Bain to acquire APAC arm of venture-building studio Rainmaking

Consulting firm Bain & Company, today announced that they intend to acquire the Asia Pacific arm of global venture-building and start-up, Rainmaking. The development studio which comprises 50 entrepreneurial talents across key markets in Singapore, Japan and South Korea, will be utilised to accelerate and expand its business-building offering, Next^SM, which was launched by the firm in April 2022, and consists of around 200 entrepreneurs, strategists, designers, data scientists and engineers across the APAC region.

Due for closing by the end of July, the acquisition is still subject to, and contingent upon, several conditions precedent to completion, in accordance with a press release shared. The amount for the deal remains undisclosed.

Both Bain and Rainmaking APAC were appointed to participate in the Corporate Venture Launchpad 2.0 program, an SGD$20 million initiative launched by the Singapore Economic Development Board. Rainmaking is also a partner of Enterprise Singapore’s Global Innovation Alliance to help more Singapore-based start-ups and tech SMEs access market opportunities in international markets.

The acquisition follows a growing trend amongst consulting firms who are proactively seeking to grow both upwards and sideaways in offerings. Brands such as Accenture, McKinsey, Deloitte, IBM and KPMG have all forayed into the M&A territory over recent years (with a particular focus on the marcomms arena), spending billions in the process on companies such as Droga5, Pervorm,  creative shop Acne and design firm, Bandfirst. 

Speaking on the deal, Satish Shankar, Bain's Asia Pacific regional managing partner shared, "The region, especially Singapore, is a thriving innovation hub that has continued to attract talent and multinational companies to set up new businesses."

"Building new engines of growth will continue to be a top priority for our clients. Our Next℠ offering has delivered strong results in innovation and business-building for our clients, and our acquisition of Rainmaking APAC marks the next critical step in scaling our Innovation & Design (I&D) capabilities to create market-leading results for clients.”

Samuel Hall, CEO of Rainmaking APAC said, "We are very excited to now continue our growth trajectory with Bain, who will supercharge our corporate connectivity and investment capability. With Bain as our backer, we will now be able to launch more studios and ventures; benefit from a greater volume of deeper partnerships with corporations and industry leaders; and drive significantly greater opportunity and upside for the people that work with us, build with us, and launch new ventures with us."