Funding for Automated Research Firm Wizer

AI-based SaaS consumer research company Wizer has raised $4m in Series A funding round, led by VC firm State of Mind Ventures and with participation from Nielsen's Innovate early stage investment arm.

Wizer's consumer research platform uses proprietary artificial intelligence technology to analyse a client's business challenges, insight preferences and industry happenings, and design end-to-end MR solutions for needs including brand positioning, product and concept testing, and advertising effectiveness measurement. It then picks out key findings in a manner 'similar to a human analyst', says the company. The platform promises speed and cost advantages while tailoring research design and analysis to each client, delivering a comprehensive research report within days or 'even hours'. The firm was founded in 2014 by Alon Ravid (pictured center), CEO; Idan Geva (right), Chief Business Officer; and Mano Geva (left), Scientific Director.

A total of $5.5m raised to date also includes investments from Yahoo! Japan-backed fund YJ2; Barinboim Group; and the Israel Chief Scientist. The latest investment will be used to accelerate Wizer's growth globally, specifically in North America and Europe, increase brand awareness, and expand its R&D team. The firm says it plans to 'significantly increase staff in its New York City office' In the coming months.

Ravid says of the latest developments: 'After successfully working with several leading organizations on market-driven decisions, we're ready to significantly scale up our growth and expand our vision to enable more marketing research professionals to take a more strategic role in the organization, while letting technology take care of laborious research tasks. We are building the decision support tool of the future: No more dispersed information from various sources - rather, a consolidated single source of data and insights. Wizer delivers timely insights so businesses of all sizes can compete as equals'.

Dov Yarkoni, CEO of Nielsen Innovate says his company identified 'Wizer's huge potential to disrupt the consumer insights market right from the start', and adds: 'We think that the combination of their technology, highly talented individuals and research know-how is the recipe for success'.

Web site: www.getwizer.com .