With Salesforce’s acquisition of Traction on Demand and Pressboard’s sale to Impact.com, 2022 had been shaping up to be the year of B.C. startup sales to American firms. But Vancouver’s Zoomd Technologies Inc. is bucking the trend and doing some acquiring of its own.

The marketing technology firm today announced that it’s acquired Albert Technologies Inc., a New York-based artificial intelligence platform that helps advertisers automate digital marketing campaigns. The transaction was made through a mix of cash and stock.

Why it matters: Founded in 2012, Zoomd specializes in mobile user acquisition, working with clients in fintech, gaming and utilities, among other industries. Albert’s product helps users execute social media ads by autonomously combing through data, analyzing it, and then acting on any relevant insights across different devices and formats. Zoomd plans to leverage Albert’s AI-tech for its own clients, ultimately helping them eliminate time-consuming manual tasks like reviewing data and analytics.

Details: Zoomd had plans to release similar features into its own products, however, the acquisition accelerates those efforts immediately, says CEO Ofer Eitan. “Furthermore, we view Albert as complementary for mobile apps, particularly with regards to our future plans relating to Web3,” he says.

In discussing the firm’s M&A roadmap, Eitan says it will focus on acquiring “professionals, supplementary technology and a solid customer base, as a part of Zoomd's growth objective.” The Albert deal brings Zoomd new people, tech and multiple Fortune 500 customers, so it’s fair to say that Zoomd’s M&A strategy is off to a hot start.