We caught up with Sabrina Spielberger, Founder and CEO of Digidip to talk about the Berlin-based ad-tech startup. Founded in 2013, Digidip has been profitable since 2016 without receiving any VC funding. The startup has a retailer turnover of over €1.4bn and is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe according to Statista and the Financial Times. Through partnerships with 25,000 online merchants including Ebay, Walmart, Samsung, Nike and Skyscanner, Digidip ensures that publishers and influencers are rewarded for creating content and recommending brands.
Why was Digidip founded?
I founded Digidip in 2013. At this point I was writing my own lifestyle blog while also working in affiliate marketing. In spite of my day job I still found myself struggling to monetise the content on my blog. The process was highly technical and complicated and, worst of all, distracted me from writing actual blog content.
I decided to investigate potential solutions. Many of these either turned out to be too expensive, while others didn’t offer the necessary brand coverage or support. I brought up the problem with other content creators and found that they’d had similar experiences. This led me to set up Digidip, a platform that takes the complexity out of affiliate marketing and offers partnerships with a huge portfolio of global brands and publishers.
What makes Digidip different?
Digidip sets itself apart through our commitment to full transparency for all our clients. Publishers need to request an invite and undergo a vetting process before joining the platform, which means brands can be confident of the highest standards. In turn publishers are then granted access to a portfolio of over 25,000 brands and global coverage.
We’re also extremely hands-on with our account management and don’t use anonymous ticketing systems. Essentially we’re a bunch of nerds always looking out for the next thing that could benefit our clients and help publishers grow their businesses.
As well as this, we’re entirely bootstrapped. In comparison, all our competitors secured large amounts of VC funding early in their growth. Digidip became profitable after four years and is now one of Europe’s fastest growing companies.
What have you learnt since founding Digidip?
Founding and growing Digidip has taught me a huge amount. I’ve had to learn many lessons the hard way – one being that you can’t do everything yourself. Instead it’s vital to have people around you you can trust and who match your ambition to develop the best product, offer the best service, and keep growing. I’m grateful to have also learnt that putting in the effort and working harder than everyone else does eventually pay off.
What are your plans for the future of Digidip?
Currently we have two main focuses – to expand into more countries, and to introduce more product features that can help our clients scale their revenue. We’ve had incredible organic growth to date, and we want to continue building on this while maintaining our strong company ethos.