Linkby, the fast-growing martech platform connecting brands with premium publishers through performance-driven editorial content, has raised $15 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Volition Capital and marks a significant step forward in Linkby’s mission to reinvent how content marketing and media buying intersect in the digital age.

Founded by Chris Wirasinha, Linkby enables brands to publish content in high-value editorial environments - think ELLE, USA Today, and The Guardian - on a pay-per-click or cost-per-acquisition model. This approach turns traditional media spend into a performance channel, effectively bridging the gap between storytelling and measurable ROI.

Turning Editorial into an ROI Channel

In an era where brands are overwhelmed by diminishing ad returns and cookie depreciation, Linkby has created a new lane. It sits at the intersection of journalism and growth marketing. Instead of simply placing banner ads, brands use Linkby to commission native editorial stories in top-tier publications. These pieces retain the authority of earned media but include clear performance tracking - allowing marketers to pay only when the content drives results.

This is a big shift. Traditionally, editorial coverage has lived on the upper-funnel side of brand strategy - valuable for awareness but hard to attribute. Linkby flips that paradigm by making editorial measurable, optimizable, and scalable across markets.

A Platform Built for Both Brands and Publishers

What makes Linkby unique is how it serves both sides of the media equation. Brands get access to a network of publishers who are ready to write product-focused content in exchange for performance-based compensation. Meanwhile, publishers gain a new revenue stream without compromising editorial quality, as content is clearly disclosed and still held to publication standards.

This two-sided platform model has powered Linkby’s rapid international growth. The company now operates in major markets including the US, UK, Australia, and Southeast Asia, supporting over 1,000 brands and hundreds of premium media outlets.

Strategic Expansion and Revenue Acceleration

The new capital will be used to expand Linkby’s publisher network, deepen its data and analytics capabilities, and enhance campaign automation tools for brands. Part of the strategy also includes onboarding more luxury, fashion, and direct-to-consumer brands that are actively looking to diversify their paid media mix.

Revenue has more than tripled in the last 18 months, driven by explosive demand from advertisers who need alternatives to traditional social and display advertising. As privacy laws reshape adtech, Linkby offers a more compliant, content-first growth solution that still delivers performance at scale.

Not Just Performance Marketing - Performance Media

The real genius in Linkby’s approach is not just in media buying, but in category creation. The company is carving out a new category: Performance Media - editorial content that behaves like paid media but feels like earned press. This blend of authenticity and attribution is what today’s consumers and brands crave.

And the timing is ideal. As performance marketing becomes more expensive and less effective, brands are shifting spend toward channels that combine context, influence, and results. Linkby hits that trifecta with precision.

Somewhere in this transition, the team made a critical decision that more founders should study: they didn’t try to retrofit existing affiliate tools for the editorial world. Instead, they built their infrastructure around how journalists work, not how ad buyers think. That subtle inversion of priorities unlocked publisher loyalty - and with it, a durable network effect that no adtech workaround could replicate.

It’s a classic lesson in founder intuition: build your platform around the supply-side constraints, and demand will follow. Linkby didn’t just ask what brands wanted; they obsessed over what editorial teams could consistently deliver. That insight created the operating model that now underpins their cross-market growth.

Founder-Led, Vision-Driven

Founder Chris Wirasinha, known for co-founding Pedestrian.TV, brings deep experience in digital publishing and media operations. His understanding of both the business model pressures of journalism and the performance needs of brands uniquely positioned him to build Linkby as a connective layer.

Wirasinha’s media-native perspective is embedded in the company’s DNA. The platform respects editorial guidelines, avoids content spam, and ensures transparency - all while delivering measurable results. It’s rare to see a martech platform that puts content credibility and conversion metrics on equal footing.

The Role of Volition Capital

Volition Capital, known for its growth investments in disruptive software and ecommerce infrastructure, brings scale-focused resources and operational guidance to Linkby’s next phase. The firm’s backing is a vote of confidence in Linkby’s potential to dominate this emerging category globally.

With this new partnership, Linkby plans to expand engineering, sales, and client success teams, invest in advanced publisher analytics, and build API-driven workflows to make launching campaigns even easier for brands.

What’s Next for Linkby

Looking ahead, Linkby aims to grow its presence in North America and Europe while also building integrations into commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce. The company is also exploring how AI can enhance content briefing, matching, and performance forecasting across campaigns.

As more brands seek ways to connect storytelling with conversion - and publishers look for monetization without eroding trust - Linkby’s platform is poised to become the default way digital content drives revenue.