• by Larissa Faw , March 6, 2015

When r2integrated (r2i) received financial backing from Japan-based ORIX Mezzanine & Private Equity in December 2012, the investment was intended for use in mergers and acquisitions in order to grow and scale the full-service digital and technology agency. 

Now Baltimore-based r2i is spending some of those funds to acquire CatapultWorks, located in Campbell, CA. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Initially, the two agencies will be rebranded as r2i + CatapultWorks, but the acquired company will eventually evolve to become the r2i Silicon Valley office and will fold into the r2i brand.  R2i also has a full-service office in Seattle, as well as smaller outposts in St. Louis and New York.

Tom Beck, current CEO of CatapultWorks, will now become president of the Silicon Valley office, reporting to r2i CEO Matt Goddard.

The acquisition gives r2i the ability to scale strategic marketing service offerings and brings online and offline brand marketing and demand generation to a national client base of mid-tier, enterprise and Fortune 500 brands.

The CatapultWorks acquisition doubles r2i’s staff count to 200 and broadens the r2i service offering with robust creative/content and data management practices and a defined set of offline capabilities. R2i has typically focused on marketing technology and digital campaigns. 

“We share a belief in the power of technology and the execution of data-driven marketing campaigns,” says Matt Goddard, CEO of r2i. “Combining our services and teams gives us enormous leverage in what we can do for our clients and positions us as a very competitive, comprehensive agency for mid-tier and enterprise customers.” 

ORIX invested an initial $10 million in R2i with a plan to help build the agency into a $100 million operation. R2i is expected to announce additional acquisitions later this year.