Startup Rembrand Buys Mirriad’s US Arm, Expanding AI Product Placement

AI startup Rembrand, which uses generative AI to insert virtual products into social and CTV ads, has entered into a joint venture that acquires the U.S. operations of Mirriad, a 19-year-old company known for placing branded objects into premium TV and film scenes using traditional visual effects. The deal, which closed at the end of June, is Rembrand’s first acquisition. The startup, founded in 2022, raised $23 million in a Series A round earlier this year. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The deal has already brought in new business for Rembrand, according to CEO Omar Tawakol, though he declined to elaborate. The acquisition signals a maturation of Rembrand’s AI-powered product placement strategy, expanding its client base to Hollywood and absorbing Mirriad’s U.S. team. Mirriad approaches product placement slightly differently, negotiating months in advance to place, say, a soda can on a kitchen counter years before a show airs. The deal is a little unusual in that a younger, AI-native startup is acquiring a legacy player nearly 20 years older. But it also reflects a broader shift in the media and advertising landscape, where long-standing companies built on traditional visual effects are being retooled or absorbed by newer firms deploying newer technology, such as AI agents. Ticket to Hollywood Mirriad, whose technology earned an Academy Award for its work on Black Swan, brings with it deep media relationships and licensing access to titles like Modern Family. “That’s their roots, movies and doing beautiful VFX, and our roots are very different,” Tawakol said. “We have thousands of influencers working with us, but [Mirriad] had dozens of high-end movie and TV producers, and that's the area we wanted to break into.” Mirriad’s U.S. business allows Rembrand to tap into existing, large-scale media deals without needing to build out a massive salesforce. The deal allows Rembrand to insert AI products into TV shows and serve those clips as part of programmatic ad campaigns, a step up from its traditional use cases in influencer and CTV ads. In June, the company began working with The Trade Desk to expand its reach in programmatic channels. “You’ll be watching a scene and see DoorDash, while someone in London might see Deliveroo,” said Tawakol. Given rapid advancements in generative AI, Rembrand’s technology has also evolved from last year, now handling complex, physics-aware product placements without human intervention, such as automatically placing a wine bottle on a different surface. “Rather than needing an army of VFX people for frame-by-frame manipulation, we've created the AI to do that,” Tawakol added.

Merger & Acquisition News

Startup Rembrand Buys Mirriad’s US Arm, Expanding AI Product Placement

The younger AI company acquires the legacy firm, signaling a broader shift in the media landscape

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Trishla Ostwal

Media

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