Swash Labs

What Swash Labs does

Swash Labs is a privately held, founder-owned creative advertising agency established in April 2011 by Josh Berthume and headquartered in Denton, Texas. The firm offers a full-service suite of marketing capabilities including branding, web design and development, graphic design, strategy and research, digital advertising, digital risk mitigation, messaging, video production, and email marketing. It deliberately avoids vertical specialization, instead applying a "beginner's mind" approach to each engagement and serving a diverse mix of small and mid-sized businesses, nonprofits, political organizations, professional services firms, and select enterprise clients. Named clients span Little Guys Movers (16 franchise locations across 8 states), Asian American Advocacy Fund, Truman National Security Project, University of North Texas, UPC Insurance, Santander Bank, and Susan Smith Family Law, among roughly 30+ logos on the company website.

The agency operates fully remotely since March 2020, with team members distributed across Denton, Austin, Houston, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Sacramento. Its technology stack is built on mainstream CMS platforms (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, Shopify), collaborative tooling (Dropbox, Google Drive, Airtable, Teamwork), and communications platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet), supplemented by partner designations with Google, Microsoft, Squarespace, and CallRail. In January 2022 the agency adopted a four-day, 32-hour work week with staggered Monday/Friday schedules — an unusual operating model for a small agency. Headcount is approximately 15-20 named individuals across creative, account services, media planning, and operations roles.

Swash Labs generates revenue through fee-based professional services, with engagements purpose-built per client and priced via project scope or ongoing retainer arrangements. New clients are acquired through the company website contact form, direct outreach, referrals, and outbound business development led by a dedicated Business Development Officer. The company is entirely bootstrapped, with no disclosed external investment, private equity ownership, or funding rounds.

Name

Swash Labs

Legal name

Swash Labs

Website

https://swashlabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Swash Labs is a fully remote, founder-owned creative advertising agency founded in 2011 and headquartered in Denton, Texas. It provides branding, web development, digital advertising, video production, and strategy services to a diverse mix of SMBs, nonprofits, and select enterprise clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Advertising Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

CRM Strategy, Implementation & Managed Services (MPAAAIAD)

Keywords

• Creative advertising agency
• Digital marketing services
• Brand identity development
• Web design development
• Video production services

Headquarters

HQ city

Denton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Creative & Advertising Services: Swash Labs generates revenue by providing fee-based creative and strategic services to clients, including branding, web development, digital advertising, design, video production, messaging, email marketing, and strategy. Engagements are purpose-built and customized per client, with pricing typically based on project scope and ongoing retainer arrangements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Swash Labs is a creative advertising agency that provides customized, purpose-built branding, web development, graphic design, strategy and research, digital advertising, digital risk mitigation, messaging, video production, and email marketing services to small and mid-sized businesses, nonprofits, and multi-location brands nationwide. Engagements are tailored to each client and delivered by a fully remote team combining creative work with data-driven experimentation, with monthly Co-Lab Sessions for ongoing collaboration and reporting.

Product overview

Swash Labs is a creative advertising agency offering a comprehensive suite of marketing and advertising services. Rather than a unified software product, the agency operates as a service-based practice providing branding, web development, design, strategy and research, digital advertising, digital risk mitigation, messaging, video production, and email marketing services. The agency combines creativity with scientific experimentation and social science approaches to help businesses solve problems and tackle big ideas. Services are purpose-built for each client rather than offered as standardized packages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Branding Services Brand identity development including logo design, brand design guides, brand communications guides, and online identity management to build brand equity for client businesses and organizations.
• Web Development Website design and development using CMS platforms including Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, Webflow, and Shopify, with capabilities ranging from simple marketing sites to complex eCommerce solutions for client businesses.
• Design Services Graphic design services producing top-quality, on-brand visual assets including brochures, blog graphics, billboards, and other marketing materials for client campaigns.
• Strategy & Research Marketing strategy development and research services using a beginner's mind approach, customized for each client based on their specific business goals and target audiences.
• Digital Advertising Multi-platform digital advertising services including social media ads, search engine marketing, programmatic video, and digital spend reporting, with monthly Co-Lab Sessions for ongoing optimization.
• Digital Risk Mitigation Services helping clients manage digital risk, brand safety, and online reputation management.
• Messaging Services Brand messaging strategy development including message framing, tone and voice guidelines, and communications strategy aligned with brand identity.
• Video Production Video advertising production including motion graphics, animated logos, and full commercial production using Adobe After Effects for animation.
• Email Marketing Email marketing campaign development and management services for client audiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 10 years in business (since April 2011)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• GooglecoreTechnology or IntegrationSwash Labs is a certified Google Partner, indicating they have met Google's certification requirements for digital advertising proficiency. This partnership enables them to run Google Ads campaigns for clients with platform recognition and support.
• SquarespacecoreTechnology or IntegrationAs a Squarespace Circle member, Swash Labs leverages the Squarespace CMS platform to build client websites. Squarespace provides the platform infrastructure while Swash Labs provides implementation and creative services.
• DropboxcoreTechnology or IntegrationSwash Labs uses Dropbox as a core collaborative file storage and sharing tool across its fully remote team and with clients, enabling seamless collaboration on creative assets.
• Google DrivecoreTechnology or IntegrationSwash Labs uses Google Drive as a collaborative document and file management platform across its fully remote team, supporting real-time collaboration on client work.
• AirtablecoreTechnology or IntegrationSwash Labs uses Airtable as a collaborative tool for organizing and managing projects, workflows, and client data across the agency.
• TeamworkcoreTechnology or IntegrationSwash Labs uses Teamwork as its primary project management software to coordinate client projects, assign tasks, and track progress across the remote team.
• Zoom / Microsoft Teams / Google MeetcoreTechnology or IntegrationSwash Labs relies on video conferencing platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet to conduct internal collaboration and client meetings, including their monthly Co-Lab Sessions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• 3Headed Monster: Creative advertising agency based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area offering branding, content creation, and digital advertising to a regional SMB and mid-market client base, comparable in size and service mix to Swash Labs.
• Grit Marketing: Dallas-based digital marketing agency providing SEO, paid media, web design, and branding services to SMBs, similar in scale and Texas-market positioning to Swash Labs.
• Jives Media: San Francisco-based full-service digital marketing agency offering SEO, PPC, web design, and branding, comparable to Swash Labs in targeting SMB clients with customized, multi-channel engagements.
• Lounge Lizard: Long-standing digital agency offering web design, branding, SEO, and digital advertising to mid-market and enterprise clients; a comparable full-service creative agency with overlapping service lines.
• Brolik: Philadelphia-based digital agency providing branding, web design, video production, and digital marketing strategy, comparable to Swash Labs as a similarly sized full-service creative firm.
• Big Leap: Utah-based digital marketing agency offering SEO, content marketing, paid media, and web design to SMB and mid-market clients, similar in service depth and customization model to Swash Labs.
• Walker Sands: Chicago-based integrated marketing agency offering branding, digital, content, and PR services to B2B clients; slightly larger than Swash Labs but overlapping in digital advertising and creative services.
• Thrive Internet Marketing Agency: Dallas-based digital marketing agency providing web design, SEO, social media, and paid media to SMBs across diverse industries, very comparable in service mix and Texas-roots positioning.

Broad incumbents

• BarkleyOKRP: Established independent creative agency offering advertising, branding, digital, and media across consumer and B2B categories; a larger incumbent illustrating the scaled end of Swash Labs' competitive landscape.
• Croud: Global digital media and full-service marketing agency with a fully remote/distributed operating model; a useful comparator for how a remote-first agency can scale into larger enterprise engagements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SwashLabs
• Facebookfacebook.com/swashlabs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 Swash Labs