Montreal-based consumer research firm Potloc has secured a $13-million round of Series A funding as the company intends to bring innovation to the industry on a global level.
“Potloc’s technology provides enterprises with more accurate, hyper-targeted, and qualitative consumer insights,” said Rodolphe Barrere, co-founder and CEO of Potloc. “We are thrilled to be working with investors who share our vision for developing a new standard in consumer research. Together, we plan to triple our growth with an aggressive strategy.
“The sky is the limit in our case. The consumer research world is massive. The retail world needs better consumer insights. The industry we’re in is thriving right now. There is a huge demand . . . Everybody’s asking for better and cheaper consumer insights – more accurate consumer insights so that they can work on their consumer experience.”
“The future I foresee is us completely disrupting the consumer research world.”
Since 2017, the company’s total funding from investors has reached more than $17 million. The latest round of funding was led by Brightspark Ventures and Investissement Quebec, with participation from Ecofuel Fund, Cap Horn, and Desjardins Capital.
“It’s a massive achievement for the company because it helps us to really accelerate the growth,” said Barrerre. “It’s like a winner takes all type of industry where the consumer research wins. So we’re really in an advance to our competition and we want to accelerate our growth and maintain that advance and increase the gap between us and the traditional companies.
“That investment allows us to continue to accelerate growth both on the product side and on the go to market side. On the product side we are continuously increasing the technology, the algorithm we have, we are now producing some artificial intelligence inside our platform as well. And on the go to market side it allows us to actually open new markets such as the U.S., the UK as well as Europe. It’s a strong achievement and it shows the traction we have, the confidence the investors have in the company.”
The company was founded in 2014. It has grown from two people to 60 today. It has experienced exponential growth in the past two years. The first few years of the company were spent working on its product and researching the market. The company has its headquarters in Montreal with offices in Toronto and Paris.
The company conducts innovative, geo-targeted surveys through social networks.
Today, the company’s technology is available in 15 countries and data from over six million questions has been used to help clients make better decisions.
Potloc plans to deploy the funds to invest in top talent and enter new markets including the US, UK, and elsewhere in Europe, both while developing its artificial intelligence capabilities.
“For the past five years, we have been impressed by the founders’ dedication, passion, consistent delivery, and their ultra-focused vision. Rodolphe and COO Louis Delaoustre, are building a model that is disrupting the way businesses connect with consumers,” said Jacques Perreault, Senior Partner at Brightspark Ventures.
Delaoustre said investors have renewed their support in Potloc because of the company’s innovative methodology.
“Potloc’s key differentiator allowing our clients to access insights, data, and purchasing habits other survey methods like web panels and phone surveys have failed to provide. Instead of a general overview of an audience, our clients can understand why consumer groups like Torontonian women in their 30s who own electric bikes and live in Yorkville, behave in a certain way,” he said.
Potloc is changing the way retailers, CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies and real estate developers make customer-centric business decisions, by:
● Developing non-incentivized surveys people want to answer at a lower cost than traditional methods like web panels or phone interviews;
● Sourcing respondents through social networks, targeting specific trade areas, cities, countries, or interests;
● Informing enterprises with competitive intelligence to increase market share; and
● Providing key insights to increase revenue, improve customer experience, and create devoted fans.
“Potloc is a Québec company operating in a promising niche, which also has real potential to succeed internationally. By supporting this project, Investissement Québec is embracing its role as a complementary investor in this ecosystem, and actively supporting the company’s talented leadership team in their growth efforts, which will result in 30 new jobs over the next three years, among other spinoffs,” said Guy LeBlanc, President and Chief Executive Officer of Investissement Québec.
Potloc is a valued Retail Insider partner. To work with Retail Insider, contact Darryl Julott at: darryl@retail-insider.com
