The Insights People, the Manchester-based company which is a global leader in kids, parents and family market intelligence, has secured a £500k investment from DSW Angels, the business angel network focused on UK regional scale-up companies.
The investment will allow The Insights People to boost its international growth and follows its expansion into Brazil, Mexico and Canada in recent months. The company expects to create around eight new jobs in Manchester in the next six months.
The Insights People surveys 200,000 children and parents a year, providing clients with valuable insights into kids’ attitudes, behaviours, and consumption. Its award-winning market intelligence and portal enables users to tailor the results to their own requirements to inform their marketing strategy, identify market trends and evaluate return on investment.
Founded by Nick Richardson in 2017, it now serves clients across 11 countries including Amazon, F1, LEGO, Mattel, SEGA and Warner Bros.
The company has also appointed Stefan Lampinen as Chairman. Stefan’s career includes senior executive roles at Electronic Arts, NOKIA, Microsoft and Warner Bros – as well as being a member of Minecraft’s advisory board and the co-founder and chairman of the Swedish Games Industry Association.
Nick Richardson, CEO of The Insights People said: “We have achieved a lot in our first three years as a business, working with some of the leading global brands, building an incredible 30-plus strong team who continue to collaborate and innovate in a way which I have never witnessed before, and winning critical acclaim and coveted industry awards. The investment from DSW is an important next step to enable our further international expansion and to increase our investment in our research and technology-based teams in Manchester. I am also delighted to welcome Stefan to the team, whose experience will be of great benefit as we scale up our business on all fronts.”
The deal is the second completed since the start of lockdown by DSW Angels, the venture capital arm of Dow Schofield Watts. It recently indicated plans to invest £10 million of venture capital investment over the next 12 months to support post-Covid recovery in the UK regions.
David Smith, founding partner of DSW Angels said: “The world is changing fast and kids’ consumption patterns are changing with it. The Insights People helps companies to understand their attitudes and behaviour and engage successfully with the next generation of consumers.
“The business has shown great resilience during the lockdown with numerous new client wins and upsells. This was our fastest fundraise to date with all funds committed within the space of a day, which is testament to our investors’ confidence in the DSW Angels proposition and the quality of the business that Nick and the team have created.”
Sarah Walton and Anne-Marie Barnes of Weightmans LLP in Manchester provided legal advice to DSW Angels on the deal, while Stephen Chadwick of Beyond Corporate advised The Insights People.
