Australian unified retail media platform, Zitcha, has secured $15 million in Series A funding, led by US investment firm VMG Partners. The funding round also saw participation from Australian venture capital business OIF Ventures, which had previously led Zitcha’s seed funding round in 2022. The funding will be used to accelerate Zitcha's growth in the North American retail media market.

Zitcha plans to open new offices in the US, hire sales and customer success teams, and meet the growing demand for more sophisticated, data-driven advertising solutions. CEO Troy Townsend will relocate to the US to head up the expansion. Zitcha currently works with leading retailers across seven countries and global brands including Unilever, Fisher & Paykel, Microsoft, Lego, and Sennheiser.

"The US presents an enormous opportunity for Zitcha. Our platform is uniquely positioned to help retailers and brands fully leverage the third wave of digital advertising and as US retail media networks mature, the demand for integrated, data-driven ad solutions has never been higher. With this investment from VMG Partners, along with their vast experience with consumer brands and retail technology, we are excited to tap into the immense prospects America offers." said Troy Townsend, co-founder and CEO of Zitcha.

Earlier this year, Zitcha entered into a strategic partnership with Axon to leverage first-party convenience store data and retail media touchpoints across North American convenience stores. British online retail giant Ocado recently joined the Zitcha platform. US retail media revenues are forecast to grow to US$110-120 billion by 2027 according to the Boston Consulting Group.

"Zitcha has enjoyed impressive momentum since launching just two years ago, driving innovation in retail media, building an industry-leading retail media platform and securing partnerships with some of the world’s preeminent retailers and brands. Troy and Jack have built a talented team of specialists and pursued a scalable program of global expansion. Their ambition and deep expertise in retail media made them an ideal match for us. We look forward to supporting the business and helping drive its US acceleration." said Carle Stenmark, general partner at VMG Technology.

Zitcha is an adaptive, unified retail media platform that empowers retailers to build and scale their unique Retail Media Networks (RMNs). The platform aims to address the requirements of US retail media networks, enabling retailers to monetise every transaction.

"The investment from VMG Partners and OIF Ventures allows Zitcha to scale our US presence and accelerate our entry into its red hot retail media ecosystem. But while the US is an obvious important growth opportunity, Australia, New Zealand and other key territories in Europe and Asia remain a priority. We are a proudly Aussie founded business and are committed to ensuring retailers and brands continue to receive the best of what we have to offer and the level of service they have come to expect." said Jack Byrne, co-founder and Zitcha chief operating officer.