洞察者, the Manchester-based company which is a global leader in kids, parents and family market intelligence, has secured a £500k investment from DSW天使下手, the business angel network focused on UK regional scale-up companies.
The investment will allow 洞察者 to boost its international growth and follows its expansion into Brazil, Mexico and Canada in recent months. The company expects to create around eight new jobs in Manchester in the next six months.
洞察者 surveys 200,000 children and parents a year, providing clients with valuable insights into kids’ attitudes, 行为, 和消费. Its award-winning market intelligence and portal enables users to tailor the results to their own requirements to inform their marketing strategy, identify market trends and evaluate return on investment.
Founded by 尼克·理查森 in 2017, it now serves clients across 11 countries including Amazon, F1, 乐高, 美泰, 世嘉和华纳兄弟.
The company has also appointed Stefan Lampinen as Chairman. Stefan’s career includes senior executive roles at Electronic Arts, 诺基亚, Microsoft and Warner Bros – as well as being a member of Minecraft’s advisory board and the co-founder and chairman of the Swedish Games Industry Association.
尼克·理查森, CEO of 洞察者 said: “We have achieved a lot in our first three years as a business, working with some of the leading global brands, building an incredible 30-plus strong team who continue to collaborate and innovate in a way which I have never witnessed before, and winning critical acclaim and coveted industry awards. The investment from DSW is an important next step to enable our further international expansion and to increase our investment in our research and technology-based teams in Manchester. I am also delighted to welcome Stefan to the team, whose experience will be of great benefit as we scale up our business on all fronts.”
The deal is the second completed since the start of lockdown by DSW天使下手, the venture capital arm of Dow Schofield Watts. 它最近表明 plans to invest £10 million of venture capital investment over the next 12 months to support post-Covid recovery in the UK regions.
大卫·史密斯, founding partner of DSW天使下手 said: “The world is changing fast and kids’ consumption patterns are changing with it. 洞察者 helps companies to understand their attitudes and behaviour and engage successfully with the next generation of consumers.
“The business has shown great resilience during the lockdown with numerous new client wins and upsells. This was our fastest fundraise to date with all funds committed within the space of a day, which is testament to our investors’ confidence in the DSW天使下手 proposition and the quality of the business that Nick and the team have created.”
Sarah Walton and Anne-Marie Barnes of Weightmans LLP in Manchester provided legal advice to DSW天使下手 on the deal, while Stephen Chadwick of Beyond Corporate advised 洞察者.
