A D.C.-based marketing and consulting firm with clients across the country, many of which are venture-backed startups, has taken on some outside investment of its own as part of an inaugural effort to scale operations.
The $2.1 million investment for Incendium Strategies from Operator Equity, a private equity firm based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, will allow the team of about a dozen to take on more clients and hire additional workers over the coming months. The company, headquartered in D.C.'s Palisades neighborhood, offers online digital marketing services but also runs in-person events such as networking dinners, leadership conferences and seminars.
Nate Houghton, co-founder and CEO of Incendium, told me this capital will help drive the company's ambitions of becoming a more full-service B2B consulting shop. He said the company has between 25 and 30 clients at any given time and expects this funding in part to help grow that figure to about 40 "at the very least."
"I think some of that [scaling] is around the funding and some of it is around helping us to build processes and systems so that we don't have to hire someone for every new client," Houghton told me. "I think if you're scaling linearly that way, that's a little bit less effective than being able to replicate what we can do for clients."
Connor Tomkies, a co-founder of Operator Equity and experienced consulting professional, joins Incendium Strategies in a leadership role as a partner following the investment.
"Together, we'll leverage our expertise to reinforce our leadership in go-to-market strategy and campaign management, while also expanding our advisory and consulting services," Tomkies said in an email statement. "This will allow us to tackle more complex problems, providing deeper, strategic insights and operational support to our clients. The anticipation for what Nate and his team will achieve next is immense given their proven track record of fostering professional connections and growth."
Houghton said Incendium's workplace is remote-first and its employees can be found across the country. Many of its original customers, however, came from the D.C. region.
