Sonder Media, an Australian company that helps brands evaluate and monetize their owned media channels, is expanding to the U.S. with a Los Angeles outpost, the firm said today. 

The company was set up by two media agency veterans in 2016—Angus Frazier and Jonathan Hopkins. 

Frazier is a former general manager of Dentsu Aegis Network in Sydney and held a similar role at Dentsu media agency Carat before that. Earlier he served at Mitchell & Partners, an independent agency that was acquired by Dentsu. 

Hopkins served at MCM Media and Razor media agency prior to partnering with Frazier on Sonder.  

The duo own the business outright and oversee it globally.  

They have set up operations in Los Angeles and are now recruiting a US-based team to lead the business. 

Sonder currently operates in 15 countries and uses a proprietary platform to audit, price and optimize brand-owned media channels across 12 sectors including retail, finance, telecom and grocery.  

On average, Sonder says, it helps clients generate $48 million in new annual revenue from underutilized owned assets.  

“This isn’t about building another walled garden,” says Hopkins. “It’s about helping businesses realize they’re sitting on media inventory that is often more valuable and better performing that what they’re paying for elsewhere.” 

The company says clients can save up to 20% on paid media spend through “strategic substitution” with their owned media. 

It cites a WARC estimate that the global owned media economy is currently worth about $153 billion. 

The firm’s latest outlook report on owned media channels can be found here.