Publicis aquires Captiv8 to strengthen influencer marketing muscle

Publicis Groupe has acquired Captiv8, a leading influencer marketing technology platform, as part of its ongoing push to deepen capabilities in the fast-growing creator economy. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2015, Captiv8 offers tools for influencer campaign management, commerce integrations, and analytics. Its platform covers 95% of creators with over 5,000 followers across 120 countries, and processes more than 2.5 billion social media posts annually.

The move follows Publicis’ $500 million acquisition of Influential in July 2024, and marks another strategic step to build what the holding company is calling the “most powerful connected influencer platform” in the market.

A Two-Platform Strategy While Captiv8 and Influential will operate independently under the Connected Media division, both will integrate closely with Publicis' data powerhouse Epsilon via its CoreID identity platform. This linkage aims to enable robust, privacy-safe targeting, measurement, and optimization across influencer-led campaigns.

Captiv8 co-founder and CEO Krishna Subramanian and Influential CEO Ryan Detert will continue leading their respective companies.

“As two leaders in the influencer marketing space, together, we bring unrivaled expertise, innovation, and transformation for our clients,” said Detert. “We’re excited to co-author the future of global influencer marketing at Publicis.”

Together, the two platforms offer access to over 15 million creators, covering 95% of mid-tier influencers and 90% of top-tier creators (with more than 1 million followers), the company said.

Commerce-Driven Creator Campaigns Publicis also sees an edge in Captiv8’s commerce suite, which includes branded storefronts, affiliate integrations, and ROI tracking tools—all key to streamlining campaign execution across platforms and global markets.

“This platform is a one-stop-shop for our clients’ influencer marketing initiatives,” said Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun. “They can uniquely unite, plan, and optimize creator strategies that are brand fit, brand safe, with fully transparent measurement.”

Accelerating Acquisition Strategy Captiv8 marks the latest in a series of “bolt-on” acquisitions by Publicis this year. In March, the group bought data firm Lotame, followed by sports marketing agency Adopt in April. The company is aggressively scaling up its tech and data stack as influencer marketing spend continues to climb—U.S. spending alone is expected to hit $9.29 billion by 2025, per eMarketer.

Publicis has been on a strong new business run, winning 319 creative and media accounts globally in Q1 alone—more than any other holding company, according to consultancy R3. The new client wins are estimated to bring in $168 million in net new revenue.

Read More: Publicis acquires Adopt, a brand building company at the center of sport, athletes and culture