Miami – March 6, 2024 – RTC Partners, a growth-focused private equity firm, today announced an investment in COMM, formerly CommCreative, a Boston-based marketing agency that specializes in digital marketing strategy, demand generation, account-based marketing, and marketing technology solutions. COMM joins four prior RTC investments – fama PR, Intelisent, MarketBridge, and Quarry – which together partner with leading brands to accelerate growth across a spectrum of client marketing and sales initiatives.
Founded in 1994 and led today by partners Ashley DePaolo, Joanna Bittle, Janet Sefakis, and Alex Nosevich, COMM combines strategy, data, and storytelling to help brands connect and interact with their audiences. The 50-person team provides a range of in-demand marketing services, including branding, creative, media strategy and buying, digital, lead generation, web development, and social media to B2B, B2B2C, and B2C clients. The agency possesses deep experience in high-growth and high-value business categories such as cybersecurity, SaaS, healthtech, financial services, manufacturing tech, and retail. Key clients include Bose Automotive, Raymarine, Wilmington Trust, Guidehouse, PTC, and RSA Conference. COMM also partners with various adtech providers including 6sense and Influ2.
“The COMM team and its deep capabilities and industry expertise are tremendous additions and accelerants to our vision of integrating growth strategy together with leading in-market programs, informed by marketing science and technology, to drive growth for our clients,” said John Shomaker, an Operating Partner with RTC Partners and CEO of the marketing services platform.
“The entire COMM team is energized by the boundless opportunities this partnership presents for both our valued clients and dedicated team members,” said Ashley DePaolo, President of COMM. “We are thrilled to join forces with these four best-in-category agencies to build a marketing and sales organization where collective expertise, innovation and passion converge to deliver unparalleled value.”
The combined platform currently comprises more than 260 professionals across six locations in the United States and Canada and partners with more than 150 clients worldwide, including many of the most respected market leaders across the technology, financial services, and healthcare industries. Ashley DePaolo, Partner and President, and Joanna Bittle, Partner and Strategy Leader, will remain in their current roles and join the platform’s senior leadership team.
About RTC Partners
RTC Partners is a private investment firm that specializes in building middle market growth platforms. Together with management partners, RTC builds market leading companies through a combination of acquisitive and organic growth, while establishing highly professionalized corporate infrastructures that are capable of scaling organizations to the next level. The firm’s strategies focus on high-growth niches of professional, business and healthcare services industries. The RTC team has successfully completed over 70 transactions since 2017.