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French Influencer Marketing Agency YKONE Acquires Barcode This move will allow YKONE and Barcode to take advantage of new business opportunities and adjust to the changing global influencer marketing landscape by utilising their individual strengths, resources, and skills.

By Paromita Gupta

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

[L-R] Olivier Billon, Founder and CEO of YKONE and Rahul Khanna, CEO of Barcode

French Influencer Marketing agency YKONE announced the acquisition of a 70% stake of Barcode, a content and influencer marketing agency for an undisclosed amount.

With this move, both YKONE and Barcode can leverage their respective strengths, resources, and expertise to seize new business opportunities and adapt to the evolving developments in the international influencer marketing landscape.

With USD 100 million annual revenue and more than 300 workers, YKONE's position is further strengthened with the acquisition of Barcode.

Olivier Billon, Founder and CEO of YKONE, said, "The acquisition of Barcode Agency is a significant step for YKONE and its international expansion. YKONE already had a presence in India with an office in Bangalore since 2017. With the addition of Barcode's operations in India, YKONE's reach in the country and the broader Asia-Pacific region expands even further."

Founded in 2008 by Olivier Billon, Paris-based YKONE is an international influencer marketing agency, working with multinational clients in the travel, luxury, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle sectors. Spread across 18 major cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US, YKONE is a global team of over 155 professionals.

Rahul Khanna, Barcode's CEO, said, "This acquisition empowers us to provide worldwide services to our Indian clientele while simultaneously promoting India's unique narrative globally. My ambition with Olivier is to achieve worldwide supremacy in the field of Influencer Marketing."

Founded in 2019 by Rahul Khanna, Mumbai-based Barcode currently employs over 150 people across three locations. The startup claims that it is the preferred agency in India for 100 brands including Warner Music, MG Motors, YouTube, Unilever, Amazon, Sharechat, Flipkart, Myntra, Tira, and Glance.

With a network of over 350,000 influencers, it boasts a portfolio of over 40,000 brand partnerships and collaborations.

Paromita Gupta

Entrepreneur Staff

Features Writer with Entrepreneur India

Covering news and trends in AI and Metaverse segments. An avid book reader running her personal blog on the side. You may reach me at paromita@entrepreneurindia.com. 
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