23 Indie Agencies We Saw Launch in 2025

As more and more leaders step away from network life, often in search for sharper focus, greater autonomy and closer proximity to the work, the industry's independent landscape is flourishing. There’s little to suggest that momentum will slow anytime soon. If anything, it may intensify in the year ahead, particularly following the Omnicom–IPG merger, which has released a deep pool of highly experienced creative, strategic and leadership talent back into the market.

It’s also worth acknowledging a different shade of independence in the mix. Long-established agencies R/GA and Huge, both sold by IPG to private equity this year, aren’t new launches and therefore don’t appear on this list – but their exits from the holding-company system place them closer than ever to the independent spirit underpinning many of the companies that follow.

This is a list of the independent agencies we know launched this year.

We tried to be as extensive as possible, but in case we missed yours, get in touch at editorial@lbbonline.com.

05:37

UK

05:37 Brand Studio takes its name from the early-morning moment its founding idea struck. The independent studio is led by Catherine Peacock and Christopher Keatinge, who spent nearly seven years at Uncommon, leaving as global chief marketing officer and executive creative director respectively. Built to merge brand and advertising, the studio spans strategy, design, campaigns and creative leadership.

Ace of Hearts

UK

After helping define a decade of industry-leading work at adam&eveDDB, Richard Brim turned his attention to building Ace of Hearts alongside Martin Beverley, who was CSO at adam&eveDDB, and former McCann London CEO Polly McMorrow. Its model moves away from labour-based fees towards shared-value partnerships, reflecting a belief that creativity should be valued at a more strategic, commercial level. Its smart Christmas campaign for Save the Children made it into a recent edition of Work of the Week.

Baby Teeth

UK

Baby Teeth sits where brands, entertainment and talent collide, bringing together Lynsey Atkin (former ECD at Channel 4’s 4Creative), Chris Watling (ex-MD and EP at Somesuch) and Rebecca Lewis (formerly MD at Droga5 London). Backed by Common Interest, the business gives brands and talent access to creative ideas, high-value production and IP ownership, combining expertise across creative direction, production and brand partnerships to both develop and deliver original IP.

Block Report

UK

Block Report sets out to help brands earn ‘Fame Beyond the Feed’, using data-led cultural insight to spark talkability beyond likes and impressions. Founded by Wonderhood’s Jack Colchester and Iris’ Chris Grimwood, early work for itsu has caught our eye, riffing on deeply ingrained UK meme culture – from Ronny Pickering to the Wealdstone Raider – to build talkability beyond traditional social metrics.

Colloquial

India

Founded by ex-Ogilvy India creatives Ishita Misra and Pradyot Mokashi, Colloquial positions itself as an agency without a signature voice. The studio’s approach centres on cultural understanding and craft, with the aim of letting each brand and brief determine how the work shows up in the world.

C-Suite

USA

C-Suite is a fractional executive consultancy created by veteran agency builder Jordan Warren to give start-ups and emerging independent agencies access to senior-level leadership without the cost of full-time C-suite hires. Jordan has founded and scaled indie shops like Eleven, Argonaut and TBD Advertising. His latest model positions itself as infrastructure for the next wave of independent agency growth.

Do Not Behave

UK

Taking its name from behavioural science and a desire to challenge status quo bias, DO NOT BEHAVE positions creativity as a tool for real behavioural change. The London-based creative studio is a collaboration between former House 337 executive creative director Jo Moore and behavioural science consultancy The Behavioural Architects. Early work includes a rebrand for community organisation Pedal Power.

Fulltank

USA

Fulltank is a design-led studio created by former Code and Theory chief creative officer Amy Carvajal, built to support start-ups and ambitious brands across the full arc of brand building. Amy told LBB that the studio exists to “fuel ideas that drive change”, and that the model is senior-led and flexible. Fulltank uses design as its core lens while spanning strategy, identity, marketing and tech.

Hellions

Australia

Elle Bullen and Mike Doman founded Hellions out of a desire to step away from managing people and back hands on with the creative product. The former Bullfrog executive creative director and executive strategy director describe the agency as “rowdy” and “mischievous”, and focused on finding the extraordinary in any brief, whether from start-ups or established brands. Its clever Christmas campaign for Typo was an AUNZ Work of the Week winner.

Imaginary Friend

USA

ImaginaryFriend is an independent agency created to work alongside – rather than compete with – brands’ in-house teams. Founded by Daniel Bonder and Dave Brown, alongside president Caroline Doyle, the trio bring experience from agencies including adam&eveNYC, R/GA and Observatory. Speaking with LBB, they said the idea came after reviewing their client rosters and realising most brands already had in-house capabilities, revealing “a white space for a new role agencies could play in their clients’ hectic lives” – a model put to work early with launch client Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

Into Creative

India

After co-founding Taproot and later leading Wieden+Kennedy India, Santosh Padhi launched Into Creative alongside former W+K India CEO Ayesha Ghosh and four long-time collaborators. The Mumbai-based shop positions itself around big ideas designed to travel far beyond traditional advertising. The founding team believes Indian creativity has expanded in platforms but lost some of its boldness – a gap Into Creative sets out to address across brand, design, digital and emerging formats.

House of Rabbits

USA

The first work out of House of Rabbits! was a culture-led campaign for Code.org, created to challenge how high school girls perceive computer science and who it is for. Behind the agency are Daniela Vojta, Susan Young and Sarah Beaumont, bringing senior experience from McCann, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO and massive brands like Mastercard, Microsoft, AT&T and P&G. The shop positions itself as a nimble, ideas-first operation built to move quickly and tackle complex briefs without big-agency drag.

Kerfuffle

Australia

Last year, LBB revealed Ant Keogh, Paul McMillan, and Michael Derepas were leaving Aussie agency The Monkeys to set up their own shop. In May, Kerfuffle was born. Ant told LBB the agency is “unashamedly about creativity”, adding that “in the great battle for attention, creativity wins”. The independent shop launched with five senior hires and early work for Picklebet.

Memory

Canada

There was anticipation around what Ian Mackenzie would do next after leaving IPG, following his work as McCann’s creative AI lead and the founding of creative data pioneer FCB/SIX. Memory is the independent agency he has built alongside former CMO and Juliet president Ryan Bullock, centred on brand performance and the integration of creativity, data and AI. Speaking to LBB, Ian described the name as both “inherently human” and “deeply technical”, reflecting the agency’s ambition to blend emotional storytelling with data, technology and AI.

not so secret

Canada

Founded by Neil Walker-Wells, former executive creative director at TBWA\Toronto, and Stephanie Walker-Wells, acting head of production at Arrivals + Departures, not so secret brings creative and production together under one roof. Based in Toronto, the hybrid company is built around what the pair call ‘creative to the power of production’ – a human-first model designed to ensure ideas are executable from day one.

Plot

Canada

Plot is a Toronto-based hybrid creative studio founded by Maxim Vlassenko, Rahul Madan and Eric Richards, bringing together strategy, creative and production under one roof. The trio’s backgrounds span UNINTERRUPTED Canada and What I Like Studio, with a model designed to strip out friction and move ideas quickly from concept to screen. Early work includes campaigns for Stella Artois, Holt Renfrew and Saje Natural Wellness, as well as producing Destigmatize: Voices for FUNCTION and Maggie’s Toronto, the latest chapter of the HIV awareness platform Destigmatize.ca.

Princess

Australia

Princess launched with a mission to help brands break their categories – or start new ones entirely – in a bid to uncover hard-to-find growth. Founded by Beth O’Brien, Sam Dickson, Cameron Bell and Jonny Berger, whose experience spans Droga5 New York, CHEP Network, R/GA and Clemenger BBDO, the Aussie agency impressed early with its first project, ‘A Lifetime in the Making’ for MLC, fronted by British comedian Matt Berry.

Rece

USA

Founded by Toygar Bazarkaya, Ole Pedersen and Ole Lund, RECE is an independent agency built on a philosophy of what the founders call radical empathy. Toygar told LBB that the best work he’s seen drive real business impact shared one thing in common: “Empathy. Not knowledge. Not strategy. But radical empathy.” The agency’s ‘High-Speed Anthropology’ model blends audience immersion, creativity and AI to accelerate ideas from insight to execution.

Small Family Business

UK

Built across three generations of the same family, Small Family Business brings together former Havas London global ECD Elliot Harris, his daughters Eva and Tallulah Harris, and his father-in-law, industry veteran Billy Mawhinney. The family-led studio positions care, trust and relationships as creative advantages in an industry it sees as too big and slow-moving.

Spacecadet Studio

USA

Spacecadet Studio is a creative company designed to support companies operating at the technological frontier, from AI and robotics to gene therapy and space infrastructure. The studio is led by former Johannes Leonardo CMO John McCarthy and backed by Spacecadet Ventures, which has invested in more than 100 emerging tech businesses. Early clients include Autograph, Cytronic, K2 Space and Lir Therapeutics, reflecting a focus on brand building for complex, fast-moving innovation sectors.

Studio.One

UK

Frustration with what Ajaz Ahmed – co-founder and former CEO of AKQA – calls the “bureaucratic scaffolding” of holding-company life sits at the heart of Studio.One. “The very systems built to protect scale have become a straightjacket,” he told LBB, arguing that legacy agency structures now slow creativity rather than enable it. Studio.One is positioned as a response to that frustration – stripping away inherited processes in favour of a model built around ‘first principles’ thinking and value creation.

Super Nice

USA

Super Nice is an indie agency created by former VML CCO Jared Kozel with co-founders Barry Sonders and MJ Speakman, positioning itself as a “fun place to do big things”. Reflecting on its early traction, Jared told LBB that “when you lead with empathy and back it with world-class creative”, the results follow. The agency has quickly built a diverse client roster, made senior hires, and established a new headquarters in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward.

Tightknit Studio

Australia

Tightknit Studio marks a reunion for Evan Roberts and Lee Simpson, who last worked together a decade ago at Clemenger BBDO on landmark campaigns like ‘Meet Graham’ for the Transport Accident Commission. Prior to launching their own shop, Evan was CCO at TBWA\Sydney, and Lee CEO at whiteGREY. Positioning itself as a creative practice rather than a traditional agency, Tightknit Studio operates flexibly – working as an agency, embedding with in-house teams, or acting as a fractional marketing department – with a focus on reconnecting creativity to real business conversations.

Photo by Andy Hermawan on Unsplash