Adtech strat-up Adbot has closed seed investment from Tofino Capital, an early-stage venture capital investing in viral business models in underinvested markets.

Founded in 2020, Adbot offers AI-powered automated ad campaign management for SMEs and will use the investment to expand into new markets, such as Nigeria.

The adoption of advertising technology is growing globally, with various trends transforming and reshaping the industry.

Adtech refers to a set of technologies utilised in managing advertisements across channels, including search, display, video, mobile and social.

According to GlobalData - a data and analytics company – ad tech global market is set to grow from $438bn in 2021 to $1 trillion in 2030.

In the case of Adbot, the company runs a platform that enables high-performance Google ad campaign management with inputs from a business user, such as target markets, keywords, and ad copy.

The adbot system then adds more keywords, launches the campaign, and, using machine learning, constantly optimises campaign performance to yield the highest click-through rate for the lowest cost.

According to Adbot, the system makes effective Google and Bing Ads accessible to African businesses of any size.

Commenting on the investment, Michelle Geere, director of Adbot, said: “This funding will allow us to take our business to the next level and lead the transformation from manual campaign management to digital, dynamic, intelligent, automated, self-service marketing. We are excited about the Nigerian market opportunity and the potential to integrate our service with existing firms that provide business services to SMEs. "

General partner of Tofino Capital, Eliot Pence, added: “The ad space in Africa is not as commodified as in more developed markets, yet billions of customers are coming online in the next decades.

“This means there is a huge capability gap for businesses trying to reach these customers. Automated services, like the one Adbot is building, will be the key for businesses to tap into Africa’s ever-growing customer base effectively. We are excited to support Adbot’s expansion across Africa.”