Marketing VC fund Spacecadet Ventures has announced the launch of Spacecadet Studio, billed as an AI-native, “science-fiction-driven" creative company that’s designed to build brands. 

Agency veteran John McCarthy will lead the studio as CEO. McCarthy’s background includes serving as the first CMO of WPP-backed agency Johannes Leonardo. He also served as senior vice president of strategy at Y Media Labs, which was acquired by Stagwell’s Code and Theory in 2023. He also served as president-DDB West. 

Initial clients include two other Spacecadet Ventures-backed firms: Cytronic, a robotics fulfillment company that automates warehouse workflow, and K2 Space, described as the “next SpaceX competitor.” 

Two other charter clients: Autograph, a native AI biographer that helps people record their stories for future generations, and Lir Therapeutics, a pioneer in the field of AI-driven gene therapies. 

“Every breakthrough brand is science fiction that learned to speak the language of the present,” asserts McCarthy. “At Spacecadet we work with founders building impossible things—gene therapies, embodied intelligence, space infrastructure—because that's where the future of brand building is being written.” 

“Traditional [agency] models weren't built for this pace of change, and you can't rewire them fast enough. The future is at the frontier, where science fiction becomes reality. That's not where we visit. That's where we live.”  

Spacecadet Ventures was formed by Daniel Eckler and Wiz Abdulla in 2020 and has a portfolio of over 100 “frontier” tech companies.