Zionsville startup secures $1M in seed funding

A Zionsville-based ad tech startup has closed on a $1 million seed round of funding. Adverank LLC has developed a software platform designed to boost pay-per-click, or PPC, advertising in the self-storage industry.

The funding comes from Dallas-based commercial real estate firm AVAD Capital. Adverank said in a news release that AVAD specializes in the self-storage market, and the firm has tripled the size of its storage property portfolio to over 110 locations using the startup’s platform.

Adverank said its software analyzes customers’ PPC spending and makes recommendations to impact occupancy by individual location, geographic region or portfolio-wide.

Co-founder and CEO Jason Zickler said the platform helps customers reduce wasteful spending.

“Our goal was to help our customers increase occupancy by customizing their PPC spending daily, if necessary,” said Zickler. “By utilizing point-of-sale data, we collect nearly real-time information, and our software provides recommendations based on PPC results.”

Adverank was founded in October 2022 by Zickler, along with Jason Bales, and Gene Cottingham.

The company plans to use the funding to further develop its platform ahead of a Series A round, which is expected to commence within the next 12 months.

As part of the round, Adverank plans to add five employees in campaign management, content creation and engineering.

The company said the Series A will help expand the platform to other types of commercial real estate properties.