Targeting a CAD$40B market for surveys, investors back latest Montreal data company with its breakthrough approach to ensuring better quality data through precision targeting and industry-leading speed

Potloc, the research technology company delivering new levels of data quality, precision and speed with its social media sampling technology, today announced the closing of its Series B round, totalling CAD$35M in new equity and debt financing. Investissement Québec led the round followed by First Ascent Ventures and initial investors Brightspark Ventures, Desjardins Capital, Cap Horn, EcoFuel, BDC Capital’s Seed Fund along with debt financing provided by CIBC Innovation Banking. The raise marks Potloc’s second funding round within the last 18 months, bringing total investment to CAD$58M.

The funding will be used to accelerate its go-to-market strategy in North America and Europe and further develop Potloc’s machine learning-driven social media sampling technology that dramatically improves the quality of first-party data acquired through consumer surveys. Potloc’s unique differentiator is its unique niche targeting capability to survey consumers and professionals no one else can.

New board members include Marie-Michèle Caron, President – International Markets at Thryv and Tony van Marken, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at First Ascent Ventures. They are joining the two Founders and Guillaume Jacquet, Executive Vice President, Product at Lightspeed Commerce.

Targeting a CAD$40B market by making consumer surveys the preferred decision-making tool for global business leaders, Potloc has seen its sales more than double annually for the past four years, as its base of global management consulting firms and Fortune 500 clients has embraced the company’s new approach to acquire insights from precisely-defined audiences, and have considerably increased their pace and volume of engagement.

“Obtaining high-quality first-party data has been an Achilles heel for the research industry because of outdated and flawed methods to survey consumers. Everyday, we help our customers make better decisions thanks to our outstanding data quality. The Covid crisis has exposed the need for companies to reinvent themselves by listening to their markets. Quick customer adoption and very high retention and re-engagement rates demonstrates that clients see tangible business value in our innovative approach to consumer research.” said Potloc co-founder and CEO Rodolphe Barrere, who was named as the top tech leader on the 2021 Forbes Under 30 list.

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After expanding from 60 to 230 employees in the past year, Potloc – recently recognized by a Deloitte Fast 50 2021 Companies-to-watch award –  plans to hire 120 more staff in Montreal, New York and Paris. With further investment in data science, Potloc will continue to develop machine learning in its social media sampling technology while taking its analytics platform to the next level, thus providing its clients with quality insights tailored for their specific business decisions.

“Once again, our team is proud to be associated with Potloc’s success and growth strategies. The company is increasingly making its mark with its innovative approach to consumer research and market intelligence, offering tailor-made analysis to companies and organizations wishing to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers. Investissement Québec will continue to support promising young Québec companies to provide them all the tools they need to remain competitive locally and internationally, while contributing to the economic development of all regions of Québec,” says Guy LeBlanc, President and CEO of Investissement Québec.

Potloc’s survey results are used by the world’s top consulting firms along with world leading consumer brands in retail, consumer goods, food services, financial services, healthcare, transport/automotive, manufacturing and industrial equipment. With a global customer base of B2C and B2B companies (including Roland Berger, KPMG, EY-Parthenon, Lowe’s and L’Oréal), Potloc revenues have consistently more than doubled year over year in the past 4 years as it has established itself as an expert in quickly extracting precise and highly targeted insights from often hard-to-reach consumers.

“Potloc is a growth story that we are excited to be a part of. They are disrupting old methods by delivering tangible value in new ways and having a major impact on how companies acquire consumer insights to make decisions. All the KPIs for company growth are trending very positively as companies discover how accurately Potloc can gather insights from niche consumers. We are very proud to add Potloc to the First Ascent Ventures investment portfolio ,” said Tony van Marken, Managing Partner and co-founder at First Ascent Ventures.

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