Literal Humans
Founded 2020 · 11 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
Find your way into Literal Humans
729 people in our graph share verified history with the Literal Humans team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
.jpeg)
Literal Humans is a growth marketing agency offering creative and go-to-market strategy services, with a focus on tech-for-good startups, nonprofits, and B2B SaaS companies. It works through a team of creative and GTM professionals alongside specialist consultants and operates on a four-day workweek, hybrid/remote model.
Also known as Literal Humans
Founders & leadership
Literal Humans was founded in 2020 by Paul David.
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Literal Humans is a digital and content marketing agency that positions itself around a "human-to-human" (H2H) approach, describing its purpose as delivering resilient growth for mission-driven brands. Its service lines span content marketing, branding, organic social media, performance marketing, website design, email marketing, growth strategy and PR, delivered by a team that includes writers, strategists, analysts, designers, developers, SEO and paid-media specialists offering what the company calls a 360-degree growth service.
The agency's team page describes a blend of creative and go-to-market professionals, largely in fractional roles (GTM strategists, brand and creative strategists, designers, a web developer and an accountant), supplemented by outside specialist consultants for bespoke project strategies. Literal Humans also produces a weekly blog ("Literal Insights") and a podcast, "Tech Can't Save Us," hosted by founder Paul David, which interviews founders and executives at mission-driven technology companies and had reached a fourth season with 48 episodes at the time of review.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Paul David started Literal Humans in 2020 after helping grow a previous US-based agency to $1.5M ARR, with the aim of providing growth strategy work for tech-for-good startups, nonprofits and B2B SaaS companies. He had previously worked as a freelance writer and content strategist and spent a decade in education and nonprofit roles in the US.
Business model
Literal Humans sells marketing services to client organisations across content, brand, web, performance, email, strategy and PR engagements, delivered by an in-house team supported by fractional specialists and external consultants. Prospects are invited to book a free 30-minute strategy session as an entry point.
Traction
Published case studies claim results including growing Wise from zero to more than 1 million organic visits, 1.6 million website visitors for Chipper Cash, a 10x increase in monthly organic traffic and 700,000+ subscribers for Playbook, more than quadrupled organic search traffic for Oyster, and 1,100 backlinks plus rankings for over 1,000 organic keywords for Grapeseed Media. The company's podcast has run to a fourth season with at least 48 episodes.
Latest developments
Literal Humans announced on its blog that it has become a B Corp. Founder Paul David continues to publish through the Forbes Agency Council, with articles in March, April and October 2025, and hosts the agency's podcast, which had reached Season 4, Episode 48.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Literal Humans presents itself as a full-service alternative to single-discipline brand, web or content marketing agencies, arguing that it combines 360-degree growth strategy, human-to-human storytelling, strategic branding, UX web design, SEO and data/analytics in one place. Its stated niche is mission-driven organisations: tech-for-good startups, nonprofits and B2B SaaS companies.
The agency's stated differentiators are a human-centred marketing philosophy positioned against bot- and AI-driven communication, journalist-standard editorial combined with data, and an operating model built on a four-day workweek at full salary, flexible hours, hybrid/remote work, transparent salaries and B Corp certification.
Go-to-market
Inbound and content-led: the agency publishes a weekly blog, a downloadable ebook on writing agency briefs, a newsletter and the "Tech Can't Save Us" podcast, and promotes case studies of client results alongside a free 30-minute strategy session call-to-action. Its founder also contributes thought-leadership articles through the Forbes Agency Council.
Mission-driven brands, tech-for-good startups, nonprofits and B2B SaaS companies; named clients and case study subjects include Wise (formerly TransferWise), Chipper Cash, Oyster, Playbook, Pepper, Grapeseed Media and Hospital Rooms.
Geography
The company is based in London, UK, and states that it works with clients in the US, UK and EU, with a roster also including organisations from Africa, Asia and North America. Team members are distributed internationally, including the UK, US, India, Taiwan and Zimbabwe.
History
Paul David launched Literal Humans in 2020 following a period at a US-based agency he helped grow to $1.5M ARR. In July 2023 he was accepted into the Forbes Agency Council, an invitation-only community for agency owners and executives, announced via a press release in August 2023. The agency has since become a certified B Corp, as announced on its blog, and the founder has written for Forbes on topics including rebuilding an agency's vision after a cofounder's departure (March 2025).
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsThe company announced on its blog that it is now a B Corp.
Paul David, CEO and co-founder of Literal Humans, was accepted in July 2023 into the Forbes Agency Council, an invitation-only community for owners and executives of PR, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies; announced by press release on 5 August 2023.
Paul David launched Literal Humans in 2020 after helping grow a previous US-based agency to $1.5M ARR, focusing on tech-for-good startups, nonprofits and B2B SaaS companies.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Literal Humansliteralhumans.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Literal Humans do?
- Literal Humans is a London-based digital and content marketing agency serving mission-driven brands, B2B SaaS startups and nonprofits.
- Who founded Literal Humans?
- Literal Humans was founded by Paul David in 2020.
- Who are Literal Humans's investors?
- Literal Humans's investors include Creative UK.