Insider launches Growth Management Platform with injection of US$11M Series B led by Sequoia

The main cost for startups, or any company going digital, used to be infrastructure and talent; today it's a race for growth and customer acquisition costs are now the make or break item on the P&L. Brands are pouring an increasing proportion of their marketing budget into digital channels in a bid to reach consumers in today's fragmented media landscape. Yet too many marketing dollars are spent on the wrong customers: those that don't convert, spend, and come back. Complex and costly marketing clouds are not a viable option for many companies. The alternative is using a range of different point-solutions to drive growth, but this creates fresh headaches for organizations that must then deal with managing multiple vendors, integrating solutions, and standardizing data sets.

Insider has set out to solve this challenge. Built on a unified data layer, Insider's Growth Management Platform is easy to implement and use, avoiding the need for complex integrations. The platform is based on the latest technologies based on knowledge activation and neural network-based models making technology almost invisible to users. The company democratizes AI and Machine Learning algorithms to help digital marketers across industries focus on the right segments to minimize marketing costs and offer a better brand experience that ensures growth over time.

"Customers are demanding more personal, meaningful and smoother experiences, no matter what channel they are on. Delivering a personalized experience to each and every customer at scale increasingly requires robust AI and machine learning technologies." said Hande Cilingir, CEO & Co-founder of Insider.

"That's why we have built the first integrated Growth Management Platform, which gives digital marketers a holistic end-to-end capability across the entire growth funnel, from customer Acquisition to Activation, Retention and Revenue. Our aim is to make it easier for digital marketers to take a leading role in driving revenue, growth and loyalty in their organizations. Above all, our mission is to help brands deliver relevant and delightful experiences that are mindful of their customers' attention and time." she added.

The launch of Insider's Growth Management Platform has been backed by a US$11 million investment led by Sequoia India, which has partnered with some of the fastest-growing startups across India and Southeast Asia, including Tokopedia, Go Jek, Carousell, Byju's and Zomato. Existing investors Wamda Capital and Dogan Group also participated in the round.

"We were impressed with Insider's AI platform, and the profound impact on their customer's key metrics: lower customer acquisition costs, higher retention, faster growth. These customers quickly started to use more and more products from the Insider platform. That has put Insider on a fast growth trajectory, especially in Asia," said Pieter Kemps, Principal at Sequoia India (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Insider, which is headquartered in Singapore, operates in 15 markets worldwide, including Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, UK and Australia. Insider works with some of the biggest Asian and global brands, such as Singapore Airlines, Tokopedia, UNIQLO, Virgin, Tiki, Samsung, New Balance, Newsweek, McDonald's, Ticketmaster, Nissan, BBVA, Allianz and CNN.

The company, which launched in Istanbul in 2012, moved to Singapore last year to be closer to Asia's high-growth markets. Cilingir is ranked by Crunchbase as one of the top three women CEOs outside of the US.

Insider will use this investment to double down in Asia, where it has experienced exceptionally strong demand.

Tokopedia, Vice President of Business

"Driving growth through digital marketing heavily depends on the close relationship between a customer's acquisition cost and lifetime value. We were surprised to see how fast we were up and running with predictive segments as algorithms were able to train themselves in just two weeks. The results were great. We love Insider's new Growth Management Platform as it helps us make smarter investments resulting in higher impact."

Virgin Megastore, eCommerce Director

"Insider Growth Management Platform helps us create and enhance customer-centric, personalized experiences in a more systematic way. Armed with AI-backed predictive segments, we now think about how we can maximize the value at each stage of the funnel to help enhance our business model. We have seen a significant increase in our key metrics on our website, ads and across all digital channels for Virgin Megastore. We are very excited to discover more possibilities in delivering better customer experiences in the near future."

Find out more on useinsider.com.

Meet Insider, the first integrated Growth Management Platform (GMP).

Growth Management Platform helps digital marketers drive growth across the funnel, from Acquisition to Activation, Retention and Revenue. Leveraging real-time predictive segmentation powered by deep Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities, GMP empowers marketers to deliver personalized journeys across web, mobile web, mobile apps and ad channels. Built on a unified data layer, GMP is easy to implement and simple to use, avoiding the need for complex integrations and dependency on IT teams. Insider simplifies the life of digital marketers and helps them drive growth for their brands, with zero marketing waste.

Insider is a technology company with offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, Moscow, Warsaw, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Istanbul, Kiev, Sydney, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei. Insider was listed as one of the 100 Hottest Startups by WIRED Magazine and won Red Herring Top 100 Europe in 2017. Crunchbase has recently ranked Insider's co-founder and CEO Hande Cilingir as one of the top women CEOs outside of the US.

Helping world's leading brands grow beyond the speed of customer expectations, Insider is trusted by over 300 businesses across various industries including UNIQLO, Singapore Airlines, Tokopedia, Virgin, New Balance, Nissan, Huawei, Samsung, Orange, Puma, Ticketmaster, Newsweek, Air Arabia, Media Markt, AVIS, Allianz, BBVA, Dominos, McDonald's, Avon and CNN.

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