Vudoo Raises ~$15M Series B Led by Blue Sky Capital for US Push

Vudoo, the Melbourne-based commerce technology company behind in-ad checkout, has closed an A$22 million (about US$15.4 million) Series B round led by Blue Sky Capital, a US private capital fund, according to a company announcement on Nov. 9. The company did not disclose a valuation.

Existing family office investors also took part in the round; none were named. Vudoo said the capital will go primarily toward international commercial expansion and continued investment in its commerce technology. Startup Daily reported that the company, founded in 2017, is using the round to scale in the US.

Checkout Inside the Ad

Vudoo builds infrastructure that lets brands, retailers and media owners embed authenticated, shoppable experiences directly into advertising and content, so transactions happen directly within the media and content where consumers engage. The company describes itself as connecting media, retail and emerging AI environments.

Founder and CEO Nick Morgan conceived the idea with co-founder Andrew Spalding, according to Startup Daily. Morgan framed the raise around a shift in where purchases happen, saying the transaction moment is moving into "the media, content and AI environments where consumers discover and engage with products." He added: "We made a deliberate decision to build Vudoo for that future."

Early Proof Point

One of Vudoo's earliest in-video checkouts ran in a 2022 Vogue Australia campaign with News Corp Australia for Moët & Chandon, letting viewers order a personalised bottle of champagne inside the video. Moët & Chandon reported that shoppers who bought through the video offers spent an average of $140, compared with a typical $90 online, Startup Daily reported.

A North American Leadership Bench

Alongside the round, Vudoo promoted Isabella Spragg to chief operating officer to run global operations. Spragg, who recently joined as global director of ad infrastructure and partnerships, previously held senior roles at The Trade Desk and Monks.

The company also named Tash Henderson, formerly of News Corp Australia and iHeartMedia-owned Unified, as managing director for North America, based in New York. Sophie Abrahamsson, who has worked at H&M Group and video-commerce company Bambuser, joins as head of retail for North America with a focus on retail media networks. Julian Colantuono, whose background includes EA Group and Ogilvy One, joins as customer success director to lead global client success strategy.

Why It Matters

The round pairs fresh capital with a New York-based commercial team, a clear signal that Vudoo sees North America as its next market. Bringing in a US lead investor and executives with Trade Desk, News Corp and Bambuser experience gives the company relationships across ad infrastructure, publishing and video commerce, the three groups its product has to sit between.

The pitch rests on a simple premise: if the purchase can happen inside the ad, advertisers can measure what a campaign actually sold rather than what it drove toward a storefront. The Moët & Chandon figures are a single campaign from 2022, but they give Vudoo a concrete basket-size story to bring to retailers.

Hiring a dedicated head of retail for retail media networks points to where the company expects to compete. Whether in-ad checkout becomes standard infrastructure or remains a campaign-by-campaign feature will depend on how quickly Vudoo can turn its new US team into repeat buyers.

Source

Vudoo — Vudoo secures A$22m Series B and appoints new COO to drive global growth