Studiospace raises £1.5m from Fuel Ventures to help it grow

Studiospace connects major brands with independent, specialist agencies in the creative, digital and marketing arenas through its smart platform.

Since launching in January, the business has signed up major brands including Aviva, Jaguar Land Rover, Gala Games and AXA.

The company has also recruited more than 100 independent agencies spread across 12 countries and 36 cities.

"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,” said Studiospace co-founder and CEO, Peter Sayburn.

“As a result, hiring agencies often involves a beauty parade of well known names grabbing all the best briefs. This era needs to come to an end and Studiospace has the tech to achieve that.”

Mr Sayburn was previously the founder and CEO of innovation company Market Gravity which he and his team grew to more than 100 people before exiting to Deloitte Digital in 2017.

He has rejoined his former Market Gravity colleagues - Gideon Hyde, Robin Scarborough, Phil Kohler and Paul Bowman - with the intention of developing another fast growth business.

He said: “We saw a chance to disrupt the marketing industry and went for it. It took us 10 years to grow Market Gravity before sale. But with this business, we are aiming for super fast growth. In the past eight months, we’ve brought 2000 agency staff into our network.”

Shiv Patel, investment director at Fuel Ventures, which is run by serial entrepreneur Mark Pearson, said Studiospace’s rapid growth since founding was of major appeal.

"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.

"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.”

The investment will be used to expand 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.