Unilever Ventures, the venture capital and private equity arm of the FMCG company, has increased its investment into consumer market research platform Discuss.io with a further $880,000.
The company wasn’t the only brand willing to pour more faith into the Seattle-based start up, with others also increasing their participation to Discuss.io.
And if the company’s recent success of a 1,000 percent year on year growth is anything to go by, it’s a wise move. Discuss.io bases its business model on helping brands learn more about their consumers through video conferencing and crowdsourcing. In a dot.com era this digital-focused approach is said to massively speed up the time in which big companies receive vital market research about their buyers.
Keith Weed, Unilever chief marketing officer, said in a statement, “Global research studies that used to take months now take days.”
Unilever is not only an investor in the company but is also a customer, alongside the likes of AT&T and Target. The Discuss.io software allows clients to access feedback on marketing content within 48 hours.