AI startup Rembrandt, which uses generator AI to insert virtual products into social and CTV ADS, has acquired a joint venture to acquire the US business of Mirriad, a 19-year-old company known for placing brand objects in premium television and movie scenes using traditional visual effects.
The deal, which closed at the end of June, was Renbrand's first acquisition. Founded in 2022, the startup raised $23 million in the Series A round earlier this year. The financial conditions for the transaction have not been disclosed.
According to CEO Omar Tawakol, the deal already brings new business for Lenbrand, but he refused to elaborate.
The acquisition demonstrates the maturity of Lenbrand's AI-powered product placement strategy, expanding its customer base to Hollywood and absorbing Mirriad's US team. Mirriad approaches the placement of the product a little differently, negotiating a few months ago, placing soda cans at the kitchen counter, for example, a few years before the show aired.
The deal is a bit unusual in that a young AI native startup has acquired a legacy player, nearly 20 years old. But it also reflects a wider change in the media and advertising landscape. There, longtime companies built on traditional visual effects are being remodeled or absorbed by new companies deploying new technologies such as AI agents.
Tickets to Hollywood
Mirriad will be licensing deep media relations and access to titles like Modern Family, with its technology winning an Academy Award for its work on Black Swan.
“It's their roots, their films, and their beautiful VFX, and our roots are very different,” Tawakol said. “We have thousands of influencers working with us, [Mirriad] There were dozens of high-end films and television producers, and that's the area we want to break into. ”
Mirriad's US business allows Renbrand to leverage existing large-scale media transactions without the need to build large-scale Salesforce. The deal allows Rembrandt to insert AI products into television shows and provide these clips as part of a programmatic advertising campaign. This is a step up from the traditional use cases of influencer and CTV advertising. In June, the company began working with the Trade Desk to expand its reach of its programmatic channels.
