Starcom
Starcom is a global media planning agency with 5,632 employees that works with major brands like Bank of America, McDonald's and Samsung. It was founded in 2020 and raised $57M in Series A funding in 2026.
The growth story
Starcom grew from 5,857 to 5,632 employees between 2023 and 2026, raising $57M along the way, most recently a Series A in February 2026.
About
Starcom sells advertising and media planning services to large consumer brands. Its clients include Bank of America, Best Buy, Kellanova, McDonald's, Novartis, Samsung, Visa and WK Kellogg Company.
The company has grown rapidly since its 2020 founding, reaching over 5,600 employees. Its $57M Series A in 2026 came from Chinese investors including Beijing Commercial Aerospace and Low-altitude Economic Industry Investment Fund.
Founders and leadership
Starcom's largest function is marketing, making up 23% of its workforce. The company is headquartered in Chicago and operates over 100 offices globally.
The Starcom org chart
Katie Lee (Chief Executive Officer) leads 59 mapped leaders with 31 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Marketing 1,381 (+1% YoY), Business Development 1,000 (+11% YoY), Sales 532 (+12% YoY), Media and Communication 420 (+2% YoY), Operations 380 (+10% YoY), Finance 241 (+6% YoY).
Talent flow
Starcom hires heavily from other media agencies, with Mindshare, Zenith and Spark Foundry being its top sources. Its alumni often move to Publicis Groupe, WPP Media and Google. Employees stay for a median of 2 years.
Most common previous employers of Starcom staff: Mindshare (64), Zenith (43), Spark Foundry (39), MediaCom (36), OMD (30), Publicis Media (28). Former Starcom employees most often moved to Publicis Groupe (21), WPP Media (18), Google (8), Publicis Media (8), Spark Foundry (8), Amazon (7).
Alumni worth knowing
The Starcom mafia
Starcom alumni have founded 170 companies, including Publicis Groupe, WPP Media and dentsu. These alumni-founded firms employ over 100,000 people combined.
173Inanc Dedebas, was General Manager until 2014Amer El Hajj, was Media Manager until 2008Shankar Rajagopal, was Planning Director until 2009Tarek Daouk, was Chief Executive Officer Middle East until 2018Chris Boothe, was President & COO until 2012Manish Makhijani, was Media Manager until 2001
Lara Arbid, was Media Executive until 2008
Nick Brien, was President until 2003
Andrew Swinand, was President until 2011
Zouheir Sabra, was Chief Financial Officer until 2005
Laura Desmond, was CEO until 2016
Sue Squillace, was Sydney Agency Director until 2012
Martina Rihova, was CEO until 2016
Elda Choucair, was Media Exec until 2006
David Krupp, was Associate Media Director until 2006
Manas Gulati, was Group Head (Media) until 2010
Felipe Pelzel Di luca, was Digital analytics until 2008
Kaustav Mukerji, was Lead Architect - Performance Marketing until 2012
Robert Harwood-Matthews, was Executive Vice President, Samsung USA. until 2018
Jaime Larrubia Arranz, was Software Programmer until 2003
Tanveer Faruq, was Media Consultant until 2019
Jason Tonelli GAICD, was Executive Director - Technology, Digital and Content until 2016
Farhan Khan, was COO at Starcom Pakistan until 2020
Dmitri Lisitski, was Managing Director of Starcom until 2005
Tony Harradine, was Investment Manager until 2003
Martin Osorio, was Gerente General until 2004
Radim Pelánek, was Senior Media Consultant until 2012
Diego Pajarón, was Director de Planificación until 2005
Atul Phadnis, was Media Director of Strategic Planning & Business Head of Starcom Digital until 2002
Mohammad Hani, was Snr. Digital Performance Media Manager until 2019
Narayanan V, was Senior Planner until 1997
Borja Beneyto, was Digital Marketing, Performance & Content Director, Spain until 2013
Kasia Gryzlo, was Creative Copywriter until 2016
Emmad Khan, was Manager Media Buying until 2014
Eduardo Jerome Posadas Pena, was Account Executive until 2015
Aviv Levy Shoshan, was Global Data Analyst until 2016
Cat Agostinho, was Digital Associate Director until 2010
Adam Foley, was Managing Partner, Strategy until 2015
Andres Pineda, was Consultor independiente, SEO y Web Analytics until 2013
Raphael Grandemange, was Directeur général FRANCE / managing director FRANCE until 2016
Jose Manuel Cartes, was Digital (Central American Region) until 2011
Edward Byrne, was Senior Executive until 2015
Robert Brill, was Online Media Supervisor until 2007
Tom Holland, was PPC Executive (Placement Year) until 2009
Diego De Lorenzis, was Strategic Media Planner until 2012
Amitav Ash, was Client Partner P&G and Business Head - West & South until 2011
Imran Ghazali, was Senior Manager until 2014
Arsalan Raza, was Management Trainee until 2016
Brianne Caplan, was Senior Associate, Data & Analytics until 2016
Mallikarjunadas Coimbatore, was Group CEO - Starcom & Convonix until 2018
André Torres, was SEM Analyst until 2012
Shobhit Gaur, was National Media Director- Media Solutions until 2014
Atta Saheto, was Manager Media Buying until 2011
Tomasz Szymanski, was Intership Program until 2002
Jan-Peter Reineke, was Digital Director Australia until 2012
Jonas Nyvang, was Business Development Director until 2012
Jeet Mukerji, was Senior Account Executive until 2013
Jeffrey Graham, was SVP, Research & Accountability until 2007
Mona El-Kheshen, was Media Planner, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Detergents until 2004
Yasir Riaz, was Managing Director until 2017
Alex Lawton, was Client Services Director - Iberia + International until 2008
Angela Maria Zapata Chaves, was Human Resources Director until 2013
Carol PKU, was Regional Coordinator until 2011
David Robustelli, was Online media planner until 2006
Praveen Tripathi, was Managing Director until 2001
Sebastien Lepez, was Director until 2012
Jamie Johnston, was New Business Executive until 2013
Kulpreet Singh, was Management Trainee until 2011
Pratick Thakrar, was Global Project Director (contract) until 2007
Nathalie Pannetier, was Account Executive until 2000
Mike Altier, was Freelance Creative Director/Copywriter until 2013
Martin Bentzen, was Digital Director until 2012
Emma Thwaite, was Marketing Director until 2006
Amy Kean, was Global Head of Creative and Innovation until 2020
Beth Mach, was SVP, Global Digital Director until 2015
Paul Scanlon, was Business Manager until 2018
Pol Cortés, was Senior Digital Designer until 2014
Marcus Elliott Brown, was Global Growth Officer, EMEA until 2018
Lisa Hurwitz, was EVP, Managing Director P&G until 2015
Antoine Szalewski, was Multiscreen Strategist until 2013
Dilara Cossette, was Media Communication Planner until 2012
Jessica Zweig, was Social Media Community Manager until 2013
Estela Rotmistrovsky, was Media & Planning Assistant until 2008
Egemen Arslan Gamescom, was Director Of Media Strategy until 2018
Georgia Homsany, was Strategy Associate until 2006
Luis Quadros, MSc, was Senior Search Executive until 2011
Glyn Williams, was Media Supervisor until 2007
Tariq Qazi, was Associate- Media Strategy until 2015
Muhammad Rizwan Siddiqui, was Senior Associate until 2016
Sara Buluggiu, was Digital Director until 2013
Sushruta Samanta, was CEO Starcom Sri Lanka until 2007
Michael A. Tennant, was Media Director Coca-Cola Venture and Emerging Brands (VEB) until 2015
Chris Lombardi, was Digital Strategy Planner until 2008
Arthur Deslandes, was Team Lead Programmatic & Social Media until 2020
Ravi Kiran, was CEO-South East & South Asia & CEO-Specialist Solutions, Asia until 2009
Ali Imran Memon, was Group Account Director until 2014
Ben Dancer, was Trainee Media Executive until 2014
Sebastian Pinzon Duran, was Associate Media Director until 2019
Luc TRAN THANG, was President, France, Belgium & Netherlands until 2015
Haroon Q. Raja, was ICT & SEO Consultant until 2018
Marco Bertozzi, was Global Chief Executive, Performance Marketing until 2016
Rachel Forde, was Managing Director P&G United UK until 2016
Sedef Sahin, was Marketing Specialist until 2012
Simay Dinç, was Media Planning İntern until 2008
Ray C., was Media Planner / Buyer until 2011
Paula Gaviria, was Digital Manager for SMG COLOMBIA (Starcom Mediavest Group) at Publicis Groupe Media until 2012
Julia Petryk, was Digital Media Manager until 2013
Candice Ruckstuhl, was Account Executive until 2006
Lisa Berardi, was HR Manager until 2012
Chuck Welch, was VP, Human Experience Strategy Director until 2015
Juan Carlos Sanchez, was Director , Visa International Regional Group Leader until 2006
Tracey Scheppach, was SVP, Video Innovations Director until 2010
Scott Witt, was VP/Group Director, Digital Media until 2006
Andrew Prophet Fixing Founder Dependency for Sustainable Scale, was Digital Account Manager until 2006
Mohit Lodha, was Human Experience Strategy Director until 2015
Rishad Tobaccowala, was President Starcom IP until 2002
Simon Kemp, was Director - Consumer Context Planning until 2008
Daniel Ross, was Associate Director until 2009
Nikodem Sarna, PhD, was Programmatic Specialist until 2015
Ronnie Dickerson Stewart, was Media Associate until 2007
Navin N Moolchandani, was Social Media until 2016
Sharon Parmar (née Aneja), was VP, Digital & West India Region until 2012
Michele Rossi, was Head of Digital until 2016
Chris Thomas, was Digital Planner Buyer until 2008
Julian Ward, was Communications Director until 2005
Freya Jones, was Senior Analyst - Search & Performance Media until 2013
Johan Larsson, was VD/Projektledare until 2001
David Lim (Avante Strategies), was Digital Marketing Manager until 2016
Anastasia Petrova, was media-planner until 2012
Andy Power, was Activation Director (Digital, Press, TV, Cinema, Outdoor & Radio) until 2013
Brooke Ellis, was Strategic Research Analyst until 2007
Kyle Stefankiewicz, was Associate Media Director until 2012
Megha Jasra, was HR Executive until 2015
Christopher Latter, was Search/SEO Manager until 2012
Pedro Lopez Martheyn, was Sr. Account Manager | Performance Marketing Lead until 2013
Christopher Bernard, was Interactive Marketing & Database Manager until 2004
Ghayath Sioufi, was Group Account Director until 2005
Ayse Guvencer, was Head of Digital and Strategy / Board Director until 2019
Kamlesh Sawal, was Group Head - Performance Marketing until 2012
ANI ALEXANDER, was Account Manager, Ferrero Brands until 2016
Emre Faks, was Chief Digital Officer until 2010
Jon Anselmo, was SVP Group Director until 2015
Jessica Avedikian, was Senior Social Media Manager until 2015
Patrick Melville, was International Business Director until 2013
Germán Palomares Salinas, was Digital Project Manager until 2011
Ashish Limaye, was General Manager - Marketing until 2010
Madan Mohapatra, was Associate Media Director until 2003
Catalina Franco, was LATAM DIGITAL DIRECTOR. REGIONAL ACCOUNTS until 2014
Kübra Omural, was Media Planning Intern until 2013
Lisa Weinstein, was President, Global Digital, Data and Analytics until 2015
Elaine Quirke, was Business & Strategy Lead until 2018
Tracey Weinrib, was National Director, Precision Media until 2016
Fiona Thwaites, was SVP Head of Strategy & Analytics until 2015
Alejandro Sobrino, was Digital Supervisor until 2009
Rajeev Bala, was Director - New Media until 2005
Sean Finnegan, was President, Chief Digital Officer until 2010
Jon Krueger, was Senior Media Buyer until 2003
christian weill, was Directeur médias until 2016
Kevin Adler, was Sports Marketing Supervisor until 2001
James Smyllie, was Group Account Manager until 2006
Kristoffer Vagnsø Petersen, was Internet Planner/Buyer until 2005
Özlem Soysev, was MD until 2006
Emre EROL, was Account Manager until 2005
Kundan Kumar, was Executive - MIS & Operations until 2011
Morten Ingemann, was Business Development & ICP Director until 2004Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 28% direct, 68% search, 0% social, 0% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Starcom: Digital Marketing (1,564), Social Media (1,445), Advertising (1,437), Microsoft Excel (1,391), Marketing (1,387), Microsoft Office (1,380), Media Planning (1,298), Social Media Marketing (1,244).
Where the team actually sits
Starcom people are concentrated in Greater Chicago Area (72), Illinois, United States (62), New York, United States (48), England, United Kingdom (40).
Search footprint
Starcom attracts about 1,537 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $2K a month if bought through ads. It gained 119 ranking keywords and lost 58 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 3.20 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 3.40 / 5
- Senior management
- 3.00 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 3.40 / 5
Frequently asked
Starcom has 5,632 employees as of September 2026.
Starcom has raised $57M in total, most recently a Series A round in February 2026.
Katie Lee (Chief Executive Officer) sits at the top of Starcom's reporting structure, with 31 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Starcom staff are Mindshare (64 people), Zenith (43 people), Spark Foundry (39 people).
Former Starcom employees most often move to Publicis Groupe (21), WPP Media (18), Google (8).
At least 170 companies have a founder who previously worked at Starcom, including Publicis Groupe, WPP Media, dentsu.
Starcom attracts about 1,537 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $2K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Starcom staff are Digital Marketing, Social Media, Advertising, Microsoft Excel, Marketing.
Starcom staff are concentrated in Greater Chicago Area (72), Illinois, United States (62), New York, United States (48).
Starcom has about 1,381 people in Marketing, up 1% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Starcom has about 1,000 people in Business Development, up 11% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 596 current and 989 former Starcom profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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