In my mid-twenties, fresh from university and having worked for BBC World Service and the Times of India, I embarked on a journey to start a company called Startup Intelligence. My initial foray into the entrepreneurial world was sparked when a promising magazine startup, dedicated to early stage companies, unfortunately ran out of funds. Seeing the potential in the idea, I decided to breathe life into it through Startup Intelligence.
Startup Intelligence began with a team of graduate journalists writing insightful reports on exciting startups worldwide. Our clientele included renowned names like IBM Ventures, Google Ventures, UKTI, and various VC firms. All our work was manual, compiling reports on, for example, the top ten machine-to-machine communication startups in Mexico.
A crucial turning point arrived when I met Prash, a military computer scientist working in BAE Systems, adept at using AI for tracking submarines using passive sonar. Inspired by this, we thought of applying the same concept to “listen” to the digital signals emitted by companies. With the demand from our clients to sell to the companies we identified, we pivoted and transformed our operation, turning Startup Intelligence into Growth Intelligence. With a team of engineers and data scientists, we shifted from a magazine to a software company, supporting businesses with telemarketing services.
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic altered the business landscape significantly. Telemarketing teams were furloughed, and we lost our client base as companies halted operations. However, every challenge presents an opportunity. Prash and I founded Adzact, a new venture, during this tumultuous time.
Adzact is the product of ten years of accumulated business intelligence, coupled with the resilience to adapt and transform. We managed to secure new investment, buy out previous investors, and acquire all the intellectual property and technology from Growth Intelligence. With these assets, we developed a B2B ad platform that is both innovative and ground-breaking.
Our platform is powered by unique and intricate data on every business in the US and UK, providing insights that range from employment demographics to the extent of a company’s focus on sustainability. We track minute details like the color of manhole covers on-site, indicating their engagement with hazardous liquid waste. Our technology analyzes cloud transition, website security, and the type of CRM systems in use.
We use semantic AI to analyze global shipping manifests, deducing patterns and potential industrial processes, thus identifying prospective business opportunities. Our model functions similarly to Facebook’s lookalike audience targeting; existing clients’ data is analyzed by our machine learning system to find patterns that distinguish potential buyers.
Adzact’s detailed and nuanced data provides more accurate ad targeting than traditional platforms. We ensure that our clients advertise to only those businesses that are likely to convert, thereby reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
While Silicon Valley is currently heavily investing in third-party intent platforms, we believe our model caters more broadly to B2B marketers. We don’t restrict our focus to helping you market to the top 500 businesses in the economy; we aim to assist marketers selling to the bulk of the economy, who might not know their total addressable market today.
The results of our innovative approach are tangible. Just Eat for Business, for example, has seen three times the return on ad spend through Adzact, while Vitality Health Insurance has witnessed a three-fold increase in conversion rates from lead to sale. In an industry growing as rapidly as B2B digital advertising, with its market size ballooning from 6 billion in 2019 to 14 billion in 2022, Adzact’s ability to generate quality leads and cut out waste stands out as a game-changer.
– Tom Gatten, CEO