What Verb Brands does

Croud is an independent global media, creative, and data agency founded in 2011 and headquartered in London, with additional offices in Shrewsbury, New York, Atlanta and Dubai. It combines a 600+ in-house digital team with a proprietary on-demand network of more than 2,900 "Croudie" specialists operating across 118 markets and 60+ languages, serving enterprise brand clients across retail, fashion, financial services, technology, mobility, FMCG and entertainment — including Amazon Music, Audible, Coach, Vans, The North Face, UGG, Skechers, Ford, Barclays, MongoDB, Selfridges, Timberland, BritBox, Skillshare and Guinness.

The company's core technology is CroudOS, a proprietary platform that powers a suite of productized offerings organized around the client lifecycle: the Audience Suite (BrandCI), Creative Suite (CreativeCI), Media Suite (SEOCI / DarwinCI) and Commerce Suite (FeedCI), supported by analytics modules such as AttributionGeni and MediaGeni, and an AI-search visibility product called SearchAnywhere. CroudOS is what allows in-house strategists and network specialists to be coordinated as a single delivery system, and the platform is reinforced by ISO 27001 certification and the firm's 2025 Campaign Global Independent Media Agency of the Year recognition.

Croud monetizes through agency revenue streams: media planning and buying commissions, creative production fees, and bespoke data and technology services for enterprise clients. The Croudie network functions as a variable-cost delivery layer, giving the firm margin leverage and geographic reach that pure in-house agencies cannot match, while CroudOS provides recurring technology economics on top of the underlying services revenue.

Name

Verb Brands

Legal name

Croud Inc Ltd.

Website

https://verbbrands.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Croud is an independent global media, creative, and data agency combining 600+ in-house digital experts with a 2,900+ specialist network across 118 markets, serving enterprise brands with media, creative, commerce, and data services delivered through its proprietary CroudOS platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Media Buying Agencies (54183), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

CRM Strategy & Consulting (BPAFAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

CRM Data Quality, Enrichment & CDP-Adjacent CRM (HDAEAFAJ)

Keywords

• Digital marketing services
• Media planning buying
• Creative advertising
• Commerce optimization
• Audience targeting

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Integrated Marketing Services: Full-service digital marketing agency providing integrated marketing solutions including audience targeting, creative services, media buying, and commerce optimization. Revenue generated through professional service fees for strategy, planning, and execution across digital channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Croud is an independent global media, creative, and data agency that delivers integrated marketing solutions through four core service suites — Audience Suite (BrandCI), Creative Suite (CreativeCI), Media Suite (SEOCI), and Commerce Suite (FeedCI) — powered by the proprietary CroudOS technology platform and a global on-demand network of 2,900+ digital specialists spanning 118 markets.

Product overview

Croud is an independent global media, creative, and data agency offering integrated marketing solutions through four core service suites: Audience Suite (powered by BrandCI), Creative Suite (powered by CreativeCI), Media Suite (powered by SEOCI), and Commerce Suite (powered by FeedCI). These are delivered through the proprietary CroudOS technology platform and supported by a global Croudie network of 2,900+ on-demand specialists. The company employs 600+ in-house digital experts across offices in London, Shrewsbury, New York, Atlanta, and Dubai. Croud's approach combines AI-powered intelligence across strategy, media, creative, and data with a unique hybrid model of internal teams and external specialist network.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BrandCI: Audience intelligence platform powering the Audience Suite
• CreativeCI
• DarwinCI / SEOCI
• FeedCI
• CroudOS
• Croudie Network
• Born Social
• Croud Luxe

Products and services

• Audience Suite AI-powered audience identification and targeting service powered by BrandCI, delivering precision targeting to focus on highest-value customers using predictive intent models and proprietary segmentation. For enterprise and mid-market brands seeking higher ROI from marketing spend.
• Creative Suite AI-driven creative development and optimization service powered by CreativeCI, using pre-launch scoring to predict emotional and brand impact, with automated iteration capabilities. Designed for brands needing measurable creative performance.
• Media Suite Media buying and optimization service powered by SEOCI (formerly DarwinCI), featuring machine learning optimizations for daily spend adjustment and cross-channel attribution. For brands seeking sustained, compounding media returns.
• Commerce Suite AI-powered e-commerce acceleration service powered by FeedCI, optimizing conversion velocity, margin performance, and platform integrations for marketplace and product feed management. Built for e-commerce brands seeking profit-optimized growth.
• BrandCI Proprietary AI technology powering the Audience Suite for audience quality scoring, predictive intent modeling, and proprietary segmentation. Offered as a standalone AI audience capability.
• CreativeCI Proprietary AI technology powering the Creative Suite for platform fit optimization, message resonance scoring, and automated creative iteration.
• SEOCI Proprietary search engine optimization technology powering the Media Suite (formerly DarwinCI), delivering organic performance and AI/LLM search visibility.
• FeedCI Proprietary product feed optimization technology powering the Commerce Suite for conversion velocity, margin optimization, and marketplace integration.
• CroudOS Proprietary technology platform powering client delivery through Croud Intelligence (CI) products including BrandCI, CreativeCI, SEOCI, and FeedCI. Enables integrated intelligence across all four service suites.
• Croud Luxe Wholly-owned luxury marketing specialist subsidiary of Croud, serving luxury and premium brands with integrated marketing services.
• Born Social Wholly-owned social-first agency subsidiary of Croud, providing social media marketing services for brands.
• Croud Atlanta (formerly Vert Digital) Wholly-owned North American subsidiary of Croud, providing website design and development, CRM, email marketing, paid media, and organic social strategy services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 55% increase in enquiries, 15% decrease in cost per enquiry, 53% increase in revenue for IWG
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration20 records

AI capability7 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GooglecoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership for Google Workspace, Office 365, Google Cloud Platform, Google Analytics, Google AdWords, Google Marketing Platform technologies, Google Tag Manager, and YouTube integration for advertising and measurement
• HubSpotcoreTechnology or IntegrationCRM and marketing automation partnership for client account management and marketing/prospecting activity
• Amazon Web ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure provider for hosting and data processing capabilities
• Meta (Facebook/Instagram)coreTechnology or IntegrationAdvertising partnership for paid social campaigns and measurement across Facebook and Instagram platforms
• LinkedIncoreTechnology or IntegrationProfessional advertising and B2B marketing partnership for LinkedIn Ads and recruiting
• ISBAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry body partnership; Croud's Chief Growth Officer James Wilde participated in ISBA-hosted panel discussions on AI impact on search and procurement

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Brainlabs: Performance-focused digital media agency combining data science with media buying. Closely comparable to Croud's Media Suite / SEOCI proposition and its enterprise performance marketing customer segment.
• Dept Agency: Independent global digital agency offering end-to-end creative, media, and technology services. Comparable to Croud as a like-sized independent competing for the same enterprise clients with integrated capabilities and proprietary tech tools.
• KINESSO: IPG Mediabrands performance marketing arm focused on data-driven media, SEO, and commerce. Comparable to Croud on AI-driven media optimization, commerce/feed management, and enterprise customer targeting.
• Assembly: Stagwell-owned performance and brand agency offering media, creative, and commerce services to enterprise clients. Comparable to Croud's integrated agency model and global enterprise client base.
• Born Group (now Croud subsidiary — historical peer): Born Social is now a wholly owned Croud subsidiary (social-first agency). Listed for context as the closest in-network comparable operating under Croud's umbrella, demonstrating internal peer dynamics.
• Rise (Quad): Performance marketing agency, now part of Quad, specializing in paid media, programmatic, and analytics. Directly comparable to Croud on media buying, analytics, and enterprise client focus.
• Jellyfish: Global digital marketing agency owned by Brandtech Group, offering media, creative, and data services to enterprise brands. Highly comparable to Croud in target market (enterprise multi-market brands), service breadth (paid media, creative, analytics), and proprietary tech enablement.

Broad incumbents

• WPP (GroupM / Wavemaker): World's largest advertising holding company; WPP-owned agencies (Wavemaker, Mindshare, GroupM) compete with Croud for enterprise media and creative mandates but as part of a vastly larger portfolio of services.
• iProspect: Dentsu's global digital performance agency focused on paid media, SEO, and content. Comparable as a broader incumbent operating in the same digital media buying and performance space as Croud.
• Merkle: Dentsu's data-driven customer experience agency combining CRM, analytics, and media. Comparable to Croud on the data/audience/CRM-influenced side, though as part of a much larger Dentsu portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/croud
• Xx.com/verbbrands

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Verb Brands