Ambitious Mortar Merges with 'Safe AI' Firm Firehouse

Sydney-based performance intelligence platform Mortar Group has merged with Firehouse Technology, based in Adelaide, creating a new company which will be known as Mortar Tech.

Mortar is an independent, privacy-safe measurement platform bringing together marketing mix modelling (MMM), incrementally testing and digital tracking, with solutions including Mortar DS and Helix, and clients focused in the retail, automotive and FMCG sectors. Users can connect their data systems, including CRM and ad platforms; model outcomes; and optimise and automate campaigns. In mid-July the company upped CEO James Zipeure to Group CEO, reflecting ambitious plans for expansion across the UK, US and Asia; and earlier this month it appointed Paul Sigaloff as its first global Chief Customer Officer.

Launched in 2020, Firehouse aims to democratise intelligence through safe and responsible AI implementation, and boasts a proprietary and 'unique' Safe AI framework. The firm has a significant operations hub in Sri Lanka, and is led by Nilan Mihindukulasooriya and Nisal Karunathilaka. The buy gives Mortar an expanded global footprint, and 'dramatically expands' its offering to serve as a full service digital transformation partner. Mortar Tech will design, build and scale proprietary platforms, digital products, and advanced tools enhancing the firm's existing capabilities spanning measurement and execution.

Group CEO James Zipeure (pictured right) comments: 'Mortar had already built a strong development foundation, but Firehouse changes our scale entirely. Mortar Tech is where everything connects, strategy, creative thinking, and engineering execution, all working together in one flow. That makes us faster, sharper, and more ambitious in what we can deliver. This merger and launch will help redefine our capabilities.'

Mihindukulasooriya (pictured left), who is MD of Firehouse Technology, adds: 'Firehouse has always been about taking bold ideas and turning them into reality for a range of enterprise clients. By merging with Mortar, we now have the platform to push that vision further. Mortar Tech will be where our engineering talent meets Mortar's global ambition, creating products and solutions that can reshape markets.'

The firm is on the web at www.mortarai.com .