Asian online media network Pixel joined AIM at 30.5p, raising a net £1.78m for expansion in a placing initially valuing the business at £10.6m. Fronted by chief executive and 47% shareholder Kevin Huang and able to call upon marketing services entrepreneur Kevin Steeds (on board as non-executive chairman), Pixel provides a range of web advertising solutions to publishers and advertisers throughout Asia-Pacific, taking a 30-45% slice of revenues in return.

Operating from offices in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur (as well as a representative office in Shanghai), Pixel sells online advertising, sponsorship, search engine and email marketing solutions on behalf of web partners, whilst working closely with advertisers ‘to deploy interactive marketing campaigns’ – top branded web publishers include MSN Hong Kong and SOHU.com. Pixel also works closely with media buying/ad agency players in the region such as Mindshare and M&C Saatchi to deploy campaigns.

Huang is upbeat about growth prospects, pointing to 39% compound annual growth forecasts for the Asia-Pacific online advertising industry between 2002 and 2009, stating that Pixel has been profitable for the last four years. Revenues rose by 58% to US$5.8m in 2005.

Monies raised will help fund expansion into China, Singapore and Taiwan, as well as accelerate growth rates in Hong Kong and Malaysia, where no strong competitors currently threaten prospects, though a number of small local players exist.

Prospects look impressive with Internet usage in Asia extremely high – some 90m Chinese visit SOHU.com every month – and Asian online advertising penetration still surprisingly small, lagging two years behind Europe in a gap that is sure to close. Speculative buy.