About this episode

Fergal O’Connor discusses the evolution of Buymedia from a marketplace to an AI-driven media planning platform.

The Irish VC Podcast — Buymedia, media buying, and scaling from Ireland. In this conversation, Sarah Jane Larkin speaks with Fergal O’Connor, founder and CEO of Buymedia, about how he built the company from an early marketplace idea into an AI-driven media planning platform. The discussion covers start-up iteration, customer-led product development, funding in Ireland, and the changing media landscape across Ireland and the UK Key topics How Buymedia started and why the original marketplace concept changed Moving from inventory access to understanding where ideal customers consume media Building AI personas, media plans, marketplace buying, and performance feedback loops The impact of new media channels and the challenge of recency bias Ireland’s start-up ecosystem and the role of Enterprise Ireland, local enterprise offices, NDRC, and grants The gap between early-stage funding and large-scale growth capital Scaling into the UK and learning a different go-to-market approach AI, agentic media buying, and the future of advertising Buymedia began with the idea of giving buyers visibility into media inventory and pricing, but later pivoted to solving a deeper problem: helping brands…

People in this episode

Host: Sarah Jane Larkin

Guest: Fergal O’Connor

Topics covered

• AI in media
• media buying
• start-up ecosystem
• customer-led product development
• advertising future
• scaling businesses
• funding in Ireland

Keywords

• Buymedia
• media planning
• AI personas
• customer profiles
• advertising
• start-up funding
• media landscape
• performance feedback

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Buymedia, Enterprise Ireland, NDRC

Places: Ireland, UK

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