OOH market network — a centralized space where marketers can locate, buy, deploy and measure OOH advertising campaigns.

"I wasn't surprised to find out-of-home advertising was broken; I was surprised to discover that it's still growing anyways. In fact, it's the only offline ad medium that's still growing," said Sam Mallikarjunan, CEO of OneScreen.ai. "While TV, radio and print advertising have all been dying, OOH has doubled in the past 20 years. Imagine what the industry could become if it were operating efficiently. That's just what we intend to find out by providing the solution out-of-home advertising has needed for decades."

With the proliferation of marketing technology (martech) companies, online advertising has long had the tools needed to quickly and easily buy, activate and measure internet ad campaigns; however, as online advertising has become overly optimized and increasingly costly, many marketers are in need of new ways to drive traffic profitably and at scale. Combining the best parts of internet marketing with the omnipresence and scale of the real world, OneScreen.ai is building the first OOH Market Network to compete offline with what Google and Facebook offer online —positioning OOH advertising to become the most powerful marketing medium on earth.

"OneScreen.ai has all of the elements we look for in a startup, not the least of which is an experienced team with domain expertise addressing a large market opportunity," said Steve Millaway, Managing Director of TechFarms Capital. "Sam and his team have identified a huge dilemma plaguing out-of-home advertising, and they are uniquely qualified to solve the problem in an industry ripe for innovation. We couldn't be more confident in OneScreen.ai's ability to transform the industry by building a first-of-its-kind Market Network."

Today, 94 percent of OOH inventory is bought and sold manually. The industry still relies heavily on manual spreadsheets, phones, human beings, and fax machines — yes, fax machines.

"In more than 40 years in the out-of-home advertising space, I've seen and been involved in tremendous change," said Bobby Switzer, OOH advertising industry veteran and former VP of Operations of Lamar Advertising. "Any limitations to reaching out-of-home's full potential can be traced to market fragmentation and overly manual processes. I believe innovators like OneScreen.ai who are creating a much-needed, all-in-one platform hold great promise for the out-of-home advertising industry to reach its full potential."

To learn more about investing in Onescreen.ai, click here.

About OneScreen.ai

Founded by former executives and alumni from Google, HubSpot, and Wayfair, OneScreen.ai is solving the dilemma of rising online ad costs and declining ROI by unleashing experiences in the real world. OneScreen.ai's AI-powered "Market Network" transforms out-of-home advertising — from billboards and buses to wrapped cars and connected TV — into a measurable medium where brands and ideal audiences connect. The OneScreen.ai way leaves everyone a winner: marketers, businesses, and customers. To learn more, visit www.onescreen.ai.

About TechFarms Capital

The TFC fund was established to address the growing need for capital required by an increasing number of tech startups in the Southeastern United States. We target innovative and scalable technology and technology-enabled investment opportunities. As we seek to maximize returns for our investors, we are committed to cultivate and mentor our portfolio companies. Find out more at www.techfarmscapital.com.

Contact

Jenna Cason

OneScreen.ai PR

jenna@onescreen.ai