Yuanyu Radio (China) Co., Ltd., a Shanghai-based radio advertising agency, has raised a US$90 million new funding round from Olympus Capital Asia and Singapore's UOB Venture Management.
During the first half this year, the market size of the Chinese radio advertising industry recorded an increasing of 9.2%, while the number of TV advertising, newspaper advertising and outdoor advertising all experienced a decrease of 3% to 30%, according to CTR Market Research.
The growth of the automotive industry has contributed the most to radio advertising market. As of the end of 2016, there are around 200 million cars on the road in China, and the the number is growing by 20 million new cars added per year.
"Yuanyu is the leading company in China's radio advertising industry. The company has high-quality radio resources, and its revenue and profit is growing significantly," said David Shen, president of Olympus. "We will help Yuanyu gain market share in the automotive industry by providing advertising services for financial institutions and fast-moving consumer goods."
Founded in 2002, Yuanyu provides services such as planning, production, delivery of radio advertising and market analysis. Its platform currently has 45 radio stations in 20 Chinese cities as partners. Last year, revenues generated by its radio advertising business reached RMB1.5 billion (US$220 million).
In addition, the company is also developing mobile Internet radio businesses by establishing an online radio platform Tingbei. The platform now has more than seven million registered users, and has attracted a large number of traditional radio advertisers, it said.
Yuanyu plans to use the latest proceeds to enhance its cooperation with traditional radio companies, and offers more integrated marketing services and new media integrating services.