Drumbeat raises NZD $2 million to expand overseas

Drumbeat has raised NZD $2 million in seed funding in a round led by Icehouse Ventures, with support from Brand Fund.

The Auckland startup sells a public relations and communications platform for high-growth companies. It will use the funding to expand into Australia and the United States and to scale its software, which includes media relations management, content generation, campaign tracking, and media clipping tools.

Founded in March 2026, Drumbeat has signed more than 50 customers across New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Its clients include Andfoods, Re-Leased, Levno, and Factor. Customers have already secured media coverage in those markets, as well as Singapore and Hong Kong.

The business aims to replace the traditional PR agency retainer model with a software-based system that lets in-house teams manage ongoing communications and track results. Its pitch comes as companies reassess how they build visibility online, particularly as large language models increasingly shape how people discover and evaluate brands.

Drumbeat was built out of venture studio New+Improved Ventures, the team behind Tracksuit and Ideally. It is the fourth company to emerge from the studio.

The founding team brings experience from several New Zealand technology businesses. Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Barney Chunn previously co-founded CONQA. Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Fallon Savery was formerly SVP Revenue at Timely, while Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Aaron Croft was previously Head of Product at Hectre.

Drumbeat's team has grown to eight staff. It also has backing from marketing executives including Adam Ferrier of Thinkerbell and Henry Innis of Mutinex.

Market shift

Investors and customers linked the fundraising to broader changes in how companies build attention and trust. Earned media is becoming more important for visibility as audiences rely on a wider mix of search, curated content, and AI-driven discovery tools.

"Storytelling is the oldest way humans have connected with each other - what's changed is the technology," said Barney Chunn, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Drumbeat.

"We're now in an era where companies can tell their stories at a scale that was not possible before. Our mission is for every company to use the power of its own story to drive genuine connection with its audience, and real growth as a result," Chunn said.

One customer said the platform had reduced the need to juggle agencies in different countries while pursuing international growth.

"PR and comms are a core part of our marketing and growth engine," said Alex Devereux, Chief Executive Officer of Andfoods.

"As we grow into new markets, getting our story in front of the right media in each one used to mean managing multiple agency relationships. Drumbeat has let us do that from one platform, and we've landed coverage in APAC markets that are typically challenging to crack," Devereux said.

Investor view

Icehouse Ventures said its investment reflected confidence in both the category and the founding team. The firm pointed to customer demand and the founders' track record across several ventures over the past decade.

"Speaking to customers and seeing their results validated what we expected. PR is more important than ever, but too much of the industry still operates the way it did in the 90s. Drumbeat has brought that into the modern era, and it's meant breakneck growth - for them and their customers," said Jack McQuire, Partner at Icehouse Ventures.

"The highest-conviction investments we make are driven by their teams. We have seen co-founders Barney, Fallon, and Aaron grow and execute over a decade, and know they have the experience to build for a real change in the market," McQuire said.

Simon Pound, Chair of Drumbeat and a Partner at New+Improved Ventures, said the company was designed to bring communications work in-house in the same way other software products have done for brand tracking and market research.

"Drumbeat brings PR and comms strategy and media relationships in-house, giving high-growth companies the same kind of power in their hands that Tracksuit does for brand tracking and Ideally gives for market research," Pound said.

"Every company has great stories of why they exist, what they're doing, and where they're going. The companies you know are the ones that are good at storytelling, and now we're working to make this an advantage any company can have," he said.