Blyk secures new €40M funding round for mobile ads

Investment round completed

Blyk, the free mobile network for young people funded by advertising, sealed an additional €40 million investment to support its operations and international expansion.

“The advertising industry and operators have expressed a strong interest in bringing Blyk into new countries and Euro 40 million in additional funding demonstrates the commitment by investors to the Blyk media model,” said Pekka Ala-Pietilä, CEO and co-founder.

“However, we like everyone else are feeling the impact of the world’s financial situation. As a result, in parallel to securing the new investment, we’ve taken decisive steps to cut costs and streamline our organisation.”

At the same time as trimming its organisation, Blyk is launching a new media partnership strategy. The company says this will give it greater flexibility and speed to capitalise on new growth opportunities and global demand for its media model.

Blyk launched in the UK in September 2007 where it has achieved success both in growing membership and advertiser usage. In its first year, the company signed up over 200,000 members and has run over 2,000 campaigns with an average response rate of over 25 per cent. With 180 brands on board today, Blyk is well on track to hit its goal of 200 brands using the service by year-end.

“The Blyk media model, which is based on highly relevant messaging, has proved to be an extremely effective form of advertising to the youth audience,” said Antti Öhrling, Blyk’s co-founder and Executive Director. “Blyk’s new partnering strategy will make this powerful model available for operators, brands and young people around the world.”