Acquisitions/transactions
Digital advertising and marketing services company S4 Capital has acquired Decoded Advertising and Metric Theory, merging them with its businesses MediaMonks and MightHive, respectively.
Media company Bloomberg has acquired consumer data analytics company Second Measure.
Marketing research firm Research America Inc. has acquired Segmedica (xsperient), a marketing researcher specializing in health care and health and wellness.
InMoment, a provider of experience management solutions, has acquired digital feedback solutions company Wootric.
Confirmit, a provider of solutions for marketing research, customer experience and employee engagement, will merge with FocusVision, a customer insights technology provider.
Global health innovation company W2O has acquired patient data companies Swoop and IPM.ai.
LG Electronics has acquired a controlling stake in TV data and measurement firm Alphonso.
Software company Pegasystems Inc. has acquired Qurious.io Inc., a cloud-based speech analytics solution for customer service teams.
Malaysian market research companies Stratos Consulting Group and Pinnacle Analytics have combined to form Stratos Pinnacle, a provider of shopping mall and retail research for Malaysia.
Research firm Ipsos has acquired technology company Fistnet d.o.o.
TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv has acquired Ace Metrix, a provider of attitudinal measurement for TV and video creatives.
Marketing research and public opinion firm Ipsos has acquired a majority stake in Czech Republic-based OOH specialist MGE Data.
Survey research and data science firm The Decision Co. has acquired a majority stake in automated research platform response:AI.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Adthena, a provider of AI-powered search intelligence, has partnered with data, insights and consulting company Kantar to become its search data partner.
Customer and employee experience company Medallia Inc. has added Japan-based system integrator Dirbato to its partner program.
Online community provider InSites Consulting has partnered with Provokers, an insight and consulting agency for Latin American markets.
Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Pax8 has formed a partnership with B2B customer intelligence platform Enlyft. Through the partnership, North American Pax8 partners now have access to resources providing lead generation, account-based marketing and data insights.
Canvs, a customer insights platform for text analytics, has partnered with insights solutions company Toluna. Through this partnership, Toluna will leverage Canvs’ emotion measurement AI-driven platform to add additional on-demand capabilities to Toluna Start.
Association/organization news
The Insights Association, MRS and The Research Society have partnered to release a report on the impact of COVID-19 on the insights industry titled, "The Great Change Accelerator: Client and Partner Perspectives on the Future of Insights." Read more.
Awards/rankings
Data, analytics and insight company MESH Experience has won two gold awards at the International Business Excellence Awards for the categories of customer experience and strategy, change and transformation.
Ipsos’ Ethnography Centre of Excellence has won the MRS award for Best International Research in recognition of Ipsos’ research that looks into the experiences of people during the pandemic.
The Market Research Society of India has announced the winners of The Golden Key Awards, India’s awards for market research and insights. The winners were celebrated at a virtual ceremony on January 21.
Marketing research company GfK will host the GfK NextGen Data Science Hackathon Competition, which challenges undergrads in any major to come up with smart designs and marketing plans for products related to electronic vehicles and hybrid cars. The competition takes place on March 22-31 and will award $5,000 to the winning team.
Media measurement company Nielsen has been recognized with the 2020 Emmy Award for Technology and Engineering for its "system to measure video performance and demographics across multiple platforms."
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions/updates
Research consultancy Basis Research has launched Basis Social, a social research practice based in the U.K. The new practice is led by Darren Bhattachary and Dan Clay, who join as CEO and managing partner, respectively.
Kynetec b², formerly a division within animal health and agriculture marketing researcher Kynetec Group, has become an independent market research agency named b²sense.
Marketing researcher Fieldwork has opened a new research space in Fort Lee, N.J.
Dialsmith founder David Paull has launched Lillian Labs, a research agency focused on testing and refining concepts, products and messages.
Mobile data collection agency Research On Mobile announced a strategic decision to shelve its ad hoc, sample-only and panel-building solutions and pivot toward an API and programmatic sampling model.
PRS IN VIVO USA has rebranded as Behaviorally, a digital-first behavioral insights consultancy.
Aspen Finn has launched as a strategic insights consultancy grounded in cognitive psychology. The agency is led by SVP Julia Eisenberg.
Research company earnings/financial news
Market Logic Software, a provider of market insights platforms, has completed a finance round led by existing investors Summit Partners, GENUI and Sycamore.
Data and analytics company Starburst has raised $100 million in Series C financing led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Index Ventures and Coatue.
Consumer insights business Vypr has raised £2.5 million in new funding backed by YFM Equity Partners.
Market intelligence platform Premise Data has raised $85 million in a Series E financing round led by WestCap Group with participation from NightDragon, Winslow Capital, DRW and Vista Credit Partners. Existing investors Valor Equity Partners, 8VC, Tao Capital, Hanover Technology Investment Management and Atreides Management also participated.
Simporter, a SaaS startup that uses AI to predict consumer demand for new products, closed a $600,000 seed round led by Startup Wise Guys. Mitch Barns, former CEO of Nielsen, has joined Simporter's advisory board.
Sitecore, a provider of digital experience management software, has named Lee Miles as chief customer success officer. Additionally, the company has secured backing for a growth plan fueled by $1.2 billion in investment.