| |
Big Deal for MetrixLab
The venture capital company run by the founder of Big Brother and Deal or No Deal producer Endemol has taken a 30% stake in European online MR agency MetrixLab.
Van den Ende & Deitmers is the venture capital firm of Endemol founder Joop van den Ende and former Endemol Executive Board member Hubert Deitmers. The VC firm invests mostly in content, platforms, e-commerce and ICT services, and has successfully invested on a 'Buy & Build' basis in companies including Eyeworks, Spil Games and Unamic.
MetrixLab, founded in 1999 by Han de Groot, supplies digital and cross media campaign tracking, advertising pre-testing and web site usability testing; new product development and pricing research. de Groot has built the company together with co-shareholders Jan Willem Gerritsen, Maikel Willems and Thijs Elias, to the point where it has recently been named in Deloitte's prestigious Technology Fast 500 Program for Europe, and been given 'Agency of the Year 2008' by the Dutch Market Research Association.
Deitmers says MetrixLab is 'a great example of Dutch entrepreneurship with global ambitions' and adds that the investment will help it 'expand its geographic foot print via organic growth and selective acquisitions'.
CEO de Groot comments: 'As an online market research agency we have the ambition to belong to the ESOMAR global Top-25 market research agencies and the global Top-5 online market research agencies by 2011. In 2007 two 'new generation' online agencies have already entered the ESOMAR Global Top-25 ranking... Specialized online agencies like us, with a clear focus, proprietary products and global panels have been able to compete with traditional market research multinationals like TNS, GfK, IPSOS, Millward Brown and Research International.'
MetrixLab conducts research in 39 countries for 41 of the global Top-100 brands. It is headquartered in the Netherlands (Rotterdam) and operates offices in London, Hamburg, Paris and Madrid. Web sites: www.MetrixLab.com and www.endeit.com .
|
