Jake Millar's Unfiltered raises $2.4m for US expansion

Unfiledered shareholder Guy Haddleton (left) and chief executive Jake Millar. Photo / Supplied.

Unfiltered - a business that interviews top business people for educational and motivational purposes - says it had raised US$1.5m ($2.4m) to fund expansion into the United States.

Co-founder and chief executive Jake Millar said Daniel Saks, founder of US unicorn AppDirect had invested, along with Crimson Education's Jamie Beaton, Wildfire founder Victoria Ransom, property investor Garry Robertson, New York-based investor Campbell Myers and business academic Professor David Teece.

However, the latest capital raising was dominated by early Xero investors, husband and wife Guy and Sue Haddleton, whose software company Anaplan listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

Guy Haddleton and Beaton have joined former Saatchi & Saatchi global chief executive Kevin Roberts on the Unfiltered board, with Haddleton taking over as executive chairman, Millar said.

Unfiltered hosts around 300 interviews with global business leaders and entrepreneurs and has attracted more than 30 million views.

The company's new platform design delivers business education content curated to each learner's interests and preferences that they enter upon sign-up, via a business to business subscription model.

Millar said future interviews will include Huffington Post founder Ariana Huffington and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

Unfiltered recently released exclusive interviews with General Stanley A. McChrystal, former Commander US Forces — Afghanistan under President Obama, and Los Angeles-based real estate billionaire Rick Caruso.

Millar said the funds will be used to accelerate Unfiltered's expansion into the US market and to build out our product pipeline - both technology and content.

Unfiltered is 35 per cent owned by Millar, 8 per cent by Yuuki Ogino, 7.4 per cent by the The Huljich Family, and 7.3 per cent by Guy and Sue Haddleton.

Kevin Roberts has 3.2 per cent. After the capital raising, the company's value was US$8.2m, Millar said.