Introducing The ADO Manifesto; Join Us For The AUDIENCES Live Webinar
Greetings readers. It’s been a while. We have been in hibernation mode for a few weeks. Holidays and paternity leave (congrats to our fund leader, Rich) have curtailed our output of world-class ad tech propaganda. A regular frequency will resume from this week onwards, with one more special Summer edition in August, followed by the usual weekly schedule from September.
Doubtless, it has not escaped most readers’ notice: the overflow of “social” LinkedIn content clogging up the industry’s favourite platform. It’s a heady mix of business Instagram photo action (mostly happy lunches) and AI-penned, emoji-laden narratives. It truly is the opiate of the B2B masses.
Despite this tempting virality, FPC is keeping the best stuff right here on this substack for our loyal readership (5.5K+ and growing) - the LinkedIn algo be damned. We are here to promote our own book (naturally) and offer some honest insights into this ever-changing $5 trillion industry. Right, onwards.
Introducing The ADO Manifesto
As you know, FPC launched Fund 2 just before Cannes. Index was announced as a cornerstone investor, making a multi-million-pound investment in Fund 2.
You can watch the interview we did (in partnership with ExchangeWire) with Index Exchange CEO, Andrew Casale, during the festival week. We go deep on the future of ad tech and why Index made such a significant bet on FirstPartyCapital.
Watch the ExchangeWire interview here: https://www.exchangewire.com/video-interviews/index-exchanges-andrew-casale-on-the-ad-tech-investment-landscape/
This quote from Andrew magnificently captures the zeitgeist of this current innovation cycle:
“This is potentially one of the greatest times ever to build a new ad tech company because we now can solve some of the fundamental systemic issues of the market at an accelerated pace.”
The interest in Fund 2 from corporates and family offices has been high since Index made its investment. We are on track to raise £50 million within 12 months, enabling us to invest in future industry champions.
Outrageously pumped? Mildly excited? So, are we.
This is an opportune time to set out the thesis for Fund 2 (given we have been working on it for the past few months).
We are calling it - internally - the ADO (ay-doh, phonetically) manifesto.
FirstPartyCapital’s Fund 2 investment strategy is centred on transforming the $5 trillion marketing industry through artificial intelligence (AI), data, and outcomes-based technology.
We provide some necessary context around ADO (AI, Data & Outcomes) below.
AI: AI serves as the foundation of FirstPartyCapital’s approach, as automation and machine learning increasingly shape the marketing stack. By leveraging AI, brands, agencies, publishers and ad tech startups (building for its customers) can focus on operational efficiency, optimise campaign performance, and enable scaled data-driven decisions. FPC believes this move toward AI-driven automation will be core to marketing solutions going forward.
Data: Data is the ultimate asset in the era of AI, providing the fuel (training material) that powers large language models (LLMs), predictive algorithms, and advanced optimisation tools. Our portfolio companies will focus on proprietary and orchestrated data that enables accurate measurement and privacy-first targeting.
Outcome-based technology: The focus on outcomes is the go-to for the industry in terms of performance and accountability. Marketers demand measurable results (moving beyond impressions or clicks). You need to marry ad tech and martech to real-world marketing outcomes to be relevant. Solutions will need to integrate AI and data to deliver the business impact. Outcomes are top of mind for everyone.
FirstPartyCapital invests in startups across five strategic categories:
1) Proprietary data assets.
2) Data orchestration and activation.
3) Pipes and platforms.
4) Measurement.
5) Optimisation and outcome-based technologies.
FPC’s investment strategy is reflective of the changed landscape. The ADO manifesto is the basis of how we now think about this industry.
We are (genuinely) excited to deploy capital and invest in the next wave of innovative ad tech and martech startups.
To paraphrase Andrew (Casale), has there ever been a better time to work in this business? The opportunity is truly immense to reshape and remake this industry from the ground up.
Join Us For The Live AUDIENCES Webinar
We are in the midst of a syndicate raise for AUDIENCES. AUDIENCES is a new breed of real-time data company built directly into the brand’s data stack.
It enables brands to manage and onboard their first-party data at scale by unbundling core capabilities from costly, feature-heavy data stacks (such as large, well-known ID companies charging outrageous fees to activate client data). AUDIENCES empowers marketers within their organisation.
FPC is investing from Fund 2 and the syndicate. This company has enormous upside and has only scratched the surface in terms of the market share it can win from lumbering incumbents. In short, we love this business.
We outline seven reasons why we are investing in our last post:
We will be hosting a live webinar with AUDIENCES CEO and Co-founder, Rob McLaughlin, on Wednesday, 6 August.
You can sign up for the webinar here: https://lu.ma/baoub4ca.
Sign up and get investing in one of the most innovative companies in ad tech.
Until next time, readers, keep safe. And have a great ad tech day.