Leeds-headquartered performance marketing group Connective3 has secured growth investment from regional private equity firm Foresight Group to accelerate international expansion, invest further in its proprietary AI platform and pursue strategic acquisitions.
While the sum of the deal was not disclosed, the investment marks a significant milestone for one of the UK’s fastest-growing independent marketing groups, which employs more than 140 specialists across Leeds, Manchester and London and works with brands including HSBC, Adobe and Wren Kitchens.
The business, founded by Tim Grice, will use the investment from Foresight to expand internationally and accelerate its acquisition strategy, building a global marketing group ‘designed for the AI era’.
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At the heart of that vision is C3X, Connective3’s proprietary AI platform, which connects data, insight and activation across every marketing channel. By combining human expertise with intelligent technology, C3X is designed to help businesses to make faster, smarter marketing decisions, uncover new opportunities for growth and measure commercial impact with greater confidence.
Backed by Foresight, Connective3 will continue investing in C3X and build on its strategy of combining brand building, demand generation and performance marketing into a single connected offering.
Working in partnership with the management team, Foresight will provide strategic support and access to its wider network to help the business execute its growth strategy and capitalise on the opportunities created by AI.
Tim Grice, Group CEO of Connective3, said: “Marketing is changing faster than ever. The traditional divide between demand generation and performance marketing is disappearing, and AI is creating an opportunity to connect every part of the customer journey like never before. Our ambition is to build the world’s leading Demand + Performance marketing group, combining exceptional talent with proprietary technology to help ambitious businesses grow faster. Foresight shares that vision, and together we’re excited about what comes next.”
Vin Chinnaraja, Chairman of Connective3, added: “This investment marks the next chapter for Connective3. What Tim and the team have built — a genuinely connected approach to demand and performance, underpinned by proprietary AI — is rare in this market. Backed by Foresight, we now have the platform and the capital to take that globally.”
Tavia Sparks, Director at Foresight Group, also commented: “Connective3 is exactly the type of business we look to back at Foresight – a high-quality business led by an ambitious management team, with a strong track record and clear opportunities for growth. The team has developed a differentiated proposition that combines marketing expertise with proprietary technology, and we look forward to supporting the business as it continues to scale through investment in AI, international expansion and strategic acquisitions.”
Foresight is one of the UK and Ireland’s leading investors into growing companies. With more than a dozen offices around the UK and Ireland, its investment teams back promising, growing companies, providing equity or debt to meet the needs of founders and management teams wherever they are on their journey.
