Red Sheriff Hits US$20 Million Investment

Measurement and research firm Red Sheriff will end this year on a high, announcing an increase in its third round funding to total of just under AUS$40 million (US$ 20.58 million).

The additional funding of AUS$3.5 million (US$1.8 million) coming from Ericsson-Deutsche Technology Fund today will add to the AUS$34 million ($US 17.5 million) raised last month from investment fund Deutsche European Partners, leading Red Sheriff to claim 2000 as a record year.

“This year Red Sheriff has delivered four-fold increases in company turnover, and our accelerated global expansion will mean that the company has established e-metric operations in six of the G7 economies which represent over two-thirds of the world’s Internet traffic at this time,” said Red Sheriff’s joint chief executive officer Richard Webb.

Webb said the opening of offices in New York and San Francisco offices next month would strongly position the company to service key global e-companies with its suite of products and “unparalleled global coverage.”

The latest funding announcement will see Ericsson-Deutsche Technology Fund join existing investors Morgan Grenfell, WPP Group and earlier round Australian venture capital investors Equity Partners and the Australasian Media & Communications Fund (AMCF) in backing Red Sheriff’s global expansion plans.

With the funds raised during its latest round, Red Sheriff has acquired a global patent from Thinking Media in New York which will position the measurement firm to provide census audience measurement metrics for streamed broadband content and future convergent technologies, according to the company.

“We will continue to expand our unique product offering by developing products to measure broadband, wireless, e-Commerce and m-Commerce applications,” Webb said. “We are also well positioned to secure first mover advantages and strong market share positions in next-generation access services markets such as m-Commerce, and broadband which is set to fundamentally re-shape the e-metric measurement industry,” he said.

Ericsson-Deutsche Technology fund manager Alan Kendrick said Red Sheriff’s ability to attract successful investment lay in its revenue model. “It is not often found in new economy opportunities — an annuity stream which will increase in line with the projected growth in the Internet sector,” he said. “The business is globally scaleable and has the backing of its blue chip client base.”

Jessica_Aldred is a writer at australia.internet.com.