The best performance marketing agency for a startup is the one built for your stage. A pre-seed founder testing whether anyone will pay needs something very different from a Series A company scaling paid acquisition, and the wrong fit can burn runway fast. Below are ten UK agencies that work with startups, what each is genuinely best for, what they publish about price and terms, and how to choose one that helps you find your first profitable channel.
Full disclosure: this list is written by Brightpace, and we’ve put ourselves at number one. We’d rather say that plainly than pretend to be neutral. Everything we say about the other nine is based on their own websites, and each is strong at something, so use the “best for” labels to find your fit, even if it isn’t us.
How we chose
Every agency on this list:
- Runs paid acquisition as a core service, such as Google Ads, paid social or app user acquisition, not just branding or web design
- Works with UK startups, from a UK base, with startups named as a focus on its own website
- Is clear about who it suits, whether that’s a stage, a budget, a business model or a channel
We’ve ordered the list by who we’d recommend for a typical UK startup that wants senior, commercially focused paid acquisition on flexible terms, which is, admittedly, the brief we built Brightpace around.
At a glance
| # | Agency | Best for | Based in | Published terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brightpace | Finding your first profitable paid channel | UK, working remotely | 30-day rolling, no setup fee |
| 2 | Growth Division | A fractional growth team across many channels | London | Teams from about £5,000 a month, no lock-in |
| 3 | Rise | Flexible specialists once you outgrow a freelancer | Hertfordshire | No retainers or minimum terms |
| 4 | Gripped | B2B SaaS from Series A onwards | London | Not published |
| 5 | Team4 | Scaling B2B SaaS on search and LinkedIn | London | Clients typically spend £3,000+ a month |
| 6 | Growthcurve | Well-funded consumer, fintech and app startups | London | Media budgets from $50,000 a month |
| 7 | Kurve | Mobile app startups | London | Not published |
| 8 | The Good Marketer | Startups wanting several channels in one package | London | From £845 a month, 6-month minimum |
| 9 | Get-Found | eCommerce and SaaS startups on rolling terms | Birmingham and London | Monthly rolling |
| 10 | OnePPC Agency | Testing Google Ads on a small fixed fee | Cornwall | From £360 a month, 30-day rolling |
Prices are fees from each agency’s website and exclude ad spend and VAT unless stated.
The 10 best performance marketing agencies for UK startups
1. Brightpace
Best for: startups that want to find their first profitable paid channel with a senior specialist, without a long contract.
Yes, this is us. Brightpace is a founder-led UK agency, founded by a former Performance Marketing Manager at Ticketmaster. As a marketing agency for startups, we work with pre-seed products finding their first customers through to funded teams scaling paid acquisition, across Google Ads, paid social and LinkedIn.
Why we’d put ourselves first:
- Targets before spend. From your pricing, margins and early retention, we set a target cost per customer and payback period before spending a pound. Our free LTV:CAC calculator shows the maths.
- Two channels, tested properly. Usually high-intent search plus one paid social platform, with enough budget and time to read the results, rather than ten channels at once.
- Numbers investors understand. We report customer acquisition cost, payback and blended MER from your own data, not clicks or platform-reported ROAS.
- Clear terms. A monthly fee agreed up front, no setup fee, a 30-day rolling contract, and your ad accounts stay in your name.
Worth knowing: we’re a deliberately small, senior operation focused on paid media. We don’t do SEO, content, outbound or app store optimisation, so if you need a whole growth team across those, an option further down this list may suit you better.
2. Growth Division
Best for: startups and scaleups that want a fractional growth team across many channels.
London-based Growth Division builds growth teams for startups, scaleups and ambitious SMEs across B2B, B2C and marketplaces. It starts with strategy and setup, such as analytics, landing pages and go-to-market planning, then runs channels including search ads, LinkedIn outreach, SEO, content, PR and partnerships. It publishes its pricing: most teams cost £5,000 to £10,000 a month plus VAT, with no lock-in, and it says it has worked with more than 130 clients.
3. Rise
Best for: founder-led startups that have outgrown a single freelancer but don’t want a big agency retainer.
Rise is a growth marketing collective led by founder Barri Coen and headquartered in Hertfordshire, just north of London, with specialists across the UK and abroad. It covers Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest and Snap, plus SEO, email, CRO and analytics. There are no fixed retainers or minimum terms: planning projects are fixed-price, typically £750 to £1,500 plus VAT, and ongoing work is priced by the specialists and hours you need.
4. Gripped
Best for: B2B SaaS and tech startups from Series A onwards.
Founded in 2017 and based in London, Gripped works with B2B SaaS and tech companies, typically from Series A through growth stage. It runs Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads alongside demand generation strategy, ABM, SEO, GEO and web, and says it has worked with more than 160 SaaS, AI and tech clients. It doesn’t take on pre-product-market-fit companies, so it suits startups that already have traction. See our list of the best B2B SaaS marketing agencies in the UK for more options.
5. Team4
Best for: scaling B2B SaaS startups that want paid search and LinkedIn run as one programme.
London-based Team4 works with B2B SaaS and technology businesses across the UK, Europe and the US, including AI, HR tech, fintech, legal tech and edtech. It runs Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads within a demand generation service, with SEO, GEO and Webflow sites alongside. It says clients typically invest £3,000 or more a month in marketing.
6. Growthcurve
Best for: well-funded consumer, fintech and app startups ready to spend heavily on paid acquisition.
Growthcurve has a London office and runs paid social, paid search, eCommerce growth, mobile user acquisition, creative production and UGC ads for B2C startups, B2B scale-ups and app and gaming companies. Its named clients include Coinbase, Anna Money and Midnite. It qualifies clients on a media budget of at least $50,000 a month, so it suits startups that have raised and are ready to scale.
7. Kurve
Best for: mobile app startups that need paid social, app store optimisation and creative together.
Kurve is an app growth agency based in Shoreditch, London. It runs TikTok and Meta campaigns, app store optimisation, influencer marketing, creative ad production and growth stack setup, and says it works with ambitious founders and app businesses backed by venture capital and private equity firms. A specialist choice if your product lives in the app stores.
8. The Good Marketer
Best for: startups that want paid ads, social, SEO and email in one monthly package.
Founded in 2017 and based in Whitechapel, London, The Good Marketer works with small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, SEO, content, email and web design. It publishes packages based on monthly hours, from £845 a month plus VAT, with a six-month minimum term before moving to rolling. It also features in our list of the best Google Ads agencies for small businesses.
9. Get-Found
Best for: eCommerce and SaaS startups that want Google, Meta and marketplace ads on rolling terms.
Get-Found was founded in 2019 and has offices in Birmingham and Canary Wharf, London. It runs Google Ads, Meta, YouTube, Microsoft and Amazon Ads for businesses in eCommerce, SaaS, professional services, healthcare and hospitality. It works on monthly rolling contracts with no lock-in, which suits startups that need to keep their options open.
10. OnePPC Agency
Best for: early-stage startups testing Google Ads on a small, fixed monthly fee.
OnePPC Agency is based in Newquay, Cornwall, and says it has been a Google Ads Partner for over ten years. It publishes fixed plans, from £360 a month plus VAT for a local business and £450 for a small business, or £90 an hour, all on a 30-day rolling agreement with seven working days’ notice. A low-commitment way to test whether search can bring in customers before you hire a bigger team.
How to choose a marketing agency for your startup
Start with your stage, because it decides what you need from an agency more than anything else.
Whoever you shortlist, ask these questions. Our 12-point checklist for choosing a PPC agency goes deeper.
- What will they judge success on? Customer acquisition cost, payback period and revenue, not clicks, impressions or platform-reported ROAS.
- How many channels will they test, and how? Two channels tested properly beat ten tested badly. Ask what budget and time each test needs to give a clear answer.
- What’s the minimum commitment? Startups change fast. Look for rolling terms, or a short fixed project, rather than a six or twelve-month contract.
- Do they work with companies at your stage? Some agencies only take funded or post-product-market-fit startups; others suit founders testing their first channel.
- Who runs your account? Meet the person doing the day-to-day work, not just the pitch team.
- Who owns the accounts and data? Your ad accounts, analytics and audiences should be in your company’s name from day one, so you can bring marketing in-house later. Our in-housing roadmap shows how.
Frequently asked questions
Should an early-stage startup hire a marketing agency?
It depends on your stage and budget. Before product-market fit, a short, focused test of one or two channels is usually enough, and a big retainer can waste runway. Once you know what customers are worth and have budget to test properly, a specialist agency or fractional team can find and scale your first profitable channel faster than hiring.
How much does a startup marketing agency cost in the UK?
It ranges widely. On this list, published prices run from a few hundred pounds a month for a single channel to £5,000 to £10,000 a month for a fractional growth team, before ad spend. Our guide to what PPC management costs in the UK has worked examples by budget.
Which paid channel should a startup test first?
Usually high-intent search, because it captures people already looking for what you offer, plus one paid social platform that fits your audience. Work out what a customer can cost first. Our guide to Google Ads vs Meta ads helps you choose between them.
What metrics should a startup report to investors?
Customer acquisition cost, payback period, lifetime value to CAC ratio and blended marketing efficiency (MER), all from your own data. Platform-reported ROAS often double-counts, so use it alongside your own numbers, not instead of them.
When should a startup bring paid media in-house?
Often once spend and complexity justify a full-time hire, and you have tracking and processes in place for them to inherit. Our guide to in-housing vs agency costs compares the numbers.
In short
The UK’s best performance marketing agencies for startups range from founder-led paid media specialists to fractional growth teams, flexible collectives, SaaS specialists and app user acquisition agencies. Shortlist on stage first, then on budget and business model, and judge each on what they measure, how they test, minimum commitment, who runs your account and whether you keep ownership of your accounts and data.
Selling software to businesses? See the best B2B SaaS marketing agencies in the UK and the best B2B PPC agencies in the UK.
Sources
Each agency’s own website, checked for startup focus, services, locations, prices and terms. Last checked October 2026.
- Growth Division, Growth Division
- Rise, Rise Growth Marketing Collective
- Gripped, Gripped
- Team4, Team4
- Growthcurve, Growthcurve
- Kurve, Kurve
- The Good Marketer, The Good Marketer
- Get-Found, Get-Found
- Google Ads management pricing, OnePPC Agency
Want to see if Brightpace is the right fit? Explore our marketing for startups approach or let’s chat about your first channel.
Want a senior eye on your paid media strategy?
Work directly with the founder: no juniors, no hand-offs, 30-day rolling contracts.