Market researcher GWI raises $180M
The company has outlined three key areas where it wants to spend.
Why You Should Care
Data can be invaluable, but many organizations live in the dark.
Learn why market research company GWI and its data offering are valued at over $700 million.
The world is increasingly taking the form of data, as we analyze results and work digitally. GWI, formerly GlobalWebIndex, uses offline market research methods with digital data collections to give customers rich insight into the behavior of their customers and audiences.
GWI offers its products as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and has managed to attract high-profile clients like Google. Evidently, the power and importance of data to employers is only growing.
The company has now been valued at more than $850 million, after an impressive $180 million Series B funding round. The funding round was led by global investment firm Permira and Jefferies acted as the sole financial advisor through the process.
GWI currently has more than 700 customers, and CEO of GWI, Tom Smith, explained to TechCrunch the value his company delivers: “The kind of customers we work with now are very large technology companies and platforms who essentially have all the first-party data you can think of but they don’t have the richness of that data.
“They need independent, rich, profiling data to build a better understanding of customer subsets, and that’s what we provide.”
How will GWI leverage the investment?
Discussing the investment in a GWI blog post, Smith outlined the plans for the company. The mission statement for the company is: “We want to help humans everywhere better understand each other.”
Smith went on to explain the three areas that would be focused on to meet this tall demand.
GWI will invest in “providing instant answers to any question“. The company intends to offer instant answers by capturing more data from underrepresented markets and groups.
Additionally, GWI wants insights to be as simple as a Google search and want to embed the insights into an organization effortlessly through user experience (UX) innovation, machine learning, and the ability to share data findings with others.
Although many see the value in data, GWI intends to further this understanding. The blog post claimed: Most businesses are well aware of the need for a deep understanding of their audiences, but for many, this is still a one-off piece of research undertaken every year.
“This mentality needs to change. We see the impact plugging insights into your everyday life can have on your business, and we’re committed to telling that story. “
Smith concluded: “I’m incredibly excited about this next chapter and the opportunities this investment will unlock for us. Another huge thanks to everyone who’s been with us on this exciting journey and made our growth possible.
“We’ve got big plans. Let’s see them through together.”
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Senior Journalist
Dan combines his first-hand experience alongside the latest news and opinions in the HR Technology space.
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