BENlabs
BENlabs was a Los Angeles-based entertainment AI company that connected Fortune 500 brands to consumers through influencer marketing, product placement, music partnerships, and campaign measurement, using a custom-built creator-brand recommendation engine. The company ceased operations in April 2026.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1989
- HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What BENlabs does
BENlabs, legally BEN Group Inc., was an entertainment AI company that connected brands to consumers through influencer marketing, product placement, music partnerships, and campaign measurement services. Headquartered in Los Angeles and backed by Gates Ventures, the firm served Fortune 500 advertisers across consumer goods, entertainment, QSR, and technology, including KFC, General Mills, GM, Capcom, Frito-Lay, TikTok, Hulu, Disney, Estee Lauder, Dyson, Chime, and Carl's Jr. The company built a custom AI recommendation engine intended to match brands with creators and entertainment properties, supplemented by measurement services that quantified campaign performance.
The business operated primarily as a professional-services agency, monetizing campaign execution, licensing, and measurement engagements rather than a SaaS model. In October 2020, BENlabs expanded into the creator-tooling market through the acquisition of TubeBuddy, a YouTube optimization platform, which it later divested to GameSquare Holdings in February 2026 in exchange for 5 million shares of Series A-2 Preferred Stock. The company was founded in 1989 by Bill Gates and operated for approximately 37 years before winding down in April 2026 after Gates Ventures withdrew funding following the company's failure to meet post-2024 profitability targets. CEO Ted Sheffield departed in January 2026 with no successor named, and the firm ceased operations several months later.
BENlabs firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- BENlabs
- Legal name
- BEN Group Inc.
- Website
- https://ben.productplacement.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1989
- Operating status
- Closed
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- BENlabs was a Los Angeles-based entertainment AI company that connected Fortune 500 brands to consumers through influencer marketing, product placement, music partnerships, and campaign measurement, using a custom-built creator-brand recommendation engine. The company ceased operations in April 2026.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
BENlabs industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Entertainment Marketing Services
- NAICS
- Advertising Agencies (541810)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- B2B/ABM Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- B2B / Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Strategy Consulting (MPAAAFAM)
Keywords
Where BENlabs is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Los Angeles
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
BENlabs business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Product Placement Services: Seamlessly integrating brands into movies, TV shows, streaming content, and music videos through strategic product placements with measurable ROI and full-funnel measurement capabilities
- Influencer Marketing: Connecting brands with influential content creators for high-impact collaborations, utilizing data-driven matching of brands with creators, platforms, and messaging based on audience analysis
- Music Partnerships: Branded moments in music videos, social media campaigns, artist collaborations, and concert activations through partnerships with record labels, artists, and managers
- Measurement Services: Full-funnel measurement for both influencer and product placement campaigns, providing quantifiable outcomes and performance analytics
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom enterprise solutions - Quote-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
BENlabs product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BENlabs is a B2B entertainment marketing agency that helps enterprise brands run product placement campaigns in film, TV, streaming, and music video content, influencer marketing collaborations across social platforms, and music partnerships with artists and record labels. The agency combines industry expertise with a custom-built AI platform to match brands with creators, content, and audiences and to deliver full-funnel measurement of campaign performance. Custom campaign solutions are delivered directly to brand clients under multi-year contracts.
Product overview
BENlabs is an entertainment marketing agency offering three core services: Product Placement (integrating brands into film, TV, streaming, and music video content), Influencer Marketing (connecting brands with content creators for social media collaborations), and Music Partnerships (branded placements with musical artists). Measurement Services support all three offerings with full-funnel analytics. The company also previously offered TubeBuddy, an AI-enabled creator platform for YouTube creators that has since been divested to GameSquare Holdings.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- TubeBuddy: AI-enabled software and workflow platform for YouTube creators providing SEO, analytics, and productivity tools serving over 10 million creators. Note: TubeBuddy was sold to GameSquare Holdings in February 2026.
Products and services
- Product Placement
Companies that use BENlabs
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
BENlabs technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature1 record
BENlabs partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- GameSquare HoldingsmajorGameSquare acquired TubeBuddy assets from BENlabs through an asset purchase agreement. GameSquare issued 5 million shares of Series A-2 Preferred Stock to BENlabs as consideration. The transaction included structural protections for BENlabs and expanded GameSquare's creator technology ecosystem with TubeBuddy's AI-enabled tools.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
BENlabs competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- CreatorIQ: Enterprise influencer marketing platform that helps brands discover, manage, and measure creator campaigns — directly comparable to BENlabs' data-driven influencer matching and full-funnel measurement offering.
- IZEA: Long-standing influencer marketing platform and marketplace connecting brands with creators across social platforms; competes head-to-head with BENlabs' influencer marketing and campaign-measurement services.
- Aspire (formerly AspireIQ): Influencer marketing platform focused on creator discovery, workflow, and analytics for mid-market and enterprise brands — directly overlapping with BENlabs' data-driven influencer campaign services (now part of Sprout Social).
- Captiv8: Influencer marketing platform offering creator discovery, fraud detection, and campaign measurement — a direct functional competitor to BENlabs' AI-driven brand-creator matching and ROI analytics.
- Influencer.com: Managed influencer marketing platform with proprietary tech for creator-brand matching and analytics, serving the same enterprise brand customer base as BENlabs.
- Grin: Creator-marketing platform for enterprise and DTC brands offering influencer CRM, content collection, and ROI measurement — comparable to BENlabs' data-driven campaign execution and measurement stack.
- United Entertainment Group: Entertainment-marketing agency specializing in celebrity, talent, and brand partnerships across film, TV, music, and sports — the closest direct competitor to BENlabs' product placement and music partnership business.
Broad incumbents
- Omnicom Group: Global advertising holding company (Omnicom, BBDO, DDB, FleishmanHillard) offering influencer, entertainment, and content marketing services at scale across enterprise clients that overlap with BENlabs' roster.
- WPP: World's largest advertising holding company with influencer, content, and media agencies (GroupM, Ogilvy, VMLY&R) operating across the same enterprise brand budgets that BENlabs targeted with entertainment marketing campaigns.
- Publicis Groupe: Global advertising holding group (Publicis, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Digitas) with significant creator-economy and influencer marketing capabilities competing for the same Fortune 500 entertainment-marketing budgets as BENlabs.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
BENlabs social profiles
Digital presenceBENlabs financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
BENlabs leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
BENlabs subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
BENlabs funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
BENlabs M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about BENlabs
What does BENlabs do?
BENlabs is a B2B entertainment marketing agency that helps enterprise brands run product placement campaigns in film, TV, streaming, and music video content, influencer marketing collaborations across social platforms, and music partnerships with artists and record labels. The agency combines industry expertise with a custom-built AI platform to match brands with creators, content, and audiences and to deliver full-funnel measurement of campaign performance. Custom campaign solutions are delivered directly to brand clients under multi-year contracts.
Is BENlabs a public or private company?
BENlabs is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently closed.
When was BENlabs founded?
BENlabs was founded in 1989. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is BENlabs based?
BENlabs is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.
How does BENlabs make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Product Placement Services are the primary driver. The others are influencer Marketing, music Partnerships and measurement Services.
Who are BENlabs's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are CreatorIQ, IZEA, Aspire (formerly AspireIQ), Captiv8, Influencer.com, Grin and United Entertainment Group. Broad incumbents are Omnicom Group, WPP and Publicis Groupe.
Does BENlabs have an API?
No public API is recorded for BENlabs.
What industry is BENlabs in?
BENlabs's product category is Entertainment Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAAAI, B2B/ABM Creative Agencies, with a secondary code of MPAAAFAM, B2B / Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Strategy Consulting. Its NAICS code is 541810 and its SIC code is 7311.