• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 20, 2017

WPP digital and CRM agency Wunderman has entered into a partnership with startup incubator and accelerator firm Founders Factory. 

Wunderman said the agreement provides its clients with early access to promising startups and access to the Founders Factory system for identifying and partnering with entrepreneurial talent. 

Founders Factory has backing from a half-dozen major companies including L’Oréal, Aviva, EasyJet, China’s CSC Group, Holtzbrinck and Guardian Media Group. The firms work with FF to identify opportunities for startups within their respective sectors -- Beauty, Financial Technology, Travel, AI, Education and Media. 

Under the partnership, Wunderman will be able to put to work some of those startups and their innovations for its clients. Wunderman, in turn, will work to help FF reach its goal to build and scale 200 new businesses over five years. 

Mark Read, Wunderman’s global CEO, stated: “Growth is our clients’ top priority and that depends on innovation. Now we can help them innovate, not just in their digital marketing, but by working with Founders Factory's global ecosystem of promising young startups and, in return, help these startups build their businesses for the future.” 

FF was founded by investor/entrepreneurs Brent Hoberman and Henry Lane Fox. It evolved out of an invite-only forum Hoberman established a decade ago, where entrepreneurs would (and still do) gather to discuss next new things and how tech innovations will shape the future. 

Lane Fox, Founders Factory CEO, stated: “Founders Factory was developed to tackle a common problem within big business -- how to innovate internally… Wunderman and their clients will not only provide expert marketing advice but also numerous commercial opportunities for our startups.” 

The Founders Factory portfolio of start-ups cover new technologies spanning artificial intelligence, new content creation methodologies, blockchain and ecommerce solutions. 

Some of the startups Founders Factory has worked with so far include: 

Vidsy, a self-serve platform for brands to commission and distribute video content from a community of 1,500 film-makers. It recently became official Facebook and Snapchat marketing partners and won an Instagram Partner Innovation Award at Cannes Lions this year.  

Flourish, which allows brands to connect multiple live data feeds and create complex data visualizations. 

People.io, a data rewards app that allows people to extract value from their personal data in exchange for credits.