Australia's Unlockd partners Axiata Digital

Axiata, which has interests in 10 countries across Asia, says it is within the required foreign ownership levels.

SINGAPORE: Australia-based ad and content funded mobile platform, Unlockd, on Thursday announced a strategic partnership with Axiata Digital group as part of closing their US$23 million Series B funding round.

Axiata Digital is the digital services arm of Axiata Group Bhd.

The partnership is the result of Axiata Digital's lead investment in Unlockd's Series B round and will accelerate the company's entry into Asia by leveraging on Axiata's carrier list.

Axiata has presence across 10 countries, including mobile operations in key markets of Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, India and Singapore.

The US$23 million Series B round also has strong follow-on investment from existing strategic and early stage investors and also brings a new venture capital firm Alium, based in Australia, into the investor list.

The new injection of capital will fund the company's expansion into new markets and sectors, as well as scale its operations globally following the successful execution of four large markets in the first 15 months.

"Axiata Digital's strategic and financial support provides us with an expedited pathway into one of the fastest growing smartphone regions in the world," Unlockd chief executive officer and co-founder Matt Berriman said in a statement.

"Being able to secure agreements with their operating companies to roll out in key markets sooner than previously planned also means we could raise less capital than we originally anticipated," he said.

As one of Asia's leading telecoms groups, with presence in 10 countries and approximately 320 million customers across the region, Axiata Digital is keeping itself innovating its product offering with unique solutions that help solve some of the biggest challenges in the industry.

Its CEO Mohd Khairil Abdullah said Unlockd's technology will bolster its continued leadership position in the market across its mobile business and help lower acquisition cost, increase average revenue per user (ARPU), and minimise customer churn.

"For our customers, Unlockd's unique value exchange offer will reward them for viewing ads and content on their mobile devices," he said.

According to Internet DealBook, a database that tracks the latest company investments around the world, the Series B US$23 million capital raised is this year's second highest for an Australian technology company and the sixth over the past 12 months.

Since its Series A raise, Unlockd has hit major milestones including four major market launches for the Unlockd Connect product, first in the US with Sprint Telecom subsidiary Boost Mobile, followed by in the United Kingdom with Tesco Mobile, then in the Caribbean with its largest telco, Digicel Group, and just a few weeks ago, Etisalatin the United Arab Emirates.

Unlockd's second product vertical, Unlockd Stream, launched this year with MTV, provides an ad and content funded platform for premium subscription content providers. - Bernama