Market research provides a deeper understanding of customers and competitors but setting up research studies has traditionally been a cumbersome process. Ensuring that you have the proper range and scope, are sampling a representative population, and asking the right questions are common potential hurdles that take time to properly account for. This NYC startup makes it easier. Feedback Loop is an agile research platform that allows companies to rapidly and efficiently secure the data and information that they need through automation to identify new business opportunities, execute on go-to-market plans, learn more about their customers, and gather insight into where they are and are not succeeding. The technology-driven SaaS platform also empowers product and marketing teams to gather consumer feedback quickly without having to rely on a separate research team and without sacrificing the integrity of the data collected. Feedback Loop has focused on consumer healthcare, finance, insurance, and CPG verticals with companies like Northwestern Mutual, Humana, Swiss Re, Lending Tree, and the Ad Council as customers.
AlleyWatch caught up with CEO Rob Holland to learn more about how the company accelerates the research process, the company,s future plans and latest round of funding.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We recently announced the close of $14M in funding. This brings our total Series A funding to $24M and total funding to date to $29M. The round was led by Crosslink Capital with early investor Spider Capital also participating in the round.
Tell us about the product or service that Feedback Loop offers.
Feedback Loop’s agile research technology automates more than 30 steps that traditionally go into conducting research studies, and combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The platform can be used to explore consumer behaviors, unearth preferences, test ideas and concepts, and optimize go-to-market plans pre- and post-product development.
Feedback Loop’s platform also introduces research guardrails so that non-researchers across the business can generate high-quality consumer insights quickly, in order to make informed business decisions. This means putting the right kind of data into their hands, at the time they need it.
Brands like Farmers Insurance, Humana, Lending Tree, and Uber trust Feedback Loop to bring the voice of the consumer into critical market decisions.
What inspired the start of Feedback Loop?
Feedback Loop was founded on the principles of the gaming industry. Gaming has always been at the forefront of agile development, with product teams using gamer feedback to create and iterate games. This sparked the idea of democratizing data in other industries. The Feedback Loop platform was originally created to apply the principles of rapid iteration in gaming to a health insurance app, and has evolved since then, but consumer healthcare still remains one of our key industries of focus.
How is Feedback Loop different?
Our number one differentiator is that our technology infuses research philosophy into a platform that automates 30+ steps, and introduces guardrails so that non-researchers can use it. It’s the combination of automation, guardrails, and data quality that eliminates unreliable results and lets business users get reliable data quickly. Other features that differentiate us include the turnaround of questions to insights in 2-3 days, the broadest range of industry use cases on the market, and the ability for non-researchers to set up a study in minutes.
What market does Feedback Loop target and how big is it?
Feedback Loop supports research for enterprise-level B2C organizations, currently catering to companies across industries, with a focus on consumer healthcare, CPG, finance, insurance, and media. In 2019, in the U.S., market research companies generated over $47 billion in revenue.
What’s your business model?
Feedback Loop is offered on a SaaS basis via an annual license. Annual licenses include unlimited seats to view data and enter studies as well as onboarding, user training, and ongoing support.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business?
Operationally, Feedback Loop hasn’t missed a beat. Our entire company was able to go virtual within 24 hours.
From a business perspective, when COVID-19 hit, businesses were faced with unpredictable circumstances. It became more essential than ever for businesses to be able to understand what their consumers were thinking. We’ve seen that COVID-19 has accelerated our work with existing customers and has helped the broader market to understand and embrace Feedback Loop’s story. Feedback Loop has helped multiple clients navigate the new landscape, including The Ad Council, Swiss Re, and Rhino.
What was the funding process like?
Our investors were pleased with how Feedback Loop navigated 2020 and they recognized a strong opportunity with the company. They proactively initiated and led us through the funding process in just two weeks.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The biggest challenge was deciding how much to raise now, given the level of growth we’re expecting to achieve over the next 12 months.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Our investors bought into the strength of the market and the scale of the market opportunity. They also invested in the strength of our strategy and our leadership team, as they’ve seen the great work we’re doing with our existing customers and how we’ve accelerated the business.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Over the next six months, we’ll be releasing several significant product upgrades to increase the usability and functionality of our platform. Our focus will also be on penetrating our priority verticals of consumer healthcare, finance, insurance, and CPG.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Make sure you’re delivering a product that drives value for your existing customers, and focus on creating consistency by relentlessly creating customer value through your product or service. You’ll want to concentrate on your existing customers first because you can always build off of that. If you’re creating core customer value you’ll have someone to bet on you.
Make sure you’re delivering a product that drives value for your existing customers, and focus on creating consistency by relentlessly creating customer value through your product or service. You’ll want to concentrate on your existing customers first because you can always build off of that. If you’re creating core customer value you’ll have someone to bet on you.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We are looking to triple the company in size over the next three years through market penetration and new product development.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
Balvanera on the Lower East Side.
