AdEspresso Makes Optimizing Marketing Dollars a Snap

Like many entrepreneurs flocking to Silicon Valley to try their hand at startup success, AdEspresso is one of an astonishing number of local businesses born in Italy.

Whether it’s because of the historical relationship between the Bay Area and Italian immigrants or the modern synergy of tech enterprise and creative insourcing, there has never been a better time to pack a bag, stamp your passport and role the dice—especially if you hail from The Boot.

Regardless of nationality, the pop-stereotype of young techies usually involves 20-somethings with newly minted college degrees and an affinity for round-the-clock gaming.  Throw in a Costco-size coffee addiction and frat-style living arrangement, and you’ve got all the makings of what has recently become its own television genre.

So you’d be surprised then to meet Massimo Chieruzzi, or any of the other founding members of AdEspresso, who have years of professional experience under their belts, and a successful and well-established agency based in Milan (Creative Web), with full roster of high-profile international clients.

You see, not all startups are born out of fleeting strokes of genius or flashes in the pan—some, like AdEspresso, begin as a new division of a parent company that seeks funding to become its own brand.  (But the coffee addiction still rings true.)

In May 2012, Chieruzzi and partners brought the idea for AdEspresso, a Facebook ads optimization platform, to events in Silicon Valley to gauge interest for the product and see if it was viable in a wider market.  The idea was born directly out of a need at Creative Web, who advertised on Facebook, but needed a way to assess whether the ads were actually working, and how users were responding to one image versus another.  The group sought out preexisting solutions but found they were all too expensive—and that there was no viable way for any small to mid-sized businesses to access similar services.

And, according to Chieruzzi, despite Creative Web’s success, “Even if it was good, it was still boring because we were working as consultants for other people’s projects.”  Further to the point, there are currently 30 million pages for small-to-mid-size businesses on Facebook, with only one million currently advertising.

The response to the idea for AdEspresso was a hit.  Interest was widespread, and the team was invited to become a part of the prestigious 500 Startups Accelerator program.  They moved to Silicon Valley with just a week’s notice, and at the end of an initial Angel investment round, there was $500k sitting in the bank, along with Chieruzzi’s personal seed of $300k.  Investors include high-profile names like Tony Hsieh of Zappos and Armando Biondi, the latter of whom is now COO at AdEspresso.  Chieruzzi also names Mind the Bridge as another important mentor in helping the company gain footing in California.

 In fact, with so much momentum, the first Angel round that closed in December 2013 was extended and closed just last week to the tune of $1.3 million. The beta for AdEspresso was officially launched in May 2013 and was an instant hit in both the States and Italy, winning awards in both countries.

Plans for the influx of revenue include operations for the next 16 months, and AdEspresso reports going black in March 2014, with a projected 65% growth month over month.  However, Chieruzzi admits that the challenge ahead of AdEspresso is no small one: “(We have) to reach a wider market to reach interesting revenue numbers in the small-to-medium market.”

And there’s always the challenge of relying on another business (Facebook) to create a customer base. While the social media giant isn’t going anywhere soon, Chieruzzi is already looking to the future and what the AdEspresso product may look like on other platforms. “We have a good relationship with FB; in the long-term we are looking to differentiate our services and enter other markets, Twitter, Pinterest … (I’m) 90 percent sure that by the end of the year we’ll probably (launch) Twitter. Twitter can work for everyone, but Pinterest is very visual so many niche markets might not be a good fit. “

In the meantime, Chieruzzi has moved with long-time girlfriend to a new office/living space in San Francisco’s SoMa district and frequents Pazzia near Yerba Buena when he needs a taste of home.

Although he often takes the lead publicly for AdEspresso as majority shareholder, he emphasizes the many years he and the other founding members of the company have been working together on this dream—their dream.  So perhaps there’s something of a fraternity in this startup story after all.