Ad Tech Value Investment: Why We Are Investing In Vendi
Your LinkedIn feed has doubtless been heaving with ARTF/AdCP chat and press releases this week, given the recent ad tech jamboree in Palm Springs. The prevailing sentiment across the industry is one of befuddlement, as no one has any idea how this will pan out.
The most likely scenario for the “programmatic” open internet is that the buy- and sell-side tech consolidate into a handful of low-take rate, scaled platforms.
Ad Tech Value Investing
These consolidated plays will have open APIs, enabling agencies, brands, publishers, and “feature ad tech” to build on top of them. The agentics (sounds like a 2nd rate Motown band, right?) will be additive, workflow automation for repetitive tasks - ops, curated deal building, etc.
The winners will have very deep moats: unique supply, cheap compute, “ad tech banking” services and exceptionally low take rates. We made one bet, Bedrock Platform, in this media execution segment.
Its raison d’être: not to go head-to-head with these all-conquering platforms, but to build bespoke offerings (a la Beeswax/IPONWEB/early AppNexus) for smart, forward-thinking buyers, and provide bidding capabilities within progressive SSPs looking to compete for demand. Bedrock Platform is very much in a category of its own - more on that at a later date.
Other than Bedrock, our investment thesis remains wholly focused on first-party data solutions, data infrastructure, supply-focused ad nets and PBTs that address the entire $1 trillion ad ecosystem - not just the programmatic subsection.
We call it ad tech value investing: allocating investment to capital-efficient startups that create real utility in overlooked parts of the ad ecosystem.
OOH FTW
One overlooked area that has significant upside for ad tech is OOH. This is a $40 billion ad market and still growing (expected to compound at around 8%-10% until the early-2030s). OOH-related M&A totalled $2 billion+ in 2025. There are active buyers willing to pay a premium. We are so long on the space.
And what’s even more interesting about OOH is its ever-increasing importance for brand-building. As consumer behaviour shifts and the lower funnel collapses (thanks to the rise of chatbots & Q&A search), OOH becomes a requisite go-to for big brands.
Building a successful scaled ad net/ad tech solution in OOH is very possible - as long as you have proprietary supply and a first-party data asset. AI might hollow out the open web and other digital channels; it’s another thing for it to disrupt fixed-screen assets that underpin a $40 billion (and growing) ad business. OOH will play an integral role in a redrawn media landscape.
FPC will make two OOH investments in 2026. Both fit the mould for what FPC considers the perfect mix for success: O&O ad supply and a proprietary data asset.
Utility + Ads = Great Ad Tech Business
The first of these investments will be into a startup called Vendi Tech. Vendi provides automated vending machines to some of the UK’s largest pub, gym, and retail brands.
Did you say vending machine? WTAF is an acceptable answer. But here is where the FPC value investment thesis kicks in - expanding beyond the narrow, myopic view of ad tech.
Vendi produces automated product dispensers and works with brands to distribute physical products to targeted audiences. It then uses this first-party data to power a DOOH offering.
The best ad offerings are utility solutions with adjacent and complementary ad businesses bolted on - think Uber, PayPal, Deliveroo, Instacart et al.
Vendi has nailed the unit economics on its machines, enabling it to make much-needed incremental revenue for partners and a decent margin for itself.
It is the kind of industrial ad tech that makes real money. Steel, glass, products, and ads combine to make all your value-investment ambitions realisable.
This could easily be a scaled global business, carving out a lucrative piece of the OOH market. It’s certainly what Vendi’s partners want to do. This fund raise will help to put that strategy into action.
We are making this round available for individual investors. The deal goes live on our syndicate platform next week. In the meantime, you can express your interest in investing here: https://f7q0l.share-eu1.hsforms.com/2TJW6Bk8QSTCgotsLnHlnCA.
Why We Are Investing
We will be investing from Fund 2 alongside the syndicate (later in the year). To summarise our thinking, here are 7 reasons why we are investing in Vendi:
Vendi sits at the intersection of retail media and OOH. It is already working with major gym, pub, and retail brands, helping build new incremental revenue streams through its automated vending machines. Its product-dispensing solution enables brands to engage a targeted audience. Layer on top of that a data-driven OOH ad network, and you have a sticky, profitable ad tech play. Once embedded, it’s hard to displace.
The Vendi Team: Harry Maitland-Titterton, Vendi CEO, has extensive experience in the retail sector. This led him to identify a significant market gap in the automated vending machine space. He launched Vendi in 2023 and has since signed several major retail brands. As the product evolved to a first-party data and OOH solution, Harry surrounded himself with some of the smartest people in ad tech.
Vendi is primed for scale. The company has nailed the unit economics on its machines and has built its ad stack to help brands reach new audiences. Now its core customers want it to expand into Europe and beyond. Honestly, it is hard not to get excited about Vendi - and the opportunity that lies ahead for Harry and team. This is a proper, moat-heavy industrial ad tech. Steel, glass, product and OOH ads. Ridiculously investable.
The best companies in ad tech are utility solutions with a margin-heavy and scalable ad business bolted on. Think Uber and PayPal - but for OOH. As with its peers, Vendi’s utility feeds into its advertising offering.
Vendi is quintessential ad tech value investing. With a unique fixed supply and proprietary party data, Vendi is a business with a higher likelihood of delivering a return to investors.
From an M&A perspective, the OOH space is buoyant. In 2025, there were over $2 billion in transactions. OOH is a growing sector. In the age of chatbots and Q&A search engines, OOH becomes existential for brand building as the lower funnel collapses into a prompt.
EIS cover on this deal for UK investors. Tax rebates are available on this raise.
This is a strong investment opportunity to start the year with. More details will be available on the platform soon, including a video interview with Harry and specific investor details. And that’s it for this edition. Have a great ad tech day.