Mission North Joins Forces with cred to Lead New Era of Thought Leadership and Live Events

• Acquisition expands Mission North's capabilities in executive positioning, thought leadership and live events
• cred will retain its brand and operate independently under founder and CEO Caitlin Bartley

EmitenTrust.com EmitenTrust.com SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mission North, a communications agency for consequential companies, today announced it has acquired cred, a communications agency specializing in thought leadership and events for innovation brands.

cred builds thought leaders by securing earned speaking opportunities on the world's most important stages and producing experiences from intimate VIP dinners to large-scale conferences. cred's clients include high-growth startups, Fortune 500 companies and investors across the same segments Mission North serves, including B2B and consumer technology, AI, healthcare and financial services. The partnership deepens and expands Mission North's capabilities in executive positioning, thought leadership and live events at a moment when earned, in-person visibility matters more than ever.

"In a world of endless content, real relationships matter more than ever, and those are built in rooms and on stages, not just in feeds," said Mission North's Co-CEOs Bill Bourdon and Tyler Perry. "Caitlin and the cred team are the best in the business at making that happen. As AI reshapes how we communicate, the companies that win will be the ones that show up in person."

AI has made it easy to generate infinite content, but much harder to build trust. Whether it's an executive on stage, a customer dinner, a flagship conference or a strategic industry convening, events build the relationships and trust other channels can't match. Together, Mission North and cred will give clients integrated thought leadership and event capabilities to elevate their executives and brands across earned media, speaking, podcasts, owned events and social content.

"cred has grown on the strength of our work and the relationships we've built over the last decade," said Caitlin Bartley, CEO, cred. "Mission North is the clear partner to help us go further. This partnership lets us bring our approach to more companies who see the value of live experiences, and do it while doubling down on what's always set us apart: our people and our clients."

cred will retain its brand and operate under its existing leadership, with strategic backing from Mission North. Bartley will continue to serve as CEO of cred, partnering closely with Mission North's leadership team to build, market and deliver new client solutions.

About cred

cred is a communications agency specializing in thought leadership and events for innovation brands. The agency positions executives and secures speaking engagements on stages like SXSW, HumanX and Milken, and produces experiences from VIP dinners to large-scale conferences. cred's current and former clients include high-growth startups and Fortune 500 companies, such as Notion, Together AI, Pinterest, Cisco and Salesforce.org. For more information visit credpr.com.

About Mission North

Mission North is a strategic communications agency for consequential companies to accelerate their market impact at every growth stage. The agency is headquartered in New York and San Francisco, with hubs in Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon. For more information visit missionnorth.com.  

Media Contact:

Shara Seigel, vice president, Media Strategy at Mission North – sseigel@missionnorth.com 

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SOURCE Mission North