Incoming Media, a leading mobile video engagement platform, announced that it has closed a $4.9M Series A financing round led by Australian venture capital firm OneVentures and Intel Capital, Intel Corp.’s global investment organisation. The funds will be used to expand Incoming Media’s research and development efforts and extend the company’s reach into new geographic and vertical markets.

Using predictive data analytics and intelligent push technology, Incoming Media enables the creation of flawless, personalised mobile video experiences that lead to significantly longer engagement times, more revenue opportunities, and new mobile video business models. Incoming Media’s on-device machine learning predicts consumers’ preferences and pre-loads video content onto users’ mobile devices during the most cost-effective hours; this spares mobile viewers the frustration of searching for video content, enduring stalls or failures, and paying for expensive data streaming.

“Mobile is the future of video, but the viewing experience is broken,” said Incoming Media CEO Adam S. Tom. “Today’s content delivery networks don’t offer the certainty required for consistent, high-quality viewing of mobile video. Acting like a DVR for on-demand content on your mobile devices, Incoming Media solves this problem by intelligently pre-positioning video content onto mobile devices ahead of time, in the background, and at the lowest-cost times before a viewer wants to watch it. This action ensures a TV-like experience and delivers personalised, high-quality video any time, anywhere, every time.”

Said Mark Yahiro, Managing Director of New Business in Intel’s Perceptual Computing Group: “Our vision is to enhance natural human perception with affective computing and machine learning capabilities. Imagine being able to truly personalise your viewing experience and recommendations from your real interactions.”

“Intel Capital has been working to find and support startups addressing these important challenges,” Yahiro added. Intel Capital’s investment was led by Directors Stephen Saltzman and Marlon Nichols.

“As a spin-out of Australia’s National ICT Center of excellence, we know and respect the world-class caliber of Incoming’s founders and technology,” said Dr. Michelle Deaker, Managing Director and CEO of OneVentures. “The need to deliver a great mobile experience is growing, with Forrester Research predicting a $32 billion market for mobile engagement providers in 2018. We believe Incoming has significant potential to be a key provider in this market and we are delighted to support this great team in the next phase of Incoming’s development.”

Incoming Media currently brings its technology to market through two solutions – Smart Mobile DVR and Push Video Notifications. Together, these solutions help mobile video app publishers to not only create a new, flawless mobile video experience that attracts new users, but also to then re-engage their user base and significantly increase user retention. Incoming Media’s technology is implemented in a lightweight SDK that can be quickly integrated into third party mobile apps, while allowing those apps to continue using their existing infrastructure, such as content management systems, CDNs, players and DRMs.

Incoming’s Smart Mobile DVR solution allows mobile video app publishers to predict which videos from the video sources associated with the app will be of high interest to the viewer and then intelligently pre-load those videos on to the viewer’s mobile device. Incoming’s Smart Mobile DVR delivers a new mobile experience that attracts viewers to the app and adds convenience, true portability and certainty to the mobile experience. Ensuring the viewer has a great mobile video experience every time, regardless of where they are or what network connection they have, the Incoming platform helps app publishers to increase engagement times and maximise revenue opportunities.

Incoming’s Push Video Notifications solution re-engages viewers with an app. Users go to their mobile devices over 100 times a day for updates and entertainment, providing app publishers with dozens of opportunities per day to re-engage viewers. Incoming utilises the existing notification system in the mobile device’s OS to push short-form video clips to users. Through the use of predictive analytics, the Incoming platform determines the best content and time for the notification to maximise click-through rates and app re-engagement, significantly increasing notification click-through rates, retention and app opens.

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Dr Michelle Deaker

Australian venture capital firm OneVentures believes the National Commission of Audit’s recommendations to dissolve key innovation funding programs like the Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) would be a step backwards for Australia, calling on the Government to reinforce its support for these initiatives in the upcoming Federal Budget, citing innovation as the key in creating new business opportunities, higher growth and improving productivity.

The aim of the IIF program is to seed new venture capital firms to support the establishment and growth of a viable venture capital and innovation industry building infrastructure and capacity in the sector. Importantly, OneVentures notes that the program is not a grant but held by treasury on capital account with venture fund managers to return capital to the Government as investments are realised.

OneVentures’ first fund is a key beneficiary of the Australian Government’s IIF, demonstrating firsthand the crucial role Government can play in investing in the future of Australia. The firm is now in market for a new $100M fund with its Fund I being highly regarded as a portfolio of quality assets by investors.

The OneVentures Innovation Fund raised $40 million, including $20 million of IIF funding, allowing the firm to make investments into emerging Australian companies operating within the technology and life sciences space. The fund was able to launch just after the GFC, leveraging the benefit of the IIF program for private investors. Through the IIF Program, OneVentures has also been able to attract and repatriate some highly experienced entrepreneurs and business leaders returning from overseas into Australian VC management

According to OneVentures’ Managing Director and CEO, OneVentures may not have become the established firm it is today without the IIF Program.

“Innovation funding programs like the IIF are integral for the venture capital industry in seeding new funds and creating the new industries of the future, and its removal would reduce Australia’s global competitiveness in the long run,” Dr Deaker said.

“Government funding programs foster the broader investment community and the IIF model where the government matches private investor capital, sharing risk and taking a low capped return, encouraging capital from institutions and high net worth individuals to the venture capital asset class”

Alongside the $40 million Innovation Investment Fund, OneVentures has run a co-investment model where private investors in the Fund can choose investments they prefer and provide additional capital where a funding round is larger than what the fund can support. The IIF fund laid the platform with OneVentures raising an additional $40 million in capital to support technology start-ups with strong market potential through co-investments and syndicated funding largely from offshore. The quantum of funding has therefore effectively doubled into the economy and OneVentures expects the number to be far greater before the end of fund life.

Emerging companies which OneVentures has been able to successfully support include medical electronic information system Charmhealth, nanoneedle vaccine technology developer Vaxxas and adaptive e-learning platform Smart Sparrow.

“The multiplier effect of the government support is clearly visible when you look at OneVentures Innovation Fund through the additional capital raised into our companies via co-investment and syndication,” Dr Deaker said. “In the medium to long term, the quantum of new jobs in potentially new emerging industries generated through this program for the economy represents a strong case for Government support. The program also ensures that the country benefits from public financed R&D with six of our nine portfolio companies originating from R&D in Australian universities and research institutions.

“Importantly, this program is not a grant and the investment by the Government is on capital account, to be returned in the future as investments are realised by IIF fund managers,” she said. “Our first Fund has already returned early capital to the Government with that investment providing an internal rate of return of 28% to investors. The Fund also has a carrying value of investments at approximately 2x just 4 years into its investment cycle.”

OneVentures launched its Innovation and Growth Fund II in March this year, seeking to raise $100 million for institutional investors and high net worth individuals, to invest in start-ups through to emerging high growth companies.

“The IIF is part of a structure currently in place to aid a venture capital firm’s fundraising process, and contrary to the National Commission of Audit report, I believe the Government will be looking to develop this program further if it can. The Liberal government originally developed the program recognising that it helps to provide the necessary oxygen to build the new economy, encouraging private sector investment, driving growth companies and fuelling job creation to support Australia’s future,” Dr Deaker concluded.

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Australian venture capital firm, OneVentures, yesterday officially launched the OneVentures Innovation and Growth Fund II, seeking to raise $100 million from institutional investors and high net worth individuals over the next 12 months.

The fund will invest in a portfolio of emerging Australian companies with global ambitions across healthcare, education, mobile, media, cloud computing and data, security and privacy, machine learning, sensors and robotics, and food security.

The first OneVentures Innovation Fund, formed as an Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership in 2010, raised $40 million and was supported by $20 million in funding from the Australian Government’s Innovation Investment Fund.

The fund was the first in Australia to tap into a growing trend in the Australian market for high net worth individuals and family offices to diversify their investments towards venture capital filling the gap vacated by institutional investors post-GFC. Since then, OneVentures has closed three co-investment funds securing $30m in additional funding for the portfolio.

“The quality of the portfolio OneVentures has assembled over the past four years is one of the best venture capital portfolios I have seen in Australia,” said Mark Nelson, Executive Chairman of Caledonia and an investor in OneVentures Innovation Fund.

The fund is trading at a premium after only four years and of its eight portfolio companies two are now operating out of Silicon Valley and one out of Boston, reflecting their successful growth into global markets. Smart Sparrow recently closed a $10m financing and Hatchtech over $12.5m for US expansion and US FDA phase three studies respectively.

“OneVentures is demonstrating a capability to do deals of global significance,” said Dr Michelle Deaker, Managing Partner at OneVentures. “Our investors value the technical experience of the partners as well as their proven entrepreneurial and business building experiences in the domestic and international arena. The partners also bring experience and networks of relationships to select highly attractive investment opportunities addressing large global markets, and to manage those investments through to the exit stage.”

Dr Deaker believes there has never been a better time for investors to turn their attention to venture capital. While traditional drivers of the economy such as mining and manufacturing are slowing or moving offshore, innovative technology-based companies hold the key to driving Australian economic growth and many are now succeeding on the global stage.

“While the innovation economy has been building, Australia continues to invest substantial capital in R&D and there has been substantial activity and investment in early stage angel syndicates and incubators. However, there is a dearth of capital available to propel those developing businesses forward with later stage development and expansion capital,” Dr Deaker said.

“This dynamic should create downward pressure on valuations and generate scope for superior returns. We see no reason why Australia’s entrepreneurs, with the assistance of experienced venture capital firms like OneVentures, cannot compete successfully in global markets. For investors, the fund provides an opportunity to truly diversify a portfolio and gives access to emerging businesses with true breakout potential.”

OneVentures today also announced that Dean Hawkins was joining the firm as a partner.

Mr Hawkins has led international businesses at the forefront of TV, media, broadband, apparel and sports industries for the past 18 years, working in UK, Germany, Holland and Switzerland, including 4 years as global CFO and board member of Adidas, based in Germany, during which time Adidas grew its market capitalisation from €1.5b to €8b. Since his return to Australia, he has served as chairman of International News Network Ltd (Hong Kong), and non-executive director Ten Network Holdings, Apparel Group, Leighton Contractors and I-Med Australia.  As chairman of compression garment company, Skins, he oversaw the expansion of the group sales into 30 countries world-wide including a joint venture in China.

Mr Hawkins commenced his career in investment banking with UBS and was chosen by Global Finance Magazine as one of its “Global Corporate Finance Superstars”. He has also led a number of media organisations, collecting Emmy and BAFTA awards along the way.

Commenting on the appointment, Dr Deaker said: “Mr Hawkins complements the skills of the partners and his experience in both high growth and established businesses will be invaluable for our portfolio companies.  Mr Hawkins brings a new dimension to our team with a strong finance, M&A background and international commercial and cross-border experience. The international experience of our team is showing a marked impact on our portfolio performance as they expand into global markets and prepare for exit.”

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