Emissaries

What Emissaries does

Emissaries is an Australian event and experiential staffing agency founded in 2024, headquartered in Sydney with operations across eight offices covering Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Darwin in Australia plus Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand. The company provides brand ambassadors, AV and technical specialists, hospitality staff, cosplay performers and mascot operators, and permanent recruitment services to brands, experiential agencies, and event organizers. It deliberately maintains a curated deployment roster of fewer than 1,000 members to ensure quality and engagement standards rather than scaling headcount aggressively.

Revenue is generated through three streams: hourly-rate temporary staffing (ranging from $60/hour for regular brand ambassador shifts to $122.50/hour for MCs on public holidays), a flat $5,000 fee per permanent placement, and specialized cosplay and mascot services including custom costume and prop creation. Go-to-market is event-driven, relying on direct client relationships and word-of-mouth referrals within the experiential marketing industry, with partnerships through agencies such as Rockstar Management and Andpeople functioning as a significant demand channel. Pricing is published transparently on the company website, with no management fees or hidden charges.

Emissaries operates as a pure human-powered services business with no proprietary technology platform, software products, APIs, or AI capabilities. The company is privately held, founder-owned, and bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding. Leadership comprises three co-founders: Chris Doxey (Chief Emissary/CEO), Mark West (Co-founder), and Ashley Homer (Chief Talent Officer).

Name

Emissaries

Legal name

Emissaries

Website

https://emissaries.agency

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Emissaries is a bootstrapped Australian event and experiential staffing agency operating across Australia and New Zealand, supplying brand ambassadors, AV specialists, hospitality staff, and cosplay performers to major brands and experiential agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Event Staffing Services

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Event Staffing & Brand Ambassadors (BPAFAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Ambassadors & Promotional Event Staff (HSACAEAE), Hospitality, Travel & Events Direct Hire (BPACAFAL), Event Staffing & Brand Ambassadors (Hosts, Greeters, Promoters) (THAHALAA)

Keywords

• Event staffing services
• Brand ambassador agency
• Experiential marketing staffing
• Hospitality staffing services
• Permanent recruitment agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Temporary Event Staffing: Hourly-rate staffing services providing brand ambassadors, conference staff, AV technicians, hospitality professionals, and event specialists for live events and activations.
2. Permanent Recruitment: Flat fee placement service for finding permanent full-time, part-time, or casual staff in events, hospitality, and retail industries. Flat fee of $5000 per full-time placement, pro-rated for part-time and casual positions.
3. Cosplay and Mascot Services: Custom costume and prop creation along with professional cosplay performers and mascot suit operators for brand activations, conventions, and events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Emissaries is a B2B event staffing agency that supplies brand ambassadors, conference hosts, AV/tech specialists, hospitality professionals (chefs, bar staff, mixologists), and cosplay/mascot performers to experiential agencies, brands, and event organizers across Australia and New Zealand. It also offers flat-fee permanent recruitment ($5,000 per full-time placement) drawing from its pre-vetted temporary staff pool. Pricing is transparent hourly (AUD $60–$122.50) with no management fees, and a price-beat guarantee for first-time clients.

Product overview

Emissaries is a service-based staffing agency, not a software platform. They offer five interconnected staffing services: Event Staff (technical AV, conference, supervisory roles), Brand Ambassadors (experiential activations and retail), Hospitality Staffing (food service and bar), Permanent Recruitment (full-service placement), and Cosplay/Mascot Services (character performers and costume creation). These services are sold as human-powered solutions with no software products, APIs, or digital platforms. Pricing is hourly-based with transparent rates published publicly.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Event Staff Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,000+ spins managed on record-breaking days for JD Sports activation
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Rockstar ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExperiential agency partner for major activations including LEGO at FIFA Women's World Cup, PlayStation @ JB Hi-Fi Mega Tech Show, and LEGO @ Melbourne Demons. Rockstar engages Emissaries as primary staffing partner for brand activations.
• AndpeoplecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative agency engaging Emissaries for JD Sports activations nationwide and eBay @ Comic-Con and eBay @ PAX. Andpeople creates experiential concepts and Emissaries provides on-ground staffing.
• FivebyFiveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExperiential agency partner for Lenovo @ Fortress Sydney gaming activation. FivebyFive conceptualized the LARP/cosplay experience and Emissaries provided specialized staffing.
• IMA GlobalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgency partner for Hisense Melbourne Central activation. IMA Global managed the campaign and Emissaries provided brand ambassadors and event staff.
• The ParkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgency representing CommBank for Socceroos activation at Accor Stadium. The Park engaged Emissaries for fan engagement and brand activation staffing.
• SUBVRTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgency partner for FC Clubhouse Sydney gaming event. SUBVRT produced the event and Emissaries provided technical and guest experience staffing.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sidekicker: Australian-founded on-demand staffing platform for hospitality, events, and retail. Directly comparable as an ANZ-based hourly staffing marketplace competing for the same brand-ambassador and event-staff engagements.
• Troop: Tech-enabled event and experiential staffing platform with a curated freelancer marketplace. Comparable in offering brand ambassadors and event staff for activations, but differentiated by a more software-led delivery model.
• AWOL Event Staffing: North American event staffing agency providing brand ambassadors, promotional models, and event staff for experiential marketing. Closely comparable service mix and customer profile (brands and agencies running live activations).
• PromoStaffing: US-based brand-ambassador and experiential staffing agency. Comparable in serving enterprise brands with hourly-rate event staff and brand ambassadors across product launches, conventions, and pop-ups.
• Extreme Group: ANZ-based experiential marketing and staffing agency offering brand activations and field marketing teams. Closely comparable as a regional experiential staffing peer serving similar brands and agencies.
• Mosaic Experiential: UK-based experiential staffing and brand-ambassador agency serving enterprise clients. Comparable service model and customer type, though operating in a different geography.
• Belong: Australian event and experiential staffing agency providing brand ambassadors and promotional staff for activations. Closely comparable regional peer competing for the same ANZ brand-activation briefs.

Broad incumbents

• MKTG (Dentsu): Global experiential marketing network within Dentsu, offering staffing as part of a wider live-experience portfolio. Comparable in serving enterprise brand activations but at much larger scale and as part of a full-service agency offering.
• Sparks: Global experiential marketing agency providing brand experiences, event staffing, and field marketing. Comparable in delivering staffed brand activations for enterprise clients but with broader agency capabilities.
• George P. Johnson: Large global experiential marketing agency with end-to-end event and activation services including staffing. Comparable in targeting enterprise experiential clients, though operating at significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/emissaries.au
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/emissariesau
• Instagraminstagram.com/emissaries.au

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Emissaries