Impact acquires influencer management platform Activate

Impact, a provider of partnership automation solutions, has acquired Activate, a brand platform in the influencer industry. The acquisition, effective today, includes the platform for influencer discovery, reporting, and campaign management, including collaborations across all major social platforms.

According to a company statement, the addition of Activate's platform with Impact’s existing influencer platform partners makes it the world's top influencer marketplace, with over 300,000 opt-in qualified and vetted influencers. However, Campaign Asia-Pacific's Circle of Influencers informal survey earlier this year found at least two other networks claiming more than 300,000 influencers available through their platforms. 

“The acquisition ... will help our APAC customers with a global footprint better discover and connect with the world’s largest network of influencers," says Adam Furness, Managing Director or its APAC operations. 

The influencer market is projected to reach $22 billion by 2024. Impact’s Partnership Cloud platform automates and simplifies the process of discovering, recruiting, onboarding, optimising and reporting across all types of partnerships. For Activate's influencer community, this deal increases their opportunity to work with over 1,000 brands around the world.  

This deal comes at a time when the influencer market has been transformed from individual transactions to  long-term partnerships, says Nicholas DiSanto, Activate's CEO. "It’s a natural fit to pair this within the larger breadth of partnerships led by Impact to drive this new stage of growth in the industry.”

This news follows a series of wins by Impact, the launch of a commissioned study with Forrester Consulting, “Smooth your partnership journey by learning from high-maturity companies,” unveiling of an annual conference-turned-virtual Impact Growth, and global expansion with the announcement of their Germany office opening.

“Activate's deep expertise ... strengthens our offering to brand and agency clients by providing the tools to find and manage thousands more quality content creators," adds David A. Yovanno, CEO of Impact. Influencers, in turn, can use this platform for business opportunities across industries and markets to create "partnerships that provide significant growth for both sides.”