Plus1 Assembly, co-founded by Arian Kalantari and backed by £5 million from Simba Investments, launches as a global innovation agency built for the AI era. The agency’s agile sprint-based model replaces traditional retainers with targeted, data- and AI-powered “hubs” designed to drive cultural leadership and commercial growth for brands.
Founders and Funding
- Arian Kalantari, ex-LADbible co-founder
- Jax Davey, former CEO of Nuevo
- Lee Humphreys, ex-CEO of HH Global Creative + Digital
- Jake Brocklesby, Founder & CEO of Simba Investments
Plus1 debuts with clients Rezzil, The Stomping Ground, and CodeBlaze, and has acquired Layfe, a strategic AI consultancy.
Three Specialist Hubs
- Halo: Real-time cultural intelligence—tracking Reddit, TikTok, Twitch, and more—to signal when and how brands should act.
- Layfe: AI and automation consultancy for business transformation and growth.
- Rise: Investment arm providing capital, infrastructure, and network support to early-stage companies.
Clients assemble bespoke “squads” from these hubs, combining creative firepower, cultural insights, and AI-driven systems to achieve measurable impact.
“The market needs a new type of business. For too long, agencies have been built around old structures and misaligned incentives and chase culture from behind. Jax has the vision for what will work now. So, I’ve joined with him to help define a new world where technology meets creativity, all underpinned by a commercial model that shares success with our clients. We’re not doing everything; we’re doing what works”, said Arian Kalantari, Co-founder, Plus1 Assembly.
“In the old world, if you believed social media was the key to growth you’d hire a social media agency. But with AI reshaping how people search and new platforms changing brand discovery, markets are shifting fast and many of the old ways of doing things no longer make sense,” said Jax Davey, Co-founder and CEO, Plus1 Assembly.
“Today, we’re in a place where strategy needs to evolve. Despite this, a lot of brands are locked into a rigid model built for yesterday. Plus1 is different. We bring in the right capabilities at the right time. We stay fluid and responsive to what our clients actually need in a world that’s changing fast.”
Plus1 Assembly supports brands seeking to lead culture, not chase it, by integrating creative strategy, real-time insights, and AI-powered delivery under one roof.
The company also produced and release a film to celebrate their launch, in addition to a creative guerrilla sticker campaign.
