Venture Capital for Market Insight

Market Insight, a US online market intelligence firm, has received $1.25 million in Series A financing from San Francisco venture capital company WaldenVC, which believes Market Insight will 'change the face of market research'. Founded in 2003, the company collects consumer data from a product recommendation web site.

The company collects information via www.myproductadvisor.com - a site that provides consumers with free, customised product recommendations. Consumers anonymously answer a self-selected set of optional questions to receive details of recommended products. The data is then collected for use by Market Insights' customers.

Phil Sanderson, a partner at WaldenVC, says his firm 'invests in companies that change the rules'. He believes that Market Insight's 'strong team, blue-chip customer list and breakthrough technology' will 'change the face of market research'.

The company was founded by Chairman Vincent Barabba and CEO Richard Smallwood. The pair first developed the methodology when Barabba - then General Manager of Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Development at GM - hired Smallwood to build an 'auto advisor' that could collect consumer preference data in real time. Smallwood says the company's concept and values 'come from years of working on methods for integrating the 'voice of the consumer' into business decisions'.

Market Insight's web site is at www.marketinsightcorp.com . WaldenVC, which focuses on investments in digital media companies, is online at www.waldenvc.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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