Brainlabs acquires Australia’s largest independent digital agency Sparro

Media agency Brainlabs has acquired Sparro, a digital media agency based in Australia, as part of its global expansion efforts.

The acquisition includes Jack Nimble, a social-first content and creative agency, which joined Sparro in November 2021.

Sparro was established in 2013 by Morris and Cameron Bryant, and has grown to a team of over 110 since. The agency cites it manages USD$131.3 million (AUD $200 milllion) in annual media spending for clients such as Estée Lauder Companies, Catch, Webjet and Destination NSW. Sparro is also the largest spender on Google Ads in the country.

"I love Sparro, and as we ramp up our global expansion plans, I couldn’t be happier to welcome them to Brainlabs officially,” said Daniel Gilbert, global chief executive of Brainlabs.

“Morris and Cameron are outstanding leaders who have built a remarkable business," he continued. "This union offers something ground-breaking for the Australian market. Like us, Sparro is fiercely independent and laser-focused on high-performance media solutions.”

Bryant says the deal opens doors for his agency with a like-minded partner: “The indies have been scaling to levels of staff, service and capabilities where we’re able to genuinely challenge the traditional holding groups."

"Brands are crying out for proactive, smart, hands-on marketing partners," he continued. "More and more, they want those partners to be operating to business-level objectives and not just digital KPIs. This acquisition plays perfectly into that. It extends Brainlabs’ significant international presence to further strengthen its appeal to global advertisers, and it enables us to offer clients international coverage, not to mention the incredible career opportunities for our people.”

In September 2023, Brainlabs secured private equity investment from Falfurrias Capital Partners to boost its global expansion.

Since 2019, Brainlabs’ staff numbers have grown from 250 to 800, with further launches in Latin America and APAC. The agency also made several acquisitions, including Amazon agency Molzi, influencer agency Fanbytes and data specialist Nabler.