Episode1 Ventures is a London based venture capital fund set up to invest in early-stage technology companies based in the UK. It was created with a mixture of public and private money, including backing from a number of entrepreneurs including Alex Chesterman of Zoopla Property Group. It is one of the UK Government's Enterprise Capital Funds – set up to support fund managers who invest in small, high-growth businesses. The £12.5 million of private investment was matched with £25 million of public money. Episode 1 Ventures invests in seed and Series A rounds of up to £2m in software-driven businesses with the potential to transform industries. They’ve been entrepreneurs theirselves so provide a frank and fast approach to investing and they like to play a very hands-on supportive role in growing the businesses they back. They look for entrepreneurs with relevant experience ambitious to change their sector. They like to see that they can hire world-class talent and delegate to them effectively, and that they really know the customers and understand the problem. They also like entrepreneurs that are data-driven. But above all they like people with passion and ambition, that can execute at speed and overcome significant hurdles along the way. They are building a portfolio of companies that are using software technology to disrupt their chosen marketplaces. It is a diverse group across a range of industries, but with two common themes – a great founder and a big market.  They also like to invest once a company has launched their product and has some clients they can reference. Revenues are usually from zero to £50k per month when they first invest. They like to play an active role in helping the companies that they invest in, at least until their companies have secured one or more later financing rounds. They want to help entrepreneurs turn their early stage ventures into fast growing companies built to grow into significant and valuable entities.  They see every investment as a partnership. Indeed, they share their office with a number of portfolio companies so they work very closely with them.

Episode 1

Hotspur Capital is a financial organization.

Hotspur Capital

IP Group's core business is the creation of value for its shareholders and partners through the commercialisation of intellectual property originating from research intensive institutions. Their strength lies in managing this process from finding suitable intellectual property to commercialise to either helping develop businesses and create value out of them, or identifying and establishing appropriate commercial partnerships to do so. IP Group's extensive expertise in this area combined with its inside knowledge of both industry and finance have enabled the group to create a formidable track record of consistently delivering excellent results for their companies, for their partners and for their shareholders.

IP Group

Northstar Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in innovative solutions to help solve the most pressing societal issues we have today.  Our ticket sizes range from £100k to £500k into early stage tech companies. We provide added value in leveraging our network of university partners, funders, non-executive directors and talent to support each investment. We are based in the North East of England and aim to invest in companies that bring talent, jobs and growth to the region

Northstar Ventures

R/GA Ventures goes beyond financial capital to provide access to R/talent GA's and extensive client network to founders. It is developing an innovation platform to assist industry leaders in disrupting business as usual by connecting them with groundbreaking technologies and emerging players that can open up new doors. Beyond financial capital, R/GA Ventures connects early- and growth-stage startups with its creative talent, clients, and innovative program partners. Its flexible financing terms help businesses at every stage of funding and growth. It invests at current market valuations in each of its program companies.

R/GA Ventures

Passion Capital is a partnership of entrepreneurs and operators applying their experiences to helping founders and early-stage teams build great digital media/technology companies. They are Stefan Glaenzer, Eileen Burbidge and Robert Dighero.  They have been personally involved in the largest European technology exits of the past decade, including the biggest exits of the year for 4 of the past 10 years by market value (Ricardo.de acquired by QXL, Skype purchased by Ebay, Last.fm acquired by CBS, and QXL/Tradus acquired by Naspers) and want to be involved in many more.  They believe that the critical differentiator and key asset of a successful business is the passion and ability of its founders.  They are committed to fostering an ecosystem of technology, collaboration and executional excellence in Europe. As an example of this, White Bear Yard is their own hub for activities, ambitions and energy and where have fun in the process.

Passion Capital

Ballpark Ventures is a small, boutique fund investing in early stage technology startups. Their partners are all successful entrepreneurs and at this stage, investing their own money.

Ballpark Ventures

Balderton Capital is a Venture Capital Investor that supports technology businesses. They support Founders at every stage of their journey. They provide advice, introduce portfolio leaders to professional service providers, and invite portfolio leaders to workshops and community events where they can meet one another.

Balderton Capital

QVentures sources, screens, and invests in top-tier start-ups from Seed to Series B. Our investors consist of Family Offices, Institutional Investors, UHNWIs, and Cashed-out Entrepreneurs. We look for disruptive companies with a proven product-market fit, set to scale from Seed to Series B. We focus on Enterprise SaaS, Marketplaces, Consumer Tech, FinTech, AdTech, EdTech, InsurTech and HealthTech and more. We look for quality management teams, large addressable markets, proven traction, sustainable business models, route to scale and quality investors. To apply for investment, please fill out this short form to be reviewed: https://qventures.typeform.com/to/zZPOWf

QVentures

Mercia Fund Managers is a venture capital fund manager with two funds totalling £12.8 million under management. Mercia Fund Managers focuses its efforts on the West Midlands region and benefits from a mixture of public- and private-sector fund investors. Mercia Fund Managers provides venture capital for early-stage technology start-ups that are located in the West Midlands. Potential investees must demonstrate their potential for rapid growth and will possess a strong proprietary position with respect to their technology, intellectual property, and products. Mercia Fund Managers is based in central Birmingham and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The company is also a member of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. Mercia Fund Managers will typically make an initial investment offer of between £50,000 and £250,000 of venture capital, but has the capacity to follow its money at subsequent investment rounds, up to an overall limit of £1 million of venture capital per company. Later rounds of financing will usually involve syndication with other venture capital investors, often from outside of the West Midlands.

Mercia Fund Managers

Adludio

Adludio is the AI-powered platform that delivers interactive mobile advertising. By using data to design your ad creative, and algorithms to optimize your campaigns, Adludio makes sure you win the battle for brand attention We create, deliver and optimize advertising campaigns at scale, using mobile-first creative technology, data and algorithms to deliver amazing creative and engage with audiences on their first screen. Adludio is a recognized leader in mobile brand advertising, and our clients include the world's biggest brands, including Nike, Microsoft, Chanel and LVMH, as well as some of the newer DTC challengers. We embrace diversity and a global outlook. Our offices are in New York, Los Angeles, London, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Hong Kong, Taipei and Singapore, but we also have remote workforce operating from 17 countries. We maintain a start-up culture as we grow, where every employee believes in our vision and everyone has the opportunity to pitch in with their ideas. Adludio won 'Best Mobile Campaign' at The Drum APAC Awards in 2018. Recently, Adludio has been listed in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 'Ones to Watch', and ranked in the Deloitte Fast 50 for the second year running, making it one of the fastest-growing Ad Tech companies in the UK.  Adludio are creators of Sensory Ad Science,  mobile-first technique that is changing advertising for the better. They take the best of learning science and combine it with data science to deliver brand experiences that are compelling, effective and memorable.

<div>Adludio is a UK-based lead generation platform that provides interactive mobile advertising solutions for marketing teams. The platform uses proprietary algorithms and data-driven creativity to optimize campaigns and deliver privacy-compliant mobile ads that increase customer engagement. As of April 2023, the firm operated in five cities across the US, namely New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Detroit. It also provided its services through resellers in Singapore and Hong Kong. Adludio's client base included notable brands such as Microsoft, Adidas, Nike, Est&eacute;e Lauder, Land Rover Jaguar, and Ford.</div>

Using AI to automate, enhance and optimize marketing activities

Marketing Automation

Adludio Raises Another £2M for its Interactive Mobile Advertising Platform

<div>
 
 Adludio is a UK-based lead generation platform that provides interactive mobile advertising solutions for marketing teams. The platform uses proprietary algorithms and data-driven creativity to optimize campaigns and deliver privacy-compliant mobile ads that increase customer engagement. As of April 2023, the firm operated in five cities across the US, namely New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Detroit. It also provided its services through resellers in Singapore and Hong Kong. Adludio's client base included notable brands such as Microsoft, Adidas, Nike, Est&eacute;e Lauder, Land Rover Jaguar, and Ford.
 
 
 Adludio's platform claims to differentiate itself by analyzing and optimizing the relationship between advertising categories to create campaigns with the optimal combination of design elements, resulting in better outcomes for clients. The platform claimed that it can enhance engagement rates by 15%&ndash;25%, raise brand awareness by 2.5%, and increase purchase intent by over 5%.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Adludio partnered with Inskin Media, an advertising tech company, in November 2020 to exclusively offer its products in Australia. This partnership allows marketers to directly access Adludio's interactive ad units designed for mobile users.
 
 
 Additionally, the firm has partnered with several demand-side ad platforms (DSPs) such as The Trade Desk, Yahoo, DV360, as well as supply-side ad platforms (SSPs) like Xandr.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In April 2023, the company raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17524">
 GBP 2 million (~USD 2.5 million)
 </a>
 in a Series A funding round led by Mercia. It planned to use the funds to bolster its expansion plans in the US and to release an upgraded version of its platform in 2024. The new iteration of the platform is expected to have several automated features and provide customers with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool that can be leveraged to manage their own campaigns.
 
 
 Additionally, the company stated that it had reported a surge in its revenue worldwide and experienced a 50% growth in the US market in 2022.
 
</div>

Outbrain is an algorithm-based content recommendation and discovery platform that curates native advertising content from the open web, providing personalized content for brands to increase customer engagement. Outbrain also allows content publishers to amplify its reach by supplying content to the platform. As of September 2023, customers could access 7,000+ online content sources including content by the Washington Post, Guardian, and BBC.&nbsp;Outbrain has been a pioneer in the content recommendation space and was the first to introduce an algorithm-based content recommendation in 2008. It was also the first to introduce a self-service platform for content recommendation in 2012. In May 2021, it tested “QualityRatings,” a tool that implements quality guidelines for the content featured on its platform while using machine learning and AI to create a more personalized user experience. In September 2022, the firm launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13122">Keystone</a>, a business optimization solution for publishers.&nbsp;Outbrain has made a series of acquisitions over the years while making enhancements to its product offerings. In November 2021, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6992">Outbrain acquired vi</a>, a contextual video intelligence platform for USD 55 million to grow its CTV and other display ads offerings. In August 2024, Outbrain acquired <a href="https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/outbrain-acquires-teads-from-altice-for-1-billion/">Teads</a>, an SSP and video monetization company, to create an "end-to-end, full-funnel platform" by expanding into TV, video, and CTV advertising.&nbsp; Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;Outbrain’s customers include leading news media outlets such as CNN, MSN, and Sky News, serving more than a billion monthly users (by December 2022).&nbsp;&nbsp;In April 2022, Outbrain’s platform was <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9907">integrated with ID5</a> to provide a privacy-first customer identification solution.

Outbrain

Marin Software is an adTech firm offering a suite of solutions for brands looking to conduct search, social media, and ecommerce advertising. The firm’s “MarineOne” solution enables Brands to integrate their data under a single platform; coupled with machine learning tools, marketers can optimize ad spending across multiple platforms. In the case of search and social media advertising, Brands can increase their visibility across a number of search engines and social media platforms including Google, Facebook, and Apple Search Ads.&nbsp;In recent years the firm has been making enhancements to transform its Marine One Software as a complete marketing campaign management &amp; intelligence solution. In line with the firm expanded its ecommerce advertising solution capabilities by increasing the number of integrations to include Criteo’s commerce media platform and Instacart’s advertising platform. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12159">2022</a>, the firm rolled out a number of new product and features including 1) MarinOne bidding, the firm's ad bidding marketplace, 2) MarinOne support, to enable advertisers to improve ad performance with multi-edit ad scheduling solutions, 3) social rules engine, to help automate workflows, and 4) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15019">Budget Optimizer</a>, an ad budget management solution. More recently, in April 2023, the firm introduced an automation tool <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17565">“MarinOne Scripts,”</a> which integrates Python scripting with its MarineOne platform, providing marketers with customized and data-driven solutions to optimize campaigns.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2021, several brands from varied industries, including Nissan, American Eagle outfitters, and Harmony, use the firm’s solutions.In 2021, the firm made a number of new initiatives in 2021, including an <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7635">integration with Amazon Ads</a> and a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6973">partnership with CitrusAd </a>to expand the ecommerce capabilities of its platform. In January 2023, the company announced an <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16172">integration with Yahoo</a> to broaden access to programmatic ad content.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Marin Software

Founded in China, Terminus claims to have the first account-based marketing (ABM) platform that unifies the marketing and sales teams’ roles under a single platform. Terminus specializes in B2B marketing and, according to the firm, its “Terminus Data Studio” has one of the largest B2B account databases, which by September 2021, covered more than 70 million businesses. Terminus’s customer data platform (CDP) is fully integrated with its marketing automation platform, through which teams can run multi-channel targeted campaigns across many channels including email, ad networks, live chat, and the web. This can then be analyzed with Terminus’ suite of analytics and attribution tools. By September 2021, Terminus served more than 1,000 customers, including Salesloft, Foundry, and Quantum Workplace.According to a study done by Forrester (in Q2 2020), Terminus has been recognized among the ABM platform leaders.Through a series of acquisitions, Terminus has transformed into a marketing cloud platform offering a range of services. Its two latest acquisitions took place within 12 months. In November 2020, it acquired Growflare, a lead generation and account-based intelligence platform catering to B2B startups, followed by B2B CDP Zylotech in September 2021. Terminus hoped to capitalize on these to build the most comprehensive ABM platform on the market.

Terminus

Founded in France, Brevo <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18241">(formerly Sendinblue)</a> began as an email marketing automation platform catering to small and medium-scale businesses (SMB). It has since extended its services to become an all-in-one marketing platform; the range of services found on Brevo's platform include email and SMS marketing, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, landing page creation, and Facebook ad management, among others. In November 2022, the firm launched an <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14388">integrated meetings solution</a> that brings together scheduling, video conferencing, and payment solutions. In March 2023, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17462">unveiled “Conversations”</a> to manage customer conversations across messaging channels in one centralized location.Brevo’s platform is compared with other well-known competitors such as Mailchimp and Hubspot and is commended for its live support and fair pricing, making it a strong contender in the SMB space.&nbsp;The company has expanded its product offering through a series of acquisitions during 2021-2022. Brevo acquired three firms in September 2021 for USD 47 million: 1) Metrilo, a provider of customer analytics and marketing services for ecommerce stores, 2) Chatra, a live chat messenger app for increasing online sales, and 3) PushOwl, a customer re-engagement website that uses web-based push notifications. In March 2022, the firm <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9009">acquired MeetFox</a>, a meeting scheduling and video conferencing platform. In September 2022, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13360">acquired Yodel.io,</a> an Austrian cloud-based phone system provider, to enable additional customer touchpoints, and reduce the overall digital marketing spend for SMBs. More recently, in February 2023, the firm <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16271?industryIds=62">acquired Captain Wallet,</a> a mobile wallet marketing platform, to broaden its reach internationally. In December 2023, Brevo acquired <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24833">WonderPush and Octolis,</a> two customer interaction platforms, to expand its CRM capabilities.&nbsp;&nbsp;The firm achieved <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15834">USD 100 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)</a> at the end of 2022 while maintaining a positive EBITDA position.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;The platform catered to 500,000+ customers across 180 countries as of end December 2022.

Brevo

Acquia provides a digital experience platform (DXP) to support medium to large enterprises that use Drupal, an open-source content management system (CMS) that provides the back-end infrastructure for websites and by September 2021, powered approximately 2.1% of websites on the internet. The core product offered by Acquia is a marketing cloud that provides a full suite of services to manage the customer journey. The platform features a customer data platform (CDP), unifying data across multiple sources; sales automation tools to deliver personalized marketing campaigns across multiple delivery channels; marketing campaign management tools to manage distributed marketing teams; and a content management platform to organize and monitor content.&nbsp;Having been built on the Drupal framework, which does not require any programming skills to implement, Acquia’s marketing cloud claims to be more accessible and agile than enterprise cloud solutions provided by incumbents such as Adobe and Oracle. In 2021, Gartner’s Magic Quadrant report named Acquia a leader in DXP platforms, while a study done by Forrester (in July 2021) found that customers of Acquia’s DXP solutions experienced a payback on their investment in less than six months, generating an average return on investment (ROI) of 589% over three years.&nbsp;Acquia has made several investments and enhancements to its DXP platform. In January 2021, Acquia, in partnership with Commercetools and Lucidworks, launched “Acquia Digital Commerce,” a service for creating personalized digital shopping experiences for customers. The firm has also added a number of self-serve features to its CDP such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11422">“right to erasure”</a> to bolster the privacy and security features of its platform to cater to enterprise users. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35334">October 2024,</a> Acquia added AI capabilities to digital asset management solutions to accelerate campaign delivery.&nbsp;In September 2021, Acquia acquired Widen Enterprises, a digital asset management (DAM) and product information management (PIM) software company, for an undisclosed amount. As a result, customers can have a fully integrated experience on the platform, while the acquisition also added a further 700+ customers. In November 2023, the company acquired Monsido, a website accessibility and optimization solution from CivicPlus, to expand its platform capabilities.&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36365">November 2024,&nbsp;</a>Acquia acquired Monsid to expand Acquia's digital experience platform capabilities.Key customers and partnershipsBy September 2021, Acquia counted one in four Fortune 500 companies, including Johnson &amp; Johnson, Bayer, and Xerox, among its customers.&nbsp;As of September 2024, the company served more than 4,000 customers globally.&nbsp;In June 2022, Acquia&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11352">partnered with Workato</a> (enterprise-level workflow automation platform) to integrate with Acquia’s CDP to expand enterprise use of the platform. The integration added 100+ technology integrations compatible with Acquia’s marketing cloud.&nbsp;

Acquia

Firms positioned as an 'all-in-one' marketing platform,  providing a variety of functions across the MarTech stack

Startups providing platforms for planning and managing marketing campaigns.

Startups offering tools for finding and attracting potential customers with targeted ads.

Startups providing tools to automate the execution of marketing campaigns across varied channels.

Startups providing tools for gathering, cleaning, and enhancing customer data to provide deep analytics. This also includes firms offering account-based marketing (ABM) solutions to drive targeted and personalized campaigns.

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for marketing

Personalization tools are mainly used in AdTech and marketing campaign automation

Marketing automation provides measurement and attribution solutions to measure marketing effectiveness

Uses GenAI to automate content creation  and personalize content for marketing campaigns

Uses AI/ML to enable marketing automation, making it a core part of many companies' products

Metaverse advertising is being explored by AdTech segments for in-game advertising

The in-game advertising segment is in development and has a niche relevance to this area

Adludio

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