IDHL acquires Vervaunt with GBP £1.5 million AI investment plan

IDHL has completed the acquisition of London-based eCommerce consultancy Vervaunt. The move adds over 70 specialists to the group's workforce and strengthens capabilities in eCommerce, digital strategy, and performance marketing.

Expanded client base

Vervaunt works with brands such as Mulberry, APC, Paul Smith, Represent, and Champion. The London firm's expertise encompasses paid media, affiliate marketing, creative services, and community building for a predominantly premium and lifestyle brand portfolio. Its addition follows IDHL's earlier purchase of The MTM Agency and aligns with an ongoing strategy to scale services in both the UK and US markets.

Growth and integration

The acquisition takes IDHL's total headcount to around 500, distributed across teams in London, Leeds, Manchester, Southampton, and New York. Vervaunt will sit alongside existing IDHL Group brands, including The MTM Agency and Fostr. Paul Rogers, Managing Director, and Josh Duggan, Co-founder of Vervaunt, will join the senior leadership team at IDHL.

Strengthened accreditations

Vervaunt's integration enhances IDHL's accreditations across platforms including Meta, Google, and Shopify. Both companies hold established partnerships with technology providers such as Adobe, BigCommerce, and Kentico. Vervaunt also runs Pulse, an events programme featuring eCommerce summits in both London and New York, targeting retailers and brands exploring sector trends.

Technology and investment

IDHL and Vervaunt have committed to a joint investment exceeding GBP £1.5 million into artificial intelligence and emerging technology over the next year. The investment is intended to accelerate the development of proprietary tools, expand digital product offerings, and advance a product-focused AI strategy for 2026. Collectively, these efforts aim to increase efficiency, boost technical expertise, and generate additional intellectual property to drive global development.

Leadership perspectives

"Vervaunt has built an outstanding business that combines deep eCommerce expertise with exceptional paid media performance. Its talented team and impressive client roster strengthen our ability to deliver world-class digital commerce solutions. With this acquisition, we're bringing together leading specialists across strategy, performance, and technology to help ambitious brands grow. I'm thrilled to welcome Paul and Josh to our leadership team as we continue to build the global agency we know IDHL can be," said Lewis Sellers, Chief Executive Officer, IDHL.

"This is a huge move for both Vervaunt and IDHL and I'm really excited about the combined mission. We've spoken to a number of potential partners over the last 12 months, but IDHL was the only one that gave us the opportunity to play a part in the overall strategy whilst continuing to focus on strengthening Vervaunt. They also backed our thinking on the AI / product service front and ultimately gave us something we could buy into long-term. I'm confident this move will allow us to build a better product here and create new and bigger opportunities for our team," said Paul Rogers, Managing Director, Vervaunt.

"This deal represents an exciting opportunity for both IDHL and Vervaunt to accelerate the next phase of our evolution together and drive even better value for our clients. We're so proud of the business we have built and incredibly grateful to our amazing team for all the work that's been put in to give us solid foundations as a business. We saw a rare opportunity to ultimately create a market leader on a much bigger, global scale and 10x our investment in tangible AI solutions and digital products. We're confident we can stay focused and drive lots of improvements across our product and how we service clients as part of this move," said Duggan.

"The acquisition of Vervaunt is another important strategic plank in building out IDHL's leading capabilities in paid marketing, eCommerce and AI. Bridgepoint is delighted to be adding further support to Lewis and the IDHL team in realising their ambitious vision," said Robin Lawson, Partner, Bridgepoint.