First Insight Raises $14M in Growth Equity Round Led by Updata Partners

PITTSBURGH, PA--(Marketwired - Mar 5, 2015) - First Insight, the leading provider of solutions that empower brands to incorporate the voice of the consumer into the design and merchandising of new products, today announced it raised $14M in a round of financing from Updata Partners, a leading technology growth equity firm. With strong adoption of its technology platform and revenue growth exceeding 100% per year, First Insight will use the funds to expand into new geographies and vertical markets, and to further build out its platform to offer advanced marketing capabilities to its customers.

"We have a clear and simple mission to help leading companies around the world maximize new product success and reduce product failures through the benefit of customer insight. This new capital gives us the fuel and flexibility to capitalize on this enormous opportunity and continue to innovate in our market," said Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight. "We have been fortunate to work with some of the top retailers and brands to drive measurable gains in sales and margin through better new product decision-making. We are excited to be partnering with Updata to accelerate our success." 

Industry sources have estimated that new products fail at a rate of over 50%¹, costing over $818 billion each year in under-performing inventory² as well as unproductive marketing spend and reputational damage. First Insight was founded in 2007 to solve this problem by combining predictive analytic techniques and real-time consumer feedback -- captured through the innovative use of social media and online surveying -- to generate actionable insights on product design, pricing, placement and marketing before the products are launched. 

Updata General Partner James Socas has joined First Insight's board of directors, along with founder and CEO Greg Petro, Joel Adams, General Partner of Adams Capital, and independent director Richard Marcus, former CEO of Neiman Marcus.

"First Insight is the first company to dramatically improve new product success rates through a fast, scalable, and cost-effective technology platform," said James Socas, General Partner of Updata Partners. "We look forward to working with the company as they set out to capitalize on this multi-billion dollar market opportunity."

About First Insight, Inc.
First Insight is the world's the leading provider of solutions that empower brands to incorporate the voice of the consumer in to the design and merchandising of new products. Through the use of online consumer engagement, the First Insight solution gathers real-time consumer data and applies predictive analytic models to create actionable insights, which drive measurable value. Retailers, manufacturers and brands use the First Insight solution to design, select, price and market the most profitable new products for improved sales, margins and inventory turnover. Customers include some of world's leading vertically integrated brands, sporting goods companies, department stores, mass merchant retailers and wholesalers. For further information, please visit www.firstinsight.com.

About Updata Partners
Updata Partners is a leading technology-focused growth equity firm with more than $500 million of capital under management. Updata invests in high-growth software, Internet, and technology-enabled service businesses with innovative intellectual property and market-leading solutions. Led by an investment team averaging more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Updata seeks investments where the combination of the firm's financial backing and the operating expertise of its partners will accelerate growth. For more information about Updata Partners, please visit www.updata.com.

¹ "Reducing the Risks of New Product Development", Ogawa and Piller, MIT Sloan Management Review, January 1, 2006

² "2012 Inventory Distortion Study", IHL Group, 2012