92. Octaive

Founders: Sam Peters, Ben Swinburne and Anton Hanley
Founded: 2019
Website: octaive.com

Advertisements are the price we all pay to use the internet. But personal data harvesting — the method tech giants like Facebook and Google use to gather your online activity and sell it to bidders who then bombard you with the same ads no matter where you go — doesn’t have to be involved.

Octaive's platform is distinct from, but compatible with, the current programmatic buying ecosystem.

London-based communications company Octaive aims to fix internet ads by giving the consumer control over their ad personalisation. How? By getting rid of common banner and video ads, and instead using two-way chat experiences that let consumers pick the brand they prefer. This change, the owners hold, gives the consumer a helpful and more effective ad, which in turn keeps advertisers happier due to better purchase funnels.

Octaive’s platform is distinct from, but compatible with, the current programmatic buying ecosystem. The client first designs the chat style ad within the platform, before exporting the ad tag to be used by any major ad buying platform.

According to Octaive, their approach regularly delivers a 200% or higher improvement in results than typical display advertising.

It all works as an alternative to cookie-based ads, and so when Google revealed in March 2021 that they would move away from cookies, interest in Octaive’s offering spiked. Their solution is privacy-first and consumer-focused, two elements that could potentially build a better internet for all.

Few would argue that the internet advertising sector couldn’t use plenty of innovation, and according to Octaive, their approach regularly delivers a 200% or higher improvement in results than typical display advertising. Their bench of clients includes Vodafone, Dyson, and Dell, among many others, and they have just gained the support of David Pattison, founder of media agency PHD, as chairman and angel investor.