The "Anti-Holdco" Blueprint: Residence Buys OK COOL

By Chris Erwin

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Let’s break it down…

–TARGET: OK COOL–

Overview

• Social-native creative agency specializing in brand storytelling

• Known for its "cultural-first" approach, bridging the gap between traditional brand strategy and platform-specific execution

• Operates a global footprint, with HQ in London and offices in NY, Toronto, and Sydney

• Founded in 2015 by Liz Stone and Jolyon Varley

• 100+ stated employees

Company Highlights

• Official Creative Partner to TikTok, Meta, Instagram, and Twitch

• Blue-chip roster includes Nike, Gucci, Disney, Spotify, Lululemon, and Netflix

• Multi-year Global Partnership with Meta Wearables to lead creative for Ray-Ban Meta

• Global Social Agency of Record for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (reappointed for 2025)

• 300M+ assets produced for Fortune 500 brands via proprietary AI-creative workflows

• 2,700-person global study powered its 2025 "Let Them Eat Lore" annual trend report

Founding Story

• Founded in 2016 by Liz Stone and Jolyon Varley, neither of whom came from a traditional agency background (Stone worked in fashion; Varley in art, music, and tech)

• The duo shared an early conviction that social media would become the primary channel for direct brand-to-consumer dialogue, often calling social platforms "culture petri dishes"

• In 2019, they were joined by Ben Gordon (formerly of WPP and Omnicom), who helped transition the shop from a boutique specialist into a global competitor, winning pitches against legacy networks

• Focused on repositioning global brands from static product categories into active participants in contemporary culture

Business Lines

• Creator Partnerships & Strategy…

• Managing end-to-end influencer and creator collaborations to drive authentic brand advocacy (e.g., ambassador programs for Puma and Uniqlo)

• Social-Native Content & Storytelling…

• Creating high-velocity content designed specifically for platform algorithms and cultural trends, such as TikTok-first campaigns for Nike and Lululemon

• Always-On Social Management…

• Real-time production and platform management to maintain brand relevance and community engagement including community management for Spotify and TikTok Shop

Capital Markets History:

• Jan 26: Acquired by Residence, a global creative network

–Buyer: Residence–

Overview

• Global creative agency network backed by private equity firm Gemspring Capital

• Builds and scales independent, culture-led creative companies through a selective M&A-driven growth strategy

• Portfolio includes Buck, It’s Nice That, Giant Ant, Creative Lives in Progress, Part & Sum, VTProDesign, and Wild

• Serves global brands including Airbnb, Microsoft, JP Morgan, and Meta

• HQ in Los Angeles, CA with offices in New York, London, Sydney, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Vancouver

• Over 700 employees via Residence Website

Founding Story

• Formed in 2022 as a global creative network uniting independent, culture-led studios via the merger of BUCK, Giant Ant, VTProDesign, and other agencies

• Ryan Honey, former CEO of BUCK, was appointed to lead Residence after expanding BUCK internationally and scaling its global client base

• Created as an alternative to traditional agency holding companies, centered on creative excellence and founder-led leadership

• Built around a network model that supports independent studios with shared infrastructure, capital, and strategic resources while preserving their brand identity

• In June 2025, private equity firm Gemspring Capital announced a strategic investment in Residence to support continued growth and expansion through M&A

Portfolio

• BUCK: Global creative and design agency

• Creative Lives In Progress: Creative industry careers platform

• Giant Ant: Creative animation and design studio

• It’s Nice That: Arts and design publisher 

• OK COOL: Social-native creative agency specializing in brand storytelling

• Part & Sum: Digital strategy and marketing agency

• VTProDesign: Experiential design and tech studio

• Wild: Design and tech studio

Business Lines / Service Offerings

• Overall…

• Expertise across branding, experiential marketing, digital products, media, and community-building

• Creative & Craft-Led Production…
  Design, animation, live action, brand identity, and technology-driven storytelling delivered through studios including BUCK, Giant Ant, and Wild

• Social & Digital-First Creative…
  Social-first creative strategy, platform-native content, influencer and community-led storytelling, and always-on digital campaigns via OK COOL

• Media & Community Platforms…
  Owns culture-led editorial platforms, including It’s Nice That and Creative Lives in Progress, monetized through brand partnerships and access to curated creative audiences

• Specialist Design & Technology…
  Interactive experiences, digital product design, UX/UI, and immersive technology from studios such as Tendril

• Integrated Campaign Execution…
  Cross-channel brand campaigns spanning digital, film, experiential, and emerging formats for global enterprise clients

Overview of Financial Backer: Gemspring Capital

• Middle market private equity firm focused on control-oriented investments in services and industrial businesses

• Portfolio of 144 completed acquisitions, including A10 Capital, Airswift Global Limited, Appriss Retail, Radancy, and Residence

• Targets companies with up to $2.0B in revenue across business services, consumer services, financial & insurance services, healthcare, industrial, software, and tech-enabled services

• Manages approximately $5.1B of capital under management

• Headquartered in Westport, Connecticut

• 80 Employees via Gemstring website

Capital Markets History:

• Jan 26: Acquired OK COOL, a social-native creative agency

• June 23: Acquired and merged with Part & Sum, a digital strategy and marketing agency

• Oct 22: Acquired It’s Nice That, an arts and design publisher

• Sep 22: Acquired Giant Ant Media, a creative animation and design studio

• Jun 22: Acquired VTProDesign, an experimental design and tech studio

• Jun 22: Acquired Creative Lives In Progress, a creative industries careers platform

–DEAL DETAILS–

Overview

• Announced January 28, 2026

• Financial terms were not disclosed=

Strategic Rationale

• Expands Residence’s social-first creative capabilities by adding OK COOL’s expertise in social strategy, creator partnerships, always-on content, and audience insight

• Strengthens Residence’s global network with OK COOL’s presence across London, New York, and Sydney

• Reflects growing brand demand for social-native storytelling and culturally relevant, platform-specific creative work

• Allows OK COOL to scale globally while retaining its brand, leadership, and creative independence within the Residence network

• Supports Residence’s strategy of building a complementary portfolio of creative companies under a unified global network

• “OK COOL brings social-native expertise that expands the Residence offering and creates value for both our companies and our clients,” said Ryan Honey, CEO & Co-Founder of Residence

• “Residence understands the extraordinary creativity we do and wants to support us to scale that globally. This deal is a dream come true,” said Jolyon Varley, Global Head of Brand at OK COOL

• Liz Stone, Global Chief Creative Officer of OK COOL, said Residence’s ambition to raise the creative bar globally “ensures our creative values are protected and amplified.”

Post-Deal Operations

• OK COOL will retain its brand and leadership team following the acquisition

• The agency will operate as part of the Residence global creative network

• No changes to OK COOL’s team or structure were announced at the time of the transaction.

–WHAT ELSE I FIND INTERESTING–

The “Bootstrap-First" Blueprint for Challenger Networks

One of the most unique aspects of the Residence story, which sets it apart from the high-burn, PE-fueled challenger holdcos we’ve analyzed, is its origin as a bootstrapped collective.

While many modern agency networks are born through a large private equity check used to buy up initial shops, Residence was formed in 2022 through what was essentially a merger of equals. Founding agencies like BUCK, Giant Ant, VTProDesign, and the HudsonBec Group (which includes It’s Nice That) joined forces by pooling their own resources and infrastructure. Our research indicates that these shops were largely independent and bootstrapped prior to the merger; for example, BUCK had scaled to over 600 employees across four global offices purely on its own steam since 2004.

It wasn't until June 2025 that the network brought in its first major external institutional partner, Gemspring Capital.

Why this matters for the market:

• The "Anti-Rollup" Credibility: By growing organically to 600+ people before taking outside money, Residence proved their model worked without the pressure of an immediate PE exit clock. This creates a powerful narrative when recruiting founders like those at OK COOL, who are often wary of financial engineering and want to know they’re joining a creative-led culture rather than a debt-heavy rollup.
  
  

• Capital as an Accelerator, Not a Life Raft: The 2025 Gemspring investment didn’t seem to be about survival, but instead was a growth solutions play designed to provide the dry powder for acquisitions like OK COOL and the working capital to scale global operations.
  
  

• A Lesson for Modern Founders: In a market where certain PE-backed networks can struggle under high interest rates and integration fatigue, Residence offers a counter-model: collaborate first, capitalize second. By establishing "federated" shared services (finance, HR, ops) while founders were still the primary owners, they built a resilient structure that PE was then happy to pay a premium to accelerate.

Overall, Residence is a unique example of a mega-agency built on creative merit rather than just a balance sheet. For operators and investors, it serves as a reminder that integration chemistry is often a better predictor of long-term M&A success than the size of the initial fundraise.

New Bets on Culture-First Creative

The acquisition of OK COOL by Residence isn’t just another agency rollup; it’s a bet on the cultural-first creative model that traditional holding companies are struggling to replicate. Here are three key themes our team is tracking regarding the broader market implications of this deal.

The Challenger Quest for Global Scale

We’re seeing a shift in the M&A landscape where mid-sized, challenger agencies are aggressively pursuing global footprints to compete for the borderless budgets of global brand marketers. By folding OK COOL into its network, Residence gains immediate infrastructure and social marketing capabilities in London, New York, Toronto, and Sydney.

Historically, this level of geographic reach was the exclusive moat of the Big Six (WPP, Publicis, Omicon, etc.). However, as brands move away from siloed regional campaigns toward unified global social strategies, they seek partners who can execute "localized globalism." This mirrors recent activity like PMG’s acquisition of Digital Voices (deal analysis) and Journey Further’s move for Saulderson Media (deal analysis). The message is clear: to win the "Agency of Record" titles of the future, boutique specialists must have the passport to match their ambitions.

Social-Native as the New Strategic Wedge into Brand P&Ls

For years, social-native agencies were viewed as "production shops" or "community managers" – essentially what was considered the tactical execution at the end of a creative chain. 

This deal signals that the hierarchy has flipped. 

Residence, which already owns prestige design and animation powerhouses like BUCK and Giant Ant, instead identifies OK COOL’s cultural-first strategy as a top-funnel value driver.

We’ve seen a flurry of deals over the last six months; including publishers like Future buying SheerLuxe (deal analysis) and even our own client, Feedfeed, being acquired by People Inc. (deal analysis), that prove that social storytelling is no longer a line item; it’s the core product. 

For investors, the takeaway is that platform-specific expertise is currently commanding a premium because it solves the biggest pain point for Fortune 500 CMOs: how to stop being an intruder on social feeds and start being a participant in the culture petri dish.

The Rise of the Anti-Holding Company Integration Model

Residence is doubling down on a "federated" holdco structure, where acquired agencies retain their brand identity, culture, and founder-led leadership while plugging into a shared backend of PE-backed resources. This is a direct response to the integration fatigue that has historically destroyed value in agency M&A.

We’ve analyzed this dynamic extensively, notably with Propagate’s acquisition of Parker Management (deal analysis), where the challenge is balancing the independent spirit that brands buy into with the scale efficiencies that private equity backers require. The goal of Residence’s approach is to allow them to acquire talent-heavy businesses without the brain drain that usually follows a big tech or big agency absorption. For operators looking to exit and take some chips off the table, but continue building towards a larger opportunity, the Residence model could be a compelling blueprint: it offers the safety of a larger scaled platform with the autonomy of a boutique.

Overall Takeaway

As social media becomes the primary commerce and discovery engine, the social agency is being revalued as a strategic consultancy. Expect to see more design-led networks like Residence aggressively acquiring social-native shops to ensure they remain the primary architects of brand identity in a post-broadcast world.

I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for creator economy and social / audio agencies. From buy and sell-side M&A and fundraising to market research and go-to-market planning. 

DM me on LinkedIn or email [email protected]

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