Following the news last week that Deluxe has acquired Sundog Media Toolkit, Sundog’s former CEO Richard Welsh tells TVBEurope the deal was part of a long-term strategy on both sides.
“Neither Brexit nor the pandemic were factors in the timing,” says Welsh. “With Deluxe’s strategy to innovate and be at the forefront of technology for cinema, streaming and localisation and Sundog’s strategy to increase the depth and reach of our offering, this was the right time to join forces.”
As part of the deal, Welsh has joined Deluxe as SVP Innovation, while fellow Sundog founder Chris Ralph has been named senior solutions architect.
Welsh adds that the buyout by Deluxe means that its existing technology products will be able to wrap around the Sundog engine to augment its capabilities. “In all new technology development, there needs to be a phase of rapid growth to realise true potential,” he adds. “Joining Deluxe will absolutely let us take Sundog much further, faster and with the benefit of doing that in a full-service company that will bring great benefits to our existing and new customers alike.
“The Sundog engine will benefit both SaaS customers and the internal Deluxe operation,” Welsh continues. “Content creators are working to increasingly tight distribution schedules and are delivering simultaneously to more varied platforms, in more advanced formats than ever before. Sundog’s advanced automation and Cloud scale is uniquely able to meet this challenge and this cutting-edge capability will now be a central piece of the offering from Deluxe.”
Having founded Sundog in 2013, how does Welsh feel about handing it over to Deluxe? “We’re very proud of what we have built and we’re exceptionally pleased to see Deluxe take it to the next level,” he says. “We’re also extremely honoured to be joining a company with such a great history and an iconic name in the industry. Joining Deluxe and being part of that story is truly a special moment for us.”
