Katzenberg-Backed Alembic Secures $14M to Innovate Marketing Analytics Landscape

Alembic Secures $14 Million Series A Funding to Transform Marketing Attribution

Alembic, a startup leveraging pandemic-era contact tracing mathematics for marketing attribution, has announced a $14 million Series A funding round led by entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg’s firm, WndrCo. This investment reflects the increasing demand among Fortune 500 chief marketing officers (CMOs) for AI-powered tools to effectively measure return on investment (ROI) from expanding digital marketing budgets.

In an exclusive interview, WndrCo partner Justin Wexler stated, “We continually ask Fortune 500 CMOs about their top challenges. The most common response is proving the effectiveness of marketing spend.” He emphasized that WndrCo's mission is to connect innovative technology with forward-thinking CMOs.

Revolutionizing Sales Predictions

Alembic's software effectively links marketing campaigns to sales outcomes, analyzing revenue and predicting future ROI across various channels, including TV, radio, podcasts, and social media. The startup utilizes techniques originally developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify causes and patterns within disparate public health datasets.

Founder and CEO Tomas Puig explained, “Imagine a giant network where each individual represents a potential connection. We predict these connections using vast amounts of data.” This approach enables Alembic to analyze all marketing channels — from websites and social media to traditional media — while examining corresponding sales data.

By quickly identifying patterns between marketing activities and sales, Alembic helps businesses discern which strategies drive revenue. This real-time “data tracing” offers a significant advantage over traditional marketing mix models, which often take months to yield results.

Pursuing Measurable ROI

Alembic’s initial clients include Nvidia, North Sails, and Texas A&M athletics. The recent funding will enable the company to acquire top engineering talent and expand its product offerings.

Katzenberg highlighted the importance of measurable ROI in brand marketing: “Trillions of dollars are spent each year, yet there is often no solid data proving its effectiveness.”

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang added, “Deploying AI allows companies to increase productivity in unprecedented ways. Alembic is applying AI developed for scientific research to predict marketing ROI, and NVIDIA’s marketing is leveraging Alembic with great success.”

Alembic's innovative approach addresses the growing frustration among CMOs regarding the challenge of measuring marketing effectiveness and its direct impact on sales. Katzenberg, who has evaluated multiple attribution solutions in the past, believes Alembic’s technology has transformative potential.

“There’s a fundamental question in marketing: ‘If I spend a dollar, does it actually generate returns?’” Katzenberg remarked on the difficulty of quantifying marketing ROI amidst substantial brand expenditures. “That’s what excites us about what Tomas and his exceptional team are building.”