Brainlabs snaps up indie influencer shop Fanbytes
Influencer marketing agency Fanbytes has been acquired by digital media agency Brainlabs for an undisclosed fee.
Brainlabs has acquired influencer agency Fanbytes / The Drum
Fanbytes was founded in 2017 by Timothy Armoo, Ambrose Cooke and Mitchell Fasanya as they studied at university. Over the next six years, the firm grew to employ 60 staff and bagged clients such as H&M, Samsung, Mattel and Nike.
Brainlabs is an independent, global media agency with 800 staff and offices in London, New York, Seattle, Manchester and Austin; it was ranked first in this year’s UK Digital Agency Census by industry peers. The company is backed by private equity firm Livingbridge.
According to Brainlabs’ global chief executive officer Daniel Gilbert, the acquisition is ”an essential piece of the jigsaw in our digital media offering.”
”Influencer marketing has rapidly become an integral part of the digital media mix, so to be able to offer it alongside our other capabilities under one roof is a huge advantage to our clients.”
Fanbytes will retain its brand and will provide Brainlabs’ influencer offering across the US, Latin America and Asia Pacific regions. It offers brands access to a database of 3 million influencers on TikTok and Instagram, and was the first UK agency to open a ’collab house’ in London, the Bytehouse.
Fanbytes’ chief executive Armoo said: “From day one, Fanbytes has been about more than just an ambition to fundamentally change how brands can speak to consumers (and vice versa); but always being one calculated step ahead in how we achieve that. From being first advocates of Snap and TikTok before the industry took either seriously, to literally inventing new ways for brands to use those channels, we’ve always carved our own path, and helped our clients carve theirs, and we’re excited to continue this with Brainlabs.
”Through Brainlabs’ global network we can supercharge what we do, bringing our technology, expertise and talent to an even bigger audience. We’ve also found a kindred spirit that shares similar ambitions.”
The agency operates the Fanbytes Impact Fund, a £250,000 investment scheme that aims to close the ethnicity pay gap among influencers.
In 2020, Fanbytes guest-edited The Drum’s magazine for an issue focusing on influencers and how marketers could learn from collab culture.