Acquisitions/transactions
Survey research company ReconMR has acquired Opinion Access.
Meltwater B.V., an SaaS provider of media intelligence and social analytics, has acquired crowdsourcing company Owler.
Fishawack Health, a commercialization partner for the life sciences industry, has acquired data analytics and health care agency closerlook.
Audience insights platform DISQO has acquired cross-device measurement company Verto Analytics. As part of the transaction, DISQO has acquired Verto’s technology, intellectual property and measurement capabilities.
HCP insights company Sermo has acquired Australian marketing research company Minter Group.
Amsterdam-based marketing research company Nebu has been acquired by software and services provider Enghouse Systems Limited.
ZoomInfo, a provider of go-to-market intelligence solutions, has acquired conversational marketing platform Insent.
Behavior and analytics advisory firm Escalent has acquired insights consultancy Grail Insights from NewQuest Capital Partners.
Technology provider Cint has agreed to acquire a majority share in GapFish, a Berlin-based marketing research company.
Data collection company Norstat has acquired Denmark-headquartered DMA Research.
Insights and consulting company Kantar has acquired MeMo2, an Amsterdam-based cross-media measurement specialist.
FanFinders, a performance marketing and consumer intelligence company, has acquired The Best for Baby, a U.K. review website for baby brands.
Market intelligence company International Data Group Inc. has been acquired by Blackstone from Oriental Rainbow LLC for an enterprise value of $1.3 billion.
Capgemini Invent, the innovation, design and transformation arm of Capgemini, has completed its integration of consultancies frog and Cambridge Consultants.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Panel provider MindField Online has adopted two data-quality tools from Research Defender. The company has integrated /SEARCH to detect survey bots and prevent duplicate respondents and /REVIEW to measure and score respondent engagement.
Online sample provider Full Circle has partnered with voter data and targeting firm TargetSmart to integrate the latter’s SmartMatch and Voter Registration Check API into its HoNoR respondent validation service.
Customer experience management and insights platform Alida has partnered with marketing research firm Echo MR to support the latter’s offerings in Europe.
Data platform InfoSum and insights and consulting company Kantar have partnered for first-party data collaboration.
Marketing research company RealityMine has partnered with transactional data provider Rippll to provide clients with single-source digital behavioral capture and transaction data from Rippll’s Open Banking technology.
Marketing research companies Quester and RTi Research have forged a strategic partnership through which RTi will leverage Quester’s AI-moderated qualitative conversations for its hybrid product testing designs.
Apollo Intelligence, an insights provider for the life sciences industry, has integrated SightX’s technology into its insights platform. Additionally, Apollo is investing in SightX; terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Association/organization news
The Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) is accepting applications for its Young Professionals Grant program. The program is open to individuals aged 35 and younger who are actively involved in qualitative research and each winner will receive full registration fees to attend QRCA’s Annual Conference in San Diego, Calif., on January 19-21, 2022, as well as free QRCA membership for a full year. The closing date for applications is September 29, 2021.
The Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) has begun accepting applications for its Global Outreach Scholarships for 2022. The scholarship program is an effort to "involve more international qualitative researchers in opportunities to learn and grow outside their home regions." Recipients will receive free QRCA membership, free registration to the QRCA Annual Conference in January 2022 and assistance with conference-related travel accommodations. The closing date for applications is September 9, 2021. Learn more.
The Market Research Society has called on the research sector to sign a new NetZero Pledge, which commits organizations to a net zero carbon emissions policy by 2026. Learn more.
The Advertising Research Foundation has launched a study designed to produce a common set of unbiased measures for defining digital device and account sharing and usage. The Study of Account and Device Sharing will use an online survey and live interviews of a national sample of 10,000 respondents to assess personal and household sharing and usage of devices and digital media and e-commerce accounts.
Awards/rankings
Breakthrough Research has been named by BestStartup.us as one of the Top Information Services Companies in Los Angeles, based on innovation, growth, management and societal impact.
Service Management Group, a customer, patient and employee experience management company, has been named a leader in G2’s Grid Report for Experience Management | Summer 2021.
The Australian Data and Insights Association welcomes the Australian Polling Council Code of Conduct, which sets new transparency and disclosure standards for public opinion polling that is released to the media or that has the potential to influence public policy.
Forsta, a provider of customer experience and research technology, has announced the winners of the 2021 Achievement in Customer Excellence (ACE) Awards, which recognize clients “who demonstrate outstanding customer and employee experience best practices and as a result, deliver true value to their organization.” A full list of winners can be viewed here.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Marketing research consulting firm The Dieringer Research Group Inc. has been awarded the ISO/IEC 27001 certification for information security.
Consumer research platform quantilope is expanding its strategic partnerships in Europe. The company’s new partner program is focused on market research institutes and marketing and consulting agencies.
Marketing research agency MetrixLab has opened a new office in Frankfurt, Germany.
Online survey and research services company QuestionPro has expanded to Canada with the opening of an office in Toronto.
CIRQ, an International Standards Organization audit and certification body that is a subsidiary of the Insights Association, announced that Phoenix Marketing International has been recertified to the ISO 27001 information security standard.
SurveyMonkey has relaunched as experience management company Momentive.
QPharma, a provider of medical, commercial and compliance services for the life sciences industry, has launched its health care analytics subsidiary Neolytica.
Digital advertising platform Kenshoo is rebranding as Skai following its acquisition of Signals Analytics.
Pure.amplify, the media business of Pureprofile, will launch in the U.K.
The combined entity of Astute Solutions and Socialbakers has rebranded as customer experience platform Emplifi.
Strategy and insights professionals Brian Cruikshank and Jess Horkan have launched empatiX Consulting.
Research company earnings/financial news
Revenue intelligence company Gong has raised $250 million in Series E funding led by Franklin Templeton with participation from Coatue, Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia, Thrive Capital and Tiger Global.
B2B buyer intelligence company Slintel has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by GGV Capital with participation from Accel, Sequoia Capital India and Stellaris Venture Partners.
Marketing research platform Thrivable has closed $1.7 million in funding from investors including Allos Ventures, JumpStart, North Coast Ventures and Early Light Ventures.
Customer and employee experience company Medallia Inc. has released financial results for the first quarter of 2021. Total revenue was $131.4 million, an increase of 17% from the same period last year. Subscription revenue was $106.1 million, an increase of 19% from the same period last year.
Customer experience and insights platform Alida has secured a $10 million debt facility from Comerica Bank’s technology and life sciences division.