The generative AI revolution is firmly underway, and The Brandtech Group is at the forefront according to their recent $115 million Series C funding round. This massive capital infusion from new investors Fimalac and NendoLabs as well as existing backers Mousse Partners and Bansk Group rocketed the New York-based digital marketing group’s valuation to a staggering $4 billion.
With the funding comes a new key executive - Matthieu Bucaille was appointed as The Brandtech Group’s Global Chief Financial Officer after previously serving as CEO of Lazard International. Bucaille is enthralled by the company’s pioneering work in leveraging generative AI to transform the advertising industry. He aims to help The Brandtech Group capitalize on disrupting the “challenged” traditional agency model through their revolutionary AI-powered marketing technology.
Founder and CEO David Jones launched the company (originally called You & Mr Jones) in 2015 with the explicit mission of elevating marketing for major brands through innovative technology to make it better, faster and cheaper. Their ambitious genAI marketing vision truly took shape through the 2023 acquisition of Pencil, a groundbreaking generative AI platform for enterprise marketing.
Pencil’s AI capabilities allow for producing ads at a blistering 10x faster pace with 2x better performance compared to a brand’s typical benchmarks. After bringing Pencil into the fold, they quickly launched Pencil Pro - a new premium genAI product tailored specifically for global corporate marketing juggernauts like Google, Microsoft, Unilever, LVMH, Morgan Stanley, Bayer, TikTok, Diageo, Reckitt and Renault-Nissan.
Embracing the AI Marketing Disruption
While the traditional ad industry vocally pushed back against OpenAI founder Sam Altman’s assertion that “AI Will Handle 95% of Marketing Work Done by Agencies and Creatives,” The Brandtech Group wholeheartedly embraced it. Jones affirmed this is precisely why they built their AI-fueled martech group from the ground up to capitalize on generative AI’s seismic shift for the entire marketing and business landscape.
The Brandtech Group’s Partner and Head of Emerging Technologies Rebecca Sykes highlighted their disciplined approach to ushering clients into the genAI era across all aspects of marketing. This includes sharing deep expertise accumulated since 2018, robust legal/ethical frameworks, securing favorable terms from AI providers, and baking proven risk mitigation strategies directly into products like Pencil.
A Breakout Year
2023 was a watershed year that dramatically expanded The Brandtech Group’s capabilities through two mega acquisitions in addition to the Pencil deal. They purchased 100% of Jellyfish to form the world’s largest digital-only marketing group. They also acquired Acorn-i, the leading ecommerce tech platform, to buttress their fast-growing commerce offering.
The Brandtech Group has emerged as a unique enterprise that encompasses a diverse array of best-in-class marketing and technology companies spanning consulting, in-housing, influencer, gaming/metaverse, mobile, data/analytics, media operations, content production and much more. With unmatched genAI marketing firepower plus elite digital commerce and consulting offerings, they are optimally positioned to ride the generative AI wave as it revolutionizes marketing and business holistically.
Outgoing Global CFO Jean-Marc Antoni reflected proudly on his tenure helping build The Brandtech Group’s solid foundation. While he is departing, Antoni expressed confidence that Bucaille possesses the ideal expertise to guide the company through its imminent genAI-fueled growth phase as it cements industry dominance.