What Courage does

Courage Inc. is a fully independent, owner-operated creative advertising agency headquartered in Toronto with a second office in Montr\u00e9al. Founded in 2022 by Chief Creative Officers Dhaval Bhatt and Joel Holtby, the firm provides integrated creative services spanning campaign development, brand strategy, content creation, and production for enterprise clients across quick-service restaurants (KFC Canada), confectionery (KitKat / Nestl\u00e9), beauty (Sephora), home improvement retail (RONA), financial services (CIBC), airlines (Air Transat), and food delivery (SKIP). Its positioning centers on bold, culture-first creative with reactive-marketing capabilities demonstrated through campaigns such as the KitKat Windows Break response to the July 2024 global IT outage and KFC\u2019s Hockey Smile initiative. The leadership team includes approximately nine partners and senior executives across both offices, including President Niki Sahni, Chief Strategy Officer Tom Kenny, Executive Producer Clair Galea, and the Montr\u00e9al-based partner group (Marilou Aubin, Maxime Sauté, Rafik Belmesk, and Managing Director Ariane Poitras). The firm has no disclosed external investors, no parent company, and no funding rounds on record, retaining full owner-operator independence.

Courage monetizes through professional-services fees on a project-based and retainer-driven model, with pricing quoted per engagement and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is sales-led and direct, with new business directed via a dedicated email channel and through industry presence and earned media from award-winning work. The agency distributes exclusively through direct enterprise relationships\u2014there are no marketplace listings, resellers, or self-serve channels. Brand-building marketing is conducted through PR and earned media (coverage in Campaign Canada, LBBOnline, The Star, CBC, Fast Company), organic social on LinkedIn and Instagram, a detailed case-study portfolio at courageinc.com, and direct outreach. No AI/ML capabilities, proprietary technology platforms, APIs, SDKs, or patents are disclosed; production and creative execution are delivered by the partner-led human talent base.

The company is best understood as a top-tier Canadian independent creative shop that has compressed what is typically a 5\u201310-year industry recognition curve into roughly three years, evidenced by Cannes Lions Top 20 Global Independent Agency, AdAge A-List 2026, Creative Agency of the Year in both 2025 and 2026, ANDY Best New Agency 2025, and Effie Most Awarded Independent 2024. Its core operating risk is client concentration among a small set of enterprise anchors, while its core growth lever is the Montr\u00e9al expansion and continued cross-vertical enterprise wins funded entirely by operating cash flow.

Name

Courage

Legal name

Courage Inc.

Website

https://courageinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Courage Inc. is an independent, owner-operated Canadian creative advertising agency founded in 2022, serving enterprise clients including KFC Canada, KitKat, Sephora, CIBC, RONA, Air Transat, and SKIP across Toronto and Montr\u00e9al offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Courage generates revenue through professional services fees for creative advertising work, including campaign development, brand strategy, content creation, and production services for enterprise clients. Revenue is project-based and retainer-driven for ongoing client relationships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Courage is a fully independent, owner-operated creative advertising agency that develops integrated marketing campaigns, brand strategy, and creative content for enterprise clients. The agency delivers bold, culture-first creative work including reactive marketing, celebrity partnerships, and viral campaign execution for brands such as KFC, KitKat, Sephora, CIBC, Air Transat, RONA, and SKIP.

Product overview

Courage is a fully independent, owner-operated creative advertising agency founded in 2022 by Dhaval Bhatt and Joel Holtby. The agency provides integrated creative services spanning campaign development, brand strategy, and marketing creative across multiple client brands including KFC, KitKat, Sephora, Air Transat, RONA, SKIP, and CIBC. The agency operates from Toronto and Montréal locations with a leadership team of approximately 10 partners and executives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Creative Advertising Services Full-service creative advertising agency providing campaign development, brand strategy, and marketing creative for enterprise clients including KFC Canada, KitKat, Sephora, Air Transat, RONA, SKIP, and CIBC. Services include creative campaign development, brand strategy, content creation, production, and execution of culture-first marketing initiatives.

Quantifiable outcome

• KitKat Windows Break campaign captured worldwide attention as first brand to respond to July 19, 2024 global IT outage
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 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

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Rethink: Rethink is a large independent Canadian creative agency headquartered in Vancouver with Toronto and Montréal offices. It is a direct peer to Courage — both are independent, owner-operated Canadian shops competing for the same enterprise CPG, retail, and financial services clients with culture-led creative work and shared Cannes Lions / Strategy award recognition.
• Sid Lee: Sid Lee is a Montréal-headquartered independent creative agency (now part of kyu/Hakuhodo) with offices in Toronto, Los Angeles, and Paris. It is a direct peer to Courage — both are Montreal-rooted independent creative shops known for cultural and design-driven work for enterprise brands, and they directly compete for Quebec-based clients like Bell, Hydro-Québec, and Tourisme Montréal.
• Anomaly: Anomaly is an independent creative agency with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, and Shanghai. It is a direct peer to Courage — both operate as independent alternatives to holding-company networks serving enterprise CPG and consumer brands, with the Toronto office providing direct head-to-head competition for Courage in the Canadian market.
• Gut: Gut is an independent creative agency founded in Buenos Aires with offices in Miami, Mexico City, São Paulo, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Madrid. It is a direct peer to Courage — both are independent, founder-led shops known for culture-driven, award-winning creative, and the Gut Toronto office directly competes with Courage for Canadian enterprise clients.
• 72andSunny: 72andSunny is a globally recognized independent creative agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Amsterdam. It is a direct peer to Courage — both are culture-first independent shops that built their reputations on bold, attention-grabbing campaigns for major enterprise brands, with comparable Cannes Lions and D&AD award profiles.
• lg2: lg2 is one of the largest independent creative agencies in Canada, with offices in Montréal, Quebec City, Toronto, and Trois-Rivières. It is a direct peer to Courage — both are independent Quebec-rooted shops competing for major Canadian enterprise brands (banks, CPG, QSR), and lg2's deep Montréal bench overlaps directly with Courage's newly launched Montréal operation.
• Taxi: Taxi is a long-standing independent Canadian creative agency with offices in Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver. It is a direct peer to Courage — both compete for major Canadian enterprise brands (banks, telcos, CPG) and operate a similar full-service creative model with comparable headcount and Canadian geographic footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Wieden+Kennedy: Wieden+Kennedy is one of the largest independent creative agencies globally, headquartered in Portland with offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Delhi, São Paulo, and other markets. It is a broad incumbent peer to Courage — both are independent culture-led creative shops, but W+K operates at significantly larger global scale and competes for the same multinational brand mandates Courage is trying to grow into.
• Droga5: Droga5 (now part of Accenture Song) is a globally recognized creative agency headquartered in New York. It is a broad incumbent peer to Courage — both pursue culture-first, award-winning creative for major enterprise brands, but Droga5 operates at substantially larger scale with broader global footprint and competes for the same Fortune 500 clients Courage serves in Canada.
• The Martin Agency: The Martin Agency (now part of dentsu) is a Richmond, Virginia-based creative agency historically known for breakthrough work for major enterprise brands including Geico, OREO, and Walmart. It is a broad incumbent peer to Courage — both built reputations on culturally resonant, award-winning creative for enterprise clients, though Martin operates at larger scale and longer history.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/courage-ideas
• Instagraminstagram.com/courageideas
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Courage