Raffetto Herman Strategic Communications (RH Strategic) announced that it has acquired MIX PR, in a move that will deepen the agency’s expertise in cybersecurity, enterprise and emerging technology. The acquisition will also grow the firm to 30 professionals with staff in cities coast to coast, including RH Strategic offices in Seattle and Washington, D.C.
“RH Strategic has made several investments over the past year to add capacity and prepare for another decade of innovation and market disruption in technology, healthcare and government,” said John Raffetto, co-founder and CEO of RH Strategic. “The addition of the MIX PR team, combined with our own organic growth, sets us up well to serve our clients’ evolving communications needs not only in the U.S. but globally through our partnership in The Worldcom Public Relations Group.”
MIX PR principals Hally Wax and Matthew Mors founded their agency in 2009, as a spin out of the former Seattle Text 100 office. The MIX PR’s B2B tech expertise and leadership won them the trust and respect of powerful brands including the PCI Security Standards Council, Cisco, Malwarebytes and Websense. Wax and Mors are seasoned PR leaders: Wax previously served at the MWW Group and Mors served on the Starbucks corporate communications team prior to Text 100. Both were recognized in 2018 by PR News for their accomplishments. Wax was named one of the top “PR Women of the Year” and Mors was named “Data Dynamo.”
“Since our founding in 2008, RH Strategic has partnered with clients to help them enter new markets, grow their revenues, recruit more talent, attract capital investment or be acquired,” said RH Strategic co-founder and agency president David Herman. “MIX PR’s leadership and impressive team shares our mission to shape the future by introducing the world to the innovators who are disrupting markets and challenging the status quo.”
“MIX PR and RH Strategic have been working closely together and found synergies that brought value to the cross-functioning teams and clients,” said Wax. “The combined expertise of technology, policy and cyber is a winning recipe for any organization looking to compete in today’s heavily-regulated business climate. We could not be more thrilled to be joining the team at RH Strategic.”
Through the MIX PR acquisition, RH Strategic has positioned itself directly at the center of two growing market trends: digital transformation and cybersecurity. The application of digital transformation in all aspects of business is fundamentally changing how organizations operate and deliver value to customers. As they digitize services, businesses must also bolster their IT security to protect their own data as well as that of their partners and customers. These two business realities create significant market opportunity for innovators who are advancing new ideas of how to leverage technology and secure data in order to help customers meet their business objectives. Indeed, an estimated 300 cyber start-ups launch each year, and the B2B software and services market was predicted to end 2019 with its strongest growth yet, at $457 billion, according to Gartner.
Additionally, RH Strategic’s expertise in navigating the intersection of the private and public sector provides an added value to clients, given the increasing role of state and federal governments as both customer and influencer.
Rick Gould, managing partner of M&A Advisory firm Gould+Partners, advised the buyers and facilitated the transaction.
