Kiwi brand tracking startup Tracksuit bags $6.8 million Seed round

New Zealand brand tracking startup Tracksuit has raised NZ$7.5 million (A$6.8m) in Seed round.

The raise was led by Blackbird, which chipped in $3.6 million, supported by Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures, Ascential, Shasta Ventures and veteran brand consultant Mark Ritson.

Tracksuit helps companies measure and understand brand value via weekly global surveys to track consumer awareness, consideration and preference.

The Auckland-based martech startup was founded in 2021 by Matt Herbert and Connor Archbold in partnership with TRA Labs, the venture studio arm of insights agency TRA, and innovation and venture studio Previously Unavailable. The business was bootstrapped for its first 20 months and the cash will be used for expansion into new markets and upping the headcount in Auckland, Sydney, New York and London.

Archbold previously worked with Herbert at New Zealand software company Mish Guru.

“I’ve loved building Tracksuit with Matt. We challenge each other in the best ways and we share a vision and passion for creating a team and workplace that is both highly effective and highly empathetic,” he said.

“We want to change the world and we hope that one of the ways we’ll do that is by showcasing a very human and team-centric way to build a billion-dollar-business from New Zealand.”

Tracksuit now has 20 full-time employees and is now tracking more than 1,300 brands across Australia, the US, UK and New Zealand.

Herbert said they’ve already signed on more than 180 consumer brands as clients.

“When we started Tracksuit 20 months ago, we built a cash-flow positive, bootstrapped business. When the demand for our product skyrocketed, we went into investor conversations with confidence knowing we had the backing of an incredible team and strong metrics,” he said.

“The level of immediate demand for Tracksuit is indicative of the shift in consumer businesses, who are focusing less on immediate conversion and more on building long-term growth through highly effective, creative marketing.”

The customer base includes pioneering specialty coffee roaster Allpress, founded in Auckland in 1989 and now a sought after brand in more than 1200 independent cafes globally.

Global brand lead Rob Lockyear said Allpress has always been a brand-led coffee company.

“Until using Tracksuit we had no idea what impact our brand spend was having on awareness, consideration and preference in NZ, AU and the UK against our key competitors,” he said.