Duluth-based Ad Advance acquired by global retail-media agency Podean

Duluth-based retail-media agency Ad Advance is now part of global marketplace-focused agency Podean, folding Ad Advance’s roughly 40-person Duluth team and its proprietary Streamline technology into a combined business Podean says will total 260 staff across 17 countries on five continents and work with more than 330 brands.

The deal was announced in mid-February and was facilitated by Mountaingate Capital as a strategic purchase from Permanent Equity; neither side disclosed a purchase price. Ad Advance founders Matt Wiklund and Joe Shelerud will join Podean’s leadership team and take on product leadership roles as the companies integrate operations and offerings.

Ad Advance operates from a Duluth office at the corner of 4th Avenue W and W 1st Street and bills itself as a retail media and digital marketing agency specializing in full-funnel strategy and performance on marketplaces including Amazon and Walmart. Co-founder Joe Shelerud, a Duluth native, described the firm’s approach: “What we do is we help to get those products in the front of people who are really going to be interested, so we can grow sales and build the brands overall.” He added, “We’re very tech-focused, we’re very fast-moving. Just being in the digital advertising space, you need to be able to move quickly.”

Podean positions itself as a large independent marketplace agency and highlights awards and scale as part of the acquisition rationale. Podean CEO Travis Johnson said the deal is tactical for scale and capability: “This is the next step in our creation of something unique and at scale in the market. Ad Advance is the perfect complement to Podean’s current global offering. We’re excited to join forces and leverage our combined capabilities as one team of marketplace and retail media network experts.” Podean emphasizes an integrated offering spanning more than 100 marketplaces globally with deep experience on more than 40 Retail Media Networks, naming platforms such as Amazon, Walmart, Costco, Target, Instacart, eBay, Shopee, Lazada, Tesco, Macy’s, Shein, Temu, and Mercado Libre.

Corporate customers and case work underpin the rationale for the acquisition: the combined business is presented as serving over 330 brands, with examples cited including Mattel, e.l.f. Cosmetics, New Balance, AB InBev, Skechers, Colgate-Palmolive, and Authentic Brands Group names like Eddie Bauer, Nautica, and Reebok. The press materials also identify Streamline as Ad Advance’s technology suite that will add retail media and DSP sophistication to Podean’s capabilities.

Mark Power, identified as Podean’s founder, visited the Duluth office and praised the fit, saying the firms are aligned and “they’re doing some cutting edge things in the industry.” With the founders joining Podean’s product leadership, local executives say the next items to watch are how Streamline is integrated, whether the Duluth office retains its headcount, and when joint client case studies appear; the companies gave no timetable for integration and did not release financial terms.