Luxembourg-based local job finder app, Job Today, says it signed a new media for equity deal worth $35M with RTL, others; plans to launch in Germany this year
Context & Ripple Effects
Job Today is doubling down on Europe within a day of its German launch announcement, converting a $35M raise into a media-for-equity structure with broadcaster RTL and other media partners — meaning part of its funding arrives as advertising airtime rather than cash. The move echoes the playbook of recruitment marketplaces like Hired, whose $40M Series C came bundled with acquisitions of local rivals across Australia, France and the US.
First-order effects
- RTL takes an equity stake in Job Today while supplying broadcast promotion, giving the app a low-cash customer-acquisition channel exactly as it enters Germany.
Second-order effects
- Berlin-based Zenjob, which connects students with side jobs at over 2,500 companies, now faces a funded entrant in the same German casual-work market armed with free TV reach instead of paid marketing.
Third-order effects
- If media-for-equity proves efficient for marketplace startups, European broadcasters like RTL become recurring minority investors in consumer apps, trading unsold ad inventory for upside — and shifting early-stage funding toward media groups alongside VCs.
The trend: European consumer marketplaces are increasingly funding launches through broadcaster media-for-equity deals, with Germany's casual-jobs space as the current battleground.