iMotions Raises More Funds, Hires COO

Danish firm iMotions, which develops emotional response and eye-tracking software, has raised $2m (DKK 9.5m) in funding, which it plans to use to accelerate sales. The company has also appointed Peter Schmidt as Director of the Copenhagen office and COO of European Operations.

CEO and co-founder Peter Hartzbech says that this new round of funding will enable the company to further promote its Emotion Tool 2.0, which he claims is unique in combining emotional response assessment with eye-tracking. The system measures emotional response to print ads, marketing material and product shelf placement, and is currently being used in 12 countries, including the US.

Previous investors The way forwards Aps, Inventure Capital, Kenn Morse and others have provided financial backing for the deal.

'We are focusing on bringing Emotion Tool 2.0 to large end clients and market research companies during the fourth quarter of 2008,' explained Hartzbech.

Schmidt, who takes up his new post in August, joins from offshore firm SoftwarePeople in Bangladesh, where he was CEO. Prior to this, he worked as COO of ad agencies Framfab and AdPeople. He has an MBA and an MA in Computer Science.

Schmidt will take over all operations at the Copenhangen headquarters, while Hartzbech joins the Board in Denmark and focuses on global sales with a focus on the US. Hartzbech explained to DRNO that under Danish rules, it is not recommended that a CEO also sits on the Board, but this will no longer be an issue now that a clear division of tasks is in place.

'Peter will fit very well into our team,' commented Hartzbech. 'His background is in advertising and software development, which is the perfect combination for iMotions.'

Founded in 2005 by Hartzbech and CTO Jakob de Lemos, iMotions employs 55 people in the HQ, India and the USA. In February, the firm partnered with Edinburgh-based user experience consultancy User Vision to launch its software in the UK.

Web site: www.imotionsglobal.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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