Razorfish (company)

Razorfish

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Digital marketing, Interactive services
Founded	1 January 1995 (1995-01-01) in New York City, United States
Founder	Craig Kanarick, Jeff Dachis
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Area served	Global
Key people	Nigel Vaz (CEO of Publicis Sapient), Jem Ripley (CEO of Publicis Communications East)
Products	Web development, media planning and purchasing, technological innovation, emerging media, analytics, mobile solutions, advertising, creative campaigns, social influence marketing, search optimization
Owner	Publicis Groupe
Number of employees	2000+
Parent	Publicis Groupe

Razorfish is a subsidiary of Publicis Groupe specializing in interactive services such as web development, media planning and purchasing, technological innovation, emerging media, analytics, mobile solutions, advertising, creative campaigns, social influence marketing, and search optimization.

Employing more than 2,000 professionals globally, Razorfish maintains U.S. offices in key metropolitan areas including New York, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Portland, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin. From 2005 to 2007, the company broadened its international presence through acquisitions in cities like London, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Berlin, Frankfurt, Singapore, and established a joint venture in Tokyo. In 2013, Razorfish entered the Indian market by acquiring Neev Technologies based in Bangalore, strengthening its capabilities in outsourced product and application development.

In October 2016, Razorfish combined forces with SapientNitro—another division within Publicis Groupe—to create SapientRazorfish. By mid-2018, Publicis announced the phase-out of the SapientRazorfish brand as its team was integrated into Publicis.Sapient. Subsequently, on February 13, 2019, Publicis unified Publicis.Sapient, SapientRazorfish, and Sapient Consulting under the singular brand Publicis Sapient with CEO Nigel Vaz at the helm.

On January 14, 2020, Jem Ripley—CEO of Publicis Communications East—confirmed the reintroduction of the Razorfish brand to cater specifically to digital marketing clients outside the scope of Publicis Sapient’s digital transformation services.

Founding

Razorfish was established in 1995 in New York City by entrepreneurs Craig Kanarick and Jeff Dachis from Dachis’s apartment in Manhattan. Their initial significant contract was a $20,000 website project for the New York Botanical Garden secured via Time Warner’s Pathfinder team. Shortly thereafter, they relocated to an office at 580 Broadway and began expanding their workforce.

Initial Growth

By the end of 1995, Razorfish had generated revenue exceeding $300,000 and grew to $1.2 million with a profit of $300,000 in 1996. The firm gained attention for pioneering animated homepage designs utilizing Netscape’s “server-push” technology. Supported by investments from Omnicom and other media companies, Razorfish adopted the slogan “Everything that can be digital will be” and emerged as a prominent player within New York’s Silicon Alley digital hub.

In 1997, revenues climbed to $3.6 million with clients such as KPMG and Charles Schwab. Starting in 1998, Razorfish initiated several strategic acquisitions including Avalanche Systems; Plastic based in San Francisco; CHBi from London; <tag> media located in Los Angeles; and merged with Spray to extend its reach across Europe.

By 1998 Razorfish reported revenues surpassing $83 million and employed over 1,100 people. The company went public in April 1999 through an initial public offering that raised $48 million at $16 per share. Later that year it acquired Boston-based International Integration Inc. (I-Cube), its largest purchase to date which propelled sales beyond $170 million.

In May 2000 Razorfish launched Intervision-Razorfish—a joint venture in Tokyo—to enhance its global operations. However, following the dot-com bubble burst performance declined; fourth-quarter revenue in 2000 fell by 5% to $50.1 million while annual revenue approached $268 million. Early in 2001 the company reduced its workforce by 20% amid a sharp stock price drop from $57 down to $1 per share.

60 Minutes II Interview

In February 2000, Craig Kanarick and Jeff Dachis, the founders of the company, appeared on 60 Minutes II with Bob Simon. During the interview, they encountered difficulties in effectively explaining the company's business strategy. The segment was generally regarded as a failure.

Acquisition by SBI

Razorfish was acquired by SBI Group in 2003 and subsequently rebranded as SBI.Razorfish. Alongside this acquisition, SBI broadened its digital marketing capabilities by purchasing several firms including Scient, iXL, MarchFirst, Emerald Solutions, Lante, and Xcelerate.

Acquisition by aQuantive

In 2004, aQuantive took ownership of SBI.Razorfish and rebranded it as Avenue A | Razorfish. By 2005, the company had become the leading interactive advertising agency in the United States, generating revenues of $189.8 million.

Acquisition by Microsoft

On May 18, 2007, Microsoft declared its intent to acquire aQuantive—including Avenue A | Razorfish—for $6 billion; the transaction was finalized on August 10, 2007. Razorfish continued to operate autonomously within Microsoft Advertising under CEO Brian McAndrews. In October 2008, the firm dropped the Avenue A prefix and reverted to simply Razorfish. By June 2009, Microsoft opted to sell Razorfish to prevent overlap with its primary advertising technology ventures.

Acquisition by Publicis Groupe

Paris-based Publicis Groupe purchased Razorfish from Microsoft in August 2009 for $530 million in cash and stock, resulting in Microsoft obtaining a 3% equity stake in Publicis. Leadership saw transitions with Clark Kokich serving as CEO until April 2008 before Bob Lord took over as CEO while Kokich moved into the Chairman role. Pete Stein assumed the position of Global CEO in July 2013, followed later by Tom Adamski and then Shannon Denton; Adamski passed away in October 2015.

In 2016, Razorfish combined forces with SapientNitro to create SapientRazorfish under the leadership of former SapientNitro CEO Alan Wexler, who also held Co-CEO responsibilities at Publicis alongside Sapient Consulting CEO Chip Register. This consolidation was part of Publicis Groupe’s broader initiative to unify its digital agency network and enhance global capabilities.