Acquisitions/transactions
Public relations and media software company Cision has agreed to acquire consumer intelligence company Brandwatch for $450 million.
Centro, a provider of enterprise automation technology, has acquired QuanticMind, a developer of predictive advertising technology for digital channels.
European data collection company Bilendi has acquired HumanizeeSAS, which owns Discussnow, a multichannel platform for conversation and analysis.
Research and data analytics group YouGov has acquired Toronto-based research and consulting agency Charlton Insights.
Zencity, a civic engagement technology provider to local governments, has acquired data analytics and community polling company Elucd.
Customer and employee experience management company Medallia Inc. has agreed to acquire Decibel, a provider of digital experience analytics.
Research technology companies Confirmit and FocusVision have completed the transaction to merge. Both the Confirmit and FocusVision brands will remain in place until the anticipated rollout of a new brand in the second quarter.
Accenture has acquired consulting firm fable+.
Digital marketing solutions provider Stirista has acquired data marketplace Venture Development Center.
Travel data firm DVI has been acquired by Emburse, a provider of expense management and accounts payable automation solutions.
Media intelligence and social analytics provider Meltwater B.V. has agreed to acquire social insights company Linkfluence.
IRI, a provider of big data and predictive analytics, has acquired retail consumer insights company Intelligent Shopper Solutions.
Data and research services company Schlesinger Group has acquired Addison Research, a fieldwork and research services provider headquartered in Toronto.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Media measurement company Comscore has expanded its data agreement with marketing and corporate communications company Omnicom Group Inc. to provide e-commerce and audience behavioral data.
Roku Inc. has agreed to acquire Nielsen's Advanced Video Advertising business. Additionally, the companies will enter into a strategic partnership to integrate Nielsen ad and content measurement products into the Roku platform.
Media measurement company Nielsen announced that Barrington Media Group has signed a multiyear agreement as a new client of its National and Local TV measurement services in all markets.
Consumer insights platform Perksy Inc. has joined the Nielsen Connect Partner Network to provide Nielsen clients with consumer insights via Perksy’s platform.
Advertising technology company Amobee has partnered with InfoSum to offer privacy-compliant identity solutions to advertiser and broadcaster clients.
Newly merged research technology companies Confirmit and FocusVision have appointed Dublin-based agency Zero-G to create a go-to-market brand for the new business.
The Oxford Business Group (OBG) has formed an agreement with ISI Emerging Markets Group to make OBG's research tools available to subscribers of the latter's EMIS platform.
Market research and data analysis company MOYI has partnered with India-based TopSocial to conduct research on the dynamics and impact of the influencer marketplace.
Shimmer Research, a provider of wearable tech for research applications, has expanded its partnership with IVP Research Labs and Schlesinger Group to include a turnkey NeuroLynQ@Home service.
Marketing research firm Decision Analyst and audience insights platform DISQO have formed a new systems integration partnership which enables Decision Analyst to blend samples from DISQO’s audience with its American Consumer Opinion Online samples through its Icion Sampling Platform.
Research technology company Lucid and automation platform PureSpectrum have partnered to develop marketplace-to-marketplace technology integration. With the integration of the two platforms, insights professionals will have the ability to purchase respondent access from both marketplaces on either platform.
Consumer research company Potloc has expanded its partnership with management consulting firm Roland Berger in order to include additional flexibility and a greater range of services.
Data collection company Global Survey and Emozo Labs have formed a strategic partnership for a combined offering.
Awards/rankings
Confirmit, a provider of market research, customer experience and employee engagement solutions, announced that TMC has named Confirmit's Digital Feedback solution as a 2021 CUSTOMER Product of the Year Award winner.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
CIRQ, an International Standards Organization audit and certification body, announced that EurekaFacts has been recertified to the ISO 20252:2019 standard for market, opinion and social research, including insights and data analytics.
Data collection and research services company Schlesinger Group has launched Moderate Anywhere, which enables moderators to remotely join in-person IDIs, focus groups and CLTs with respondents in the Schlesinger Group network of U.S. facilities.
Following its acquisition by Clarivate, Decision Resources Group will be brought into the Clarivate brand.
Australia's Association of Market and Social Research Organisations announced that its Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2021 has been registered by the Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk.
Online panel provider Intra Research has opened panels in Germany, India and Poland.
The Insights People, a provider of kids, parents and family research, has expanded to Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.
Online research company Global Survey has opened a new office in London.
Customer experience management platform Sprinklr has launched a new R&D center in Singapore.
CIRQ, an International Standards Organization audit and certification body, has recertified Burke, Inc., to the ISO 20252:2019 standard for market, opinion and social research, including insights and data analytics.
Fanplayr, a company specializing in online behavioral personalization and artificial intelligence, has launched in the U.K. with the opening of new offices in London and Manchester.
Research company earnings/financial news
Adimo, a consumer goods marketing technology company, has closed a $3.6 million seed funding round led by Maven Capital Partners, Scottish Enterprise, GWC, ESM Investments, Galvanise Capital and LSIP.
Nordic market research automation and SaaS start-up Cambri has completed a €3.6 million series A funding round led by OpenOcean and Spintop Ventures.
The Stagwell Group has released financial results for the fourth quarter of 2020 as well as the full year, reporting fourth-quarter revenue of $313.1 million compared to $186.9 million in the prior year and full-year revenue of $888 million as compared to $628.7 million in the prior year.
ThoughtSpot, a provider of search and AI-driven analytics, announced a new investment from Snowflake Ventures.
Location data firm SafeGraph has raised $45 million in Series B funding led by Sapphire Ventures, bringing its total funding to $61 million.
Innovation intelligence company PatSnap has secured $300 million in a Series E funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tencent Investment with participation from CPE Industrial Fund, Sequoia China, Shun Wei Capital and Vertex Ventures.
DeepSee.ai, a provider of AI-powered knowledge process automation, has closed $22.6 million in Series A funding led by ForgePoint Capital with participation from AllegisCyber Capital and Signal Peak Ventures. Sean Cunningham, managing director of ForgePoint Capital, will join the DeepSee board of directors.
Research technology company Feedback Loop has closed $14 million in funding led by Crosslink Capital, bringing its total Series A funding to $24 million and total funding to date to $29 million.
Digital advertising and marketing services company S4 Capital has released financial results for the full year of 2020, reporting revenue of £342.7 million, up 59.3% reported from £215.1 million.
Bazaarvoice Inc., a provider of product reviews and user-generated content solutions, announced a majority investment from Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. Marlin Equity Partners, the current majority investor in Bazaarvoice, will continue to be a material shareholder.