Digital signage startup Mandoe has built a Canva-like marketing platform for small business

Digital advertising software startup Mandoe has launched a self-service platform for small businesses harness the power of digital signage.

The startup has worked with blue chip clients such as David Jones, Boost Juice, Rip Curl, Spec Savers and Australia Post for more than a decade and is power bringing the same marketing potential to smaller companies

Mandoe founder Steve Baxter said it was a great evolution for the business, which wasn’t originally built with SMEs in mind.

“It was a high-touch platform that required a lot of help from the company to get customers deployed,” he said.

Mandoe Media founder Steve Baxter

“Building and launching this self-service Canva-esque platform means small businesses can design creative and harness the signature Mandoe technology to ensure screens are always running the most relevant and up-to-date information.”

The roll out is the culmination of a $30 million investment by Melbourne-based Advent Partners $30 million in 2019, with the funds used to build the platform and ramp up marketing.

Mandoe now has more than 100 employees in Australia and globally, with 5000 customers, and 20,000 screens deployed. More than 1 million digital signs have been made for customers.

Baxter was inspired by tech companies such as Xero and Canva, which built software for SMEs, to turn his focus to that market.

“Small business is everywhere; however, technology has historically been built to service the enterprise level operations, but we’re seeing a distinct shift – driven by the cloud – for more tech companies moving down market to help small businesses,” he said.

Behind this is the democratisation and consumerisation of technology. With so many small businesses doing it tough right now, digital signage can help provide upsell opportunities.

Queensland butcher Will Burgoyne, who owns Prestige Meats, has experienced Mandoe first-hand and seen the impact as his sausages and steaks move into the digital era.

“Mandoe’s digital signage software is so easy to use for someone like myself that has no IT background. I’m able to create my digital signs within minutes. I’m really impressed with how my store looks now and receive many compliments from customers,” he said.

“Having the Mandoe Digital Signage solution has helped increase weekly sales by more than 15%. It saves myself and my staff many hours of time each week and lets us focus our attention on providing a better service for our customers.”