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VVK PR + Creative launches in Detroit. Peter Van Dyke, who was most recently CEO of Van Dyke Horn, will serve as the CEO of the new firm. Lambert took a minority stake in Van Dyke Horn last month following Van Dyke’s resignation from the firm. Working alongside Van Dyke will be Michael Sherman, who will serve as VVK partner and executive vice president of production, and Jamie Kaye Walters, who will serve as partner and COO. Sherman and Kaye Walters started up video production company Velocity Cow in 2008. The company is opening with a nearly 15-person team providing integrated communication services to a portfolio of more than 20 clients. As part of its launch, the firm is starting up the VVK Fellowship, which will foster a diverse talent pipeline for the agency and industry.
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Vested Ventures, the investment arm of Vested Communications, invests in financial planning software platform Anasova and Qoins, a financial services platform for automated debt management and repayment. Anasova intends to use the funding to advance and promote its free financial planning tools. Anasova primarily distributes their plans as a white-label solution to enable companies, employee benefits programs, and other groups to provide financial planning as a benefit to their users, employees and members. Qoins will use the investment to help them scale their platform and create additional functionalities that fulfill the organization’s mission of providing underrepresented communities with education and tools to pay off debt and plan for long-term financial goals. Other recent investments made by Vested Ventures include U-Nest, 51 Labs and the Museum of American Finance.
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JDA Worldwide, which works with consumer brands, non-profit organizations and growth companies, acquires The KAIROS Company, a Glendale, CA-based public relations and strategic communications firm. Johnnie Moore, who founded The KAIROS Company in 2015, will become president of JDA Worldwide as part of the combining of the two companies. JDA Worldwide also plans to expand its client services in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Los Angeles and internationally. “The KAIROS team brings additional international experience to bolster our global impact,” said Phil Daniels, chief performance officer of JDA’s parent company Prolific. “Combining forces with The KAIROS Company meets a key need of JDA to expand our communications practice."
CG Life brand The Market Element is relaunched as Element CG... Gateway Group, a financial communications and digital media advisory firm, is bringing back its annual Gateway Conference... Firebrand launches what it says is an industry first: an integrated Account-Based Marketing and PR service.
RVD Communications, a New York-based PR, influencer marketing and brand building agency, is acquired by Band of Insiders... An NCSolutions consumer sentiment survey finds that 55 percent of respondents would be more likely to try a product if it’s marketed as being aligned with a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle... IPG Mediabrands launches its Climate Action Accelerator Program.
If your firm took part in O’Dwyer’s 2024 Rankings, there’s still time for it to appear in the profile section of our big May Rankings Issue.
Crowe PR is forming a strategic alliance with brand consultancy Movetic... SKDK founding partner Bill Knapp is inducted into the Association of Political Consultants Hall of Fame... SixSpeed, an independent creative marketing agency, acquires KC Truth, a media and creative shop.
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