• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 10, 2024

Co-founders Quentin Le Pape and Guillaume Le Pape have returned to the mobile marketing tech company Mobkoi, owned by The Brandtech Group to serve as co-CEOs.

The company, which turns 10 years old this year, will launch a set of tools based on generative artificial intelligence (GAI) for brands and publishers.

The announcement was made Wednesday as the company unveiled an AI-based leadership team to spearhead growth and expand outside of the digital media space to offer services and solutions for a wider range of marketing activities.

“We feel AI can help us accelerate our mission to deliver better, faster and cheaper quality mobile advertising,” Quentin Le Pape wrote in an email to Media Daily News. “It was important for us to lead this next stage of the business.”

"Mob" in the name Mobkoi represents mobile, and "koi" represents the Japanese Carp symbol of strength of character and perseverance.

The company was founded in 2014 to target the luxury sector, and went from zero to $8.5 million in revenue within three years. The Brandtech Group, formery You & Mr. Jones, acquired the company in 2017.

Now Mobkoi's team works closely with colleagues at sister company Pencil, known for its GAI marketing platform, to create two products it plans to release later this year. The GAI tools will answer two of the biggest challenges in media advertising — supporting predictive performance and GAI-based creative.

The new team draws talent from Netflix and Teads, and comprises new positions and replacements. Fabio Corona joins the company as COO. He previously served at ad-tech businesses Ogury and Teads. Corona replaces Bernie Fischer, who becomes chief of staff in 2025, when she returns from maternity leave.

Paolo Mule, joining from vice president of strategic accounts at Teads, becomes CRO. Levent Gunes, former Netflix head of creative partnerships, steps into the role of CFO. He had served as CEO at Havas in Southeast Asia and North Asia. Gunes replaces Elizabeth Hunter, who has relocated to Bermuda.

The team will work with brands and publishers on AI pilots this year and to develop further tools for 2025. For years it has worked with major publishers such as Hearst, and Bustle.

“The industry stands at the start of a transformative journey,” Quentin Le Pape wrote. “What we do will become a creative revolution.”

Mobkoi, a family business, has never needed to raise capital based on its “hyper-growth since launch,” which is something Quentin Le Pape believes few brands and clients actually know.