For several years there has been talk about how to leverage ‘experts’ online. How do you ‘suck their brains’ for information in an efficient manner, whether it be for research into companies or sectors, often for investment purposes. Major players in this arena include GLG, Third Bridge, Guidepoint and Alphasights. With the pandemic destroying many means of hearing experts – conferences and events for instance – and turning the entire world into a remote working experiment, platforms like these are now far more relevant than they ever were before.
So it’s perhaps unsurprising that the expert network and primary research platform, proSapient, has now closed a $10m Series A investment led by Smedvig Capital. Noted high-profile investor Guy Hands and existing investors 24 Haymarket also participated in the round. This brings the total raised by proSapient to date to $18m. The company will use the cash to expand internationally.
proSapient is essentially a SaaS platform for interrogating expert networks. It’s aimed mainly at investors and consultants to gather data. The platform matches experts to projects and provides transcripts. You can gather insight over the phone or in-person; launch bespoke surveys; conduct small strategy projects with a small group of experts. You can search, filter messaging, and also collaborate internally on the platform. It now claims to be servicing over 100 clients across Europe and the USA, with revenue up over 100% year on year.
Margo Polishchuk, Co-Founder of proSapient, said in a statement: “This funding round will facilitate our strategic objective of being a leading primary research platform for the private equity and consulting sectors.”
Rob Toms, managing director at Smedvig Capital, commented: “We’re excited to be working with Margo and Jordan to continue their impressive growth and international expansion. They have a great team, strong market position and a clear vision of where the business is going.”
Additionally, proSapient recently appointed Mike Wroe, former group CFO of Just Eat plc, as Chairman.
Written by Mike Butcher
This news first appeared on https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/18/prosapient-raises-10m-series-a-led-by-smedvig-capital-to-expand-expert-network-platform/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29 under the title “proSapient raises $10M Series A led by Smedvig Capital to expand expert network platform”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
