What If Media Group

Canaccord Genuity Advises AI-Driven Demand Generation Platform What If Media on its Significant Investment from Abry Partners

Canaccord Genuity is pleased to announce it has advised What If Media Group, which leverages its artificial intelligence-driven technology platform to drive digital demand generation for large advertisers in multiple verticals, on its significant investment from Abry Partners, a leading Boston-based private equity firm.
​​​​​​​ 
What If Media is an award-winning performance marketing company that generates significant new customer acquisition and revenue growth for advertisers through AI-driven, cookieless, proprietary media. The company has created a diverse, self-contained digital ecosystem comprised of 25 premium, owned and operated (“O&O”) multi-vertical web properties, internally-developed AI technology, and a suite of proprietary marketing automation tools that combine to deliver high-quality customer acquisition solutions at a massive scale. Through its O&O properties, What If Media generates approximately 500,000 user registrations per day, which has resulted in a massive self-declared, opt-in consumer database that is 100% CCPA and TCPA-compliant with no reliance on cookies or third-party data providers.

Leveraging its first-party data advantage, the company curates each consumer's digital experience, using that individual’s self-declared data and interests to create highly relevant advertiser offers that resonate specifically with each consumer. Digital session data feeds directly into What If Media’s proprietary AI platform, which optimizes the consumer’s experience across multiple owned marketing channels within the company’s ecosystem. The company then continues consumer conversations long after the initial interaction by leveraging its email database and advanced marketing automation capabilities.

What If Media has long-term client relationships with a diverse group of major U.S. companies operating across many of the largest industry vertical markets. With a growing number of organizations seeking modern, cookieless advertising solutions, the company is perfectly positioned for continued long-term success. Cofounders Josh Gillon, Chief Executive Officer, and Seth Gottlieb, President and Chief Vision Officer, will continue to lead What If Media in partnership with a deep management team and Abry Partners.

Financing was provided by Capital One, Truist, and Fifth Third in support of the transaction.

Abry Partners is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has completed more than $90 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity or preferred equity placements. Currently, the firm manages in excess of $5 billion of capital across its active funds. The Abry Partners team was led by Tyler Wick, Medhini Srinivasan and Andrew Connolly.

Canaccord Genuity, with a team led by Sanjay Chadda, Matthew Kratter, and Chris Heasman, served as the exclusive financial advisor to What If Media.