Sumo Grabs Funds for Mobile MR Tech

UK-based mobile market research technology developer Sumo Insight has raised an undisclosed amount of venture capital from B2B start-up accelerator Collider.

Sumo, which is based in London but also employs a team of developers in Scotland, recently launched with a real-time research platform incorporating a mobile app, Sumo Shorts, and a qual tool Sumo Chat. The former uses mobile and GPS technology to capture opinions 'as soon as they are formed' in text, talk, picture or video formats; while the latter enables researchers to engage with participants in the moments immediately after a survey and watch/interact with group forums.

The firm was set up by former Nokia researcher Tina Newport and former EE marketer Colin White. Collider, which is backed by a group of investors including Mark Sherrington, the former CEO of Added Value, funds ten start-ups every year, and during a thirteen-week programme introduces them to more than a dozen corporations and a large network of investors, assigns relevant mentors and helps them learn how to turn their start-up into a profitable, sustainable business.

Rose Lewis (pictured), the programme's co-founder, comments: 'The Collider programme is unique as it is a win-win situation for both parties. The start-ups receive product market validation from potential customers by senior brand managers as potential buyers of the product, while large businesses can work with innovative young companies who can help them with their marketing and customer engagement.'

Other participants in Collider's 2013/14 programme include AdVenture, which offers proprietary technology to enable broadcasters to serve their audience with targeted ads; LivingLens, which gathers consumer feedback from videos; and StashMetrics, which analyses social media behaviour.

Web sites: www.sumoinsight.com and www.collider.io .