The FreeThinking Group launches Freethinking Capital and invests in FirstPartyCapital

Freethinking Capital, the newly-launched investment arm of The Freethinking Group, has announced a strategic partnership with FirstPartyCapital (FPC), an early stage venture capital firm specialising in ad tech, martech, and digital media. This partnership, alongside a six-figure investment from Freethinking Capital into the FPC fund, aims to enable increased commercial opportunities and access to companies at the forefront of advertising and marketing technology.

Freethinking Capital was set up to invest in complementary and innovative businesses across the adtech and martech space, selecting the FirstPartyCapital fund as one of its investments. A key aim of the partnership is to connect companies within the FirstPartyCapital roster with brands under the wider Freethinking Group umbrella – such as Republic of Media, Numodo and intelligence22. For example, Lumen, an attention technology company, part of FirstPartyCapital’s investment portfolio, is opening up attention based opportunities for clients of The Freethinking Group, while Good-Loop, another FPC portfolio company, have helped Republic of Media client Magners Cider deliver purposeful outcomes.

Simon Crunden, CEO of The Freethinking Group, commented: “This partnership is all about supercharging growth and nurturing connections. The combination of investment and collaboration is going to help more of our clients and brands gain access to the tech and talent that FirstPartyCapital has cultivated within its portfolio. We are always looking for ways to better optimise our client’s media investments, and this partnership allows us to be as efficient as possible. As we advance beyond our initial investment, we’re excited to explore the potential opportunities within media optimisation and solutions for the post-cookie era.”

Rory Paterson, non-executive board member of The Freethinking Group, commented: “Our vision for Freethinking Capital is complimentary growth and diversification for the group, fuelled by connecting our entrepreneurial client base with innovative companies, including those in adtech and martech. Rich, Kevin and Ciaran at FirstPartyCapital have built an attractive niche fund, with the ability to double down on the most appropriate opportunities for our portfolio. We look forward to bringing their offering to our clients and our network to theirs, supporting innovation and growth across the sector.”

Rich Ashton, managing partner at FirstPartyCapital, commented: “Welcoming Freethinking Capital as a strategic corporate investor into the FPC fund brings not only capital, but access to new commercial opportunities for our portfolio. By tapping into The Freethinking Group’s media and programmatic expertise, we’re already seeing how these benefits are playing out for the likes of Lumen, Good-Loop and Lightbox, and we look forward to further collaboration in the future.”

FirstPartyCapital has already raised $13M and invested in 16 companies since it was founded in 2021. Approximately £5M (6.35M) in funding has been provided to eleven UK startups such as Lumen, Good-loop, and Evorra. The firm's aim is to complete 20 investments and have $15M AUM for its first fund, before seeking to launch a $50M second fund towards the end of 2024.