Sidemen back POCKLA to help brands act like creators
POCKLA raises US$2M to scale its AI adtech platform for social-first content, with backing from YouTube collective Sidemen.
POCKLA, a London-based adtech startup helping brands create content with creator-level speed and relevance, has recently raised £1.6 million (around US$2 million) in seed funding. The round was led by Venrex, with participation from Sidemen’s VC arm Upside Ventures, along with Love Ventures, Shuttle, and Syndicate Room.
The funding will be used to scale POCKLA’s proprietary AI engine and expand its team to support more social-first consumer brands.
What POCKLA does
POCKLA is designed to help advertisers keep pace with culture. Its SYNAPSE AI engine surfaces real-time, emotionally resonant moments—called “audience-tailored moments”—by analyzing millions of social data points. These insights are delivered via WhatsApp and other channels, helping advertisers ideate faster.
From there, brands can tap into POCKLA’s services:
- Strategy: Find their “internet voice” and develop culturally relevant narratives
- Creative: Launch UGC-style, video, and motion content with in-house designers
- Paid ads: Build and test high-performance media assets across channels
This full-stack model combines automation with execution, giving performance teams the tools to react quickly and scale what works.
Enricko Lukman
Why this matters for advertisers
Today’s advertisers are up against a constant feed of entertainment, memes, and creator content. Campaigns need to be fast, relevant, and emotionally on-point to compete.
POCKLA helps teams:
- Spot the right cultural moments early
- Move from idea to live content in days
- Align paid and organic creative around what audiences actually care about
By streamlining ideation, production, and delivery, tools like POCKLA help brands reduce creative bottlenecks and increase content ROI—without relying solely on external agencies.
The founders behind POCKLA
POCKLA was founded in 2021 by Hugo Bibby and Rupert Boddington, former consultants turned entrepreneurs. Both were part of the founding team behind OPUS, a community for next-gen leaders with members across the UK, US, UAE, and South Africa. Their collective experience spans Deloitte, Sia Partners, and early-stage venture advisory work—giving them a hybrid lens of content, product, and growth.
According to Boddington, brands today aren’t just competing with each other—they’re battling every meme, dance trend, and viral take on a user’s feed. “We’re building the content marketing playground of the future,” he said.
Why the Sidemen’s backing matters
The Sidemen are a UK-based YouTube collective known for their viral content, e-commerce brands, and deep cultural influence. With over 146 million subscribers across channels, they've built a reputation not just as entertainers, but as operators—launching brands like XIX Vodka, Sides (QSR), and clothing line SDMN.
Their investment in POCKLA—through Upside Ventures—signals a growing convergence between creator-led media and next-gen adtech.
What is POCKLA's traction?
Founded in 2021, POCKLA has steadily grown into a full-service adtech studio. Recent highlights include:
- £2 million (around US$2.5 million) raised to date
- 700,000+ high-interest moments flagged via its AI engine
- 31% average uplift in engagement on content supported by its platform
- A money-back guarantee for brands that don’t start posting consistently within a month
The company serves brands with a minimum paid media spend of £5,000/month and is currently onboarding clients across the UK and international markets.
Who are POCKLA's competitors?
POCKLA operates in a niche intersection of adtech and creator economy infrastructure. Closer competitors include:
- Taboola – Recently launched “Abby,” an AI ad assistant for SMBs, with a focus on campaign building and optimization.
- AcuityAds (Illumin) – Offers journey-based ad automation for large brands, focusing on programmatic delivery rather than creative generation.
- Prescient AI – Helps DTC advertisers predict and optimize media spend across platforms, especially for performance marketing.
This post is created by ContentGrow, providing scalable and tailored content creation services for B2B brands and publishers worldwide. Book a discovery call to learn more.
