A company which connects major brands with independent agencies via its smart platform has raised £1.5m of funding from Fuel Ventures.
Studiospace, which was originally launched in 2020 as Studioworks before a rebrand this year, has signed up major brands including Aviva, Jaguar Land Rover, Gala Games and AXA.
It has also recruited over 100 independent agencies spread across 12 countries and 36 cities.
Co-founder and CEO Pete Sayburn said: “We saw a chance to disrupt the marketing industry and went for it.
Growing FinTech secures £4m investment to fuel global expansion
“Big brands want new talent, but smaller indie businesses can’t cope with the admin and red tape that big brands demand from their suppliers.”
The investment will be used to grow the business in the UK, and in Australia, where it has a growing office in Sydney, as well as to develop and further automate the Studiospace tech platform.
Senior and chief marketing officers (CMOs) use Studiospace to post briefs and criteria for new projects. The platform matches them to relevant suppliers, based on their choices.
Crucially, the company also provides standard contracts and terms of conditions, as well as handling payments, removing the administrative issues which often prevent small companies from working with bigger brands.
Sayburn believes he is disrupting how the marketing industry works.
“Digital technology should mean a senior marketer can stipulate precisely what they want and then find the perfect match in a few clicks,” he said.
“Yet, at the moment, that’s not happening as digital hasn’t yet transformed how agencies are hired.
“We are attempting to bridge the gap between the biggest brands and those small but exciting indie agencies, which are full of talent and original ideas.
“We are now effectively the fastest growing marketing services company in the world, with 2000 people in our network after just eight months.
“This investment from Fuel will enable us to continue to grow.”
Shiv Patel, investment director at Fuel Ventures, said: “Having seen Studiospace’s growth since they began trading at the start of this year, we were delighted to have the opportunity to invest in such an exciting business.
Online moderation startup raises $5m in seed round to fuel growth charge
“The management team have exceptional experience both within the industry and also through having successfully scaled and exited a previous business.
“This coupled with the major brands which have been using the platform already made a compelling investment case for us. We look forward to working closely with Studiospace in the coming years to ensure the company’s continued success.”
Studiospace was founded by Sayburn, Gideon Hyde, Robin Scarborough, Paul Bowman and Phil Kohler after a previous business four of them were involved in – Market Gravity – was acquired by Deloitte.
Fuel Ventures is one of the most active early and growth stage investors in the UK into leading fast growth technology businesses.