PureProfile Gears up for IPO with Funding, Acquisition

Australia-based online survey tech company PureProfile has raised $AUD 12.1m in a funding round ahead of its IPO next week; has acquired media trading group Sparc Media; and is opening an office in New Zealand.

PureProfile rewards consumers for completing surveys, profiling them and providing researchers with access to hard-to-reach consumer and B2B groups around the world. Established fifteen years ago, the company will float on the ASX on July 29th - allowing continued growth as well as the option for some early investors to take cash, according to founder and CEO Paul Chan. Projected revenue for 2015 is $AUD 20.6m, and for 2016 $AUD 28.1m (with profits of $AUD 2.5 to 3.0m), and the listing should value the company at around $AUD 29m.

The planned Auckland, New Zealand office would add to locations in London, Mumbai, New York, Karakow (Poland) and Thessaloniki (Greece), in addition to the Sydney headquarters.

Programmatic advertising company Sparc, which was acquired for up to $AUD 6.6m, was founded in 2004 and has offices in Poland and India, in addition to Australia, and employs more than 50 people. Chan says the acquisition will help his firm to disrupt the ad targeting space and make it less 'creepy', providing 'a smarter solution to deliver relevant ads than the digital banners that follow you around the Internet'.

Sparc's own ad targeting platform will be enhanced by the addition of Pureprofile's consumer database, with consumers offered rewards and the option to manage their own profiles. Sparc CEO Wout van Damme says the firms have a similar vision for the future of advertising and will 'drive positive change in the industry'.

Web site: www.pureprofile.com .