WatchMyCompetitor (WMC), the competitor intelligence platform that enables businesses to track the activity of its peers to assist in their own strategy and decisions, has raised £1 million from WealthClub clients under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) – nearly twice its original target.
The funding was part of a £1.8 million funding round, which was also supported by existing institutional investor, Blackfinch.
For a business to grow it must outpace its competitors and this has become increasingly crucial in a fast-moving digital world, where emerging players and new technologies mean the competitive landscape changes faster than ever before. Without access to relevant and timely intelligence, an organisation can’t adapt or respond fast enough to what’s happening in the market.
Companies that track their competitors and market in real-time can gain a real advantage – research shows they are 19 times more likely to be profitable. Indeed, demand for real-time data is at a record high; the global competitive analysis market has grown rapidly and is expected to continue to grow at 10.4% CAGR 2020-2026.
WMC was set up to help large companies keep their competitive edge. Its Software as a Service (SaaS), competitor intelligence platform uses proprietary machine learning technology to track competitors and provide real-time information to senior managers – from changing prices to launching and removing products.
Combining machine learning technology with expert human analysis, WMC provides its clients with actionable intelligence to help protect and grow revenue.
Since the launch of the platform in 2018 the Company has achieved consistent year-on-year growth. As of today, the platform is already in use by more than 90 international clients across a range of industries, including the likes of Santander, Legal & General and Abbott Health. The business has achieved 83% growth in the last 12 months, with over a third of its recurring revenues coming for major US companies. The Company aims to break-even next year at the same time as maintaining high growth rates.
Gayle Bowen, Head of Direct company investments at Wealth Club said, “WMC is yet another example of a commercially compelling EIS qualifying company being oversubscribed by members of Wealth Club.
“WMC has a sophisticated and proven product in a fast growing market with global customers on multi year contracts, consistent sales growth and a sound business model with strong margins. Customer retention is exceptional and the demand for the WMC service looks set to continue.
“With break-even estimated to be a few months away, WMC looks like it has the ability to be both high growth and profitable. The team boot strapped the company in its early days and there remains in place today a great culture, discipline and governance which has impressed us further”.
Richard Jackson, CEO of WatchMyCompetitor said, “Our own research suggested that over half of companies plan to increase their investment in Competitor Intelligence in the coming years. We believe we are the only platform on the market which uses market analysts to prepare daily, curated intelligence reports from the data automatically gathered. This saves our clients time, money, and energy.
“Our enterprise design – makes it very easy to deploy the software across complex global organisations without code changes. We believe that most medium to large commercial organisations in the world should use our service which has been developed and enhanced through client feedback over a number of years.
“With a growing list of clients, and in excess of 2,000 users across 45 countries, we now have a mature platform that is being taken to market. This was further validated by the fantastic service and response from Wealth Club.”
Partnering with Wealth Club was existing institutional investor, Blackfinch Ventures. The capital raised will be used to continue to grow the business through expanding the sales and client success teams as well as marketing the platform, with a plan to achieve a market valuation of £70 million in the next 3 years.
With over 50% of revenue now coming from outside the UK, our next steps are to continue to grow the business internationally.”
Richard Harley, Senior Ventures Manager at Blackfinch Ventures said, “We first invested in WMC in 2021 and have recently completed a £0.8 million follow-on investment in March 2023. Progress has been excellent on all fronts with sales growing consistently and the product developing at pace to ensure feature fit for customers in new sectors.
“We have been particularly impressed with the team’s ability to diversify the revenue base, which is now increasingly international, and the increase in the average contract value over the last two years, proving demand for WMC from larger enterprise customers. The management team are thoughtful and diligent with financial reporting, and we look forward to continuing to back the company.”
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