I’m excited to announce a significant investment in Alloy through Purpose Group, a fund I’m involved with along with Jeff Hilimire and David Cummings.
Why is this investment meaningful to me and Alloy’s vision and mission?
Fueling organic and corporate growth
Let me start with the latter. Alloy was formed two years ago (2022) with the acquisition of AR|PR (founded by Anna Ruth Williams in 2012), one of the best integrated tech PR and performance marketing agencies. In 2023, we added Narwhal Digital (co-founded by Jennifer Ready in 2014), an incredibly talented creative, branding, and digital CX agency. To our name, “Alloy” (combining elements together) and our vision, we bring problem solvers and idea makers together in new and collaborative ways in order to shift brand expectations and break the marketing agency model for good.
By bringing Alloy and Purpose Group together, we are able to invest continually in Alloy’s vision by adding additional talent/capabilities both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Unlike traditional agencies, Alloy’s solutions cover the full spectrum of marketing needs — from PR and comms to brand and digital — giving clients (tech brands and large non-profits) a leg up with greater alignment across the entire business and user journey.
This is also a win-win for Purpose Group and its investors. Alloy’s focus on culture and leadership transparency aligns with Purpose Group's business and cultural philosophies centered around the Purpose Playbook. Alloy becomes the second portfolio company within the fund, bringing an incredible management team and talent.
Coming full circle
As it relates to the significance to me personally, this brings my career and friendship full circle to the very beginning. In 1996 (28 years ago), I arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an eager exchange student from the UK and met my roommate, Jeff Hilimire. I didn’t know it then, but a few years later at the age of 22, we co-founded our first agency, Spunlogic, right out of our dorm, which later became Engauge (exited in 2013). Fast forward to 2024, Jeff and I are reuniting in business, and our friendship and trust continues to be as strong as it was at the beginning. It’s not often old friends find the opportunity to build a business together. The beauty of this partnership is that Jeff and I have both had success together and separately, but we both know together, we are even stronger. We also know that this isn’t just about our journey; we’ve both been fortunate throughout our careers to have incredible talent, leaders and advisors build incredible companies alongside us.
Alloy’s DNA and passion come from and continue to be fueled by our female founders - Anna Ruth Williams (founder of ARPR) and Jennifer Ready (co-founder of Narwhal) - who, along with the management team and our incredible people, really make Alloy an incredible place that does fantastic work.
Equally, Purpose Group fund wouldn’t be here without investors and advisors like David Cummings, Ken Bernhardt, Sanjay Parekh, Kyle Porter, Rob Forman, Ashish Thakur, Fred Castellucci, Jonathan Morgan, Kashi Sehgal, Bharath Parthasarathy (BP), and many more including myself (investor as well). David Cummings and Ken Bernhardt specifically have known Jeff and me from the early days of Spunlogic (2003); they’ve both been incredible advisors, champions and friends to us. Both Jeff and I wouldn’t be where we are today without them, along with all the folks above and the incredible talent that we’ve been fortunate to work with throughout our careers.
Friendships, trust and a joint purpose can last a lifetime. I’m truly excited to bring Alloy and Purpose Group together.