GWI secures $180 million in latest funding round to grow its audience insights solutions

GWI, an audience insights company, announced it has raised $180 million in Series B funding, enabling the company to expand GWI’s software as a service (SaaS) platform, extending coverage and reach and capturing more data points from more consumers and innovating in UX, machine learning, and natural language. GWI will also launch further product offerings, bolstering existing data sets.

The funding round puts the company’s value at more than $850 million. Financing was led by Permira’s growth fund.

Founded in 2009 by CEO, Tom Smith, GWI has become the leading global market research and audience insights software platform. Receiving $40 million Series A funding from the New York-based growth fund Stripes in 2018, GWI has since tripled recurring revenue, reaching nearly 400 employees globally.

GWI delivers global insights at scale, enabling the world’s top brands, agencies, and media organizations to gain deep understandings of their audiences.

Clients can analyze harmonized-data sets across geographies through an easy-to-use platform, gaining faster insights and time-to-market.

“Companies today need an instantaneous view of their audience everywhere in the world. The traditional approach of market research is not fit for purpose—too slow, incredibly expensive, and lacks the scale and detail needed. Our technology has solved this problem and the result has been incredible growth over the last three years. We can’t wait to work with Permira on our five-year goal to put audience insights in the workflow of every professional,” said Smith.

GWI joins Carta, FullStory, G2, Klarna and Sysdig, among others, as a Permira portfolio company.

GWI was supported by Jefferies. Permira was advised by Moelis & Company.

For more information about this news, visit www.gwi.com.