PE Tech Report

NEWSLETTER

Like this article?

Sign up to our free newsletter

Capital D acquires majority stake in Qmee

Private equity fund manager Capital D has become the first institutional investor in Qmee, acquiring a majority stake in the business.

Headquartered in Reading, UK, Qmee is a data driven rewards and loyalty company that uses a sophisticated tech platform powered by machine learning and AI, to collect insights, data and opinions from the public on behalf of brands and polling organisations. Qmee’s technology platform brings unparalleled accuracy, speed and efficiency in connecting the right audience with the right survey at the right time, delivering better research to brands and a better experience for users. This has allowed Qmee to win share rapidly in the programmatic consumer survey market, thereby disrupting legacy business models in this industry.
 
Qmee saw its revenues grow 60 per cent over the 12 months to December 2020 with a 140 per cent CAGR achieved since 2017. The company is rapidly growing its audience across its geographies with 60 per cent in the USA, 30 per cent in the UK, and the remainder in Australia and Canada. Qmee will leverage its partnership with Capital D to focus on expanding into Europe, Latin America and Asia.
 
As a result of the transaction, Capital D will partner with Qmee’s founders, Jonathan Knight and Nick Sutton to support them on the next phase of their impressive growth journey. Capital D will help to accelerate Qmee’s expansion plans to build a high-performing commercial organisation to drive forward both sample exchange partnerships and sales of its white-label third-party audience software management tools. Capital D also sees opportunities to further enhance the user experience and deliver international growth.

Jean-Marc Jabre, Co-Founder, Capital D, says: “It comes down to one simple idea: finding new ways for businesses to connect with their consumers. With its cutting-edge tech, Qmee is a business operating at exactly this intersection within the research and consumer insight ecosystem. Qmee fits well with our strategy of backing growing and profitable disruptive companies where we become the first reference shareholder alongside a founding management team. Qmee’s ability to offer businesses access to efficient, low cost, genuine first-party data is becoming increasingly important as brands yearn to stay connected with their customers. We are very proud to become Qmee’s partner for the next phase of its development.”
 
Jonathan Knight, CEO and Founder, Qmee, says: “The Capital D team has deep sector knowledge across e-commerce, market research and innovative technology and we are delighted to have partnered with them for the next stage of our journey. Qmee is revolutionising the way people and brands connect. The shifting focus towards online privacy and the move away from third-party data means our business model is becoming only more relevant. Today, more than ever, in the context of uncertain operating environments, businesses want to know what their customers and users are thinking.”

Like this article? Sign up to our free newsletter

MOST POPULAR

FURTHER READING

Featured