Personify XP Closes £550k Pre-Seed Round

Personify XP, the world’s first anonymous digital analytics and AI personalisation platform, has closed a £550,000 pre-seed round. Investors include Founders Factory, Touker Suleyman and other high-profile angels. As part of Founders Factory’s investment, its operations team across a number of core business functions are providing hands-on support to support the growth of Personify XP.

Personify XP is the world’s first anonymous real-time analytics and personalisation platform. By automating the types of content and products that consumers see, retailers can react in real-time to changes in an anonymous consumer’s digital journey as they move through a brand’s channels.  

This drives on average a 10% increase in revenue for the brands the company works with. Personify XP partners with global brands like boohoo, Farfetch, 7 For All Mankind, Pentland Brands, Hawes & Curtis, and Lovehoney to drive individualised experiences completely anonymously. Up to 95% of digital shoppers are anonymous, driven in part by cookie legislation such as GDPR and CCPA, as well as changes occurring within browsers like Safari and Google Chrome, which are all phasing out 3rd party cookies in 2022.

“Our goal is to ensure consumers do not have to sacrifice their anonymity to have a great brand experience,” said Ben Mercer, CCO of Personify XP. “With growing privacy laws, starting with GDPR in Europe and most recently the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) this year, privacy is hampering the huge opportunity brands see from great digital experiences and the revenue gains possible from driving more personalised experiences to their customers.”

Mercer continued:

“It’s an exciting time for Personify XP as we continue to see successful adoption of our vision. We have found excellent partners in Founders Factory, who immediately bought into our vision of personalising brand experiences to anyone, anywhere, without the need for any personal data.”

Isabela Chick, Managing Director Retail & Beauty at Founders Factory commented: 

“I’m delighted to welcome Personify XP to the Founders Factory accelerator programme. The team (Ben Mercer and Josh Scotton) has built a remarkable technology that enables the personalisation of web experiences for anonymous visitors in real time based on current rather than past behaviour.” Isabela continued, “As consumers’ data becomes increasingly protected by new regulations across the world, Personify XP answers a real need for e-commerce businesses and their customers. I’m excited to work with them on the next stage of their growth.”

Touker Suleyman, Fashion Retail Entrepreneur and TV Personality on Dragon’s Den commented: 

“I continue to be in awe of what the Personify XP team have been able to deliver with the platform in market and for my own brands like Hawes & Curtis, Ghost and Bikesoup. Consumers online have been so used to getting frustrated by their online experiences with irrelevant content and product recommendations. Personify XP has blown away the market by being able to deliver in real-time website adaptation to better service customers behaviours without anyone having to give away their data.”

Personify XP is experiencing rapid growth, having delivered 420% YoY growth since August 2019. While the global pandemic has hampered fundraising efforts for many, Personify XP has been well positioned to step up and underpin consumers’ ongoing adoption of online shopping. Personify XP has seen a 2 times increase in online shopping searches this year alone as it continues to provide brands with a new revenue opportunity through larger order values and increases in completed purchases thanks to AI and the automation of personalised digital experiences.

The new funding will accelerate the growth of Personify XP’s platform for its direct business and indirect partners. It will allow the company to grow into new markets and open up new partnerships to drive channel revenue, increase marketing spend to fuel lead generation, and continue to improve the overall product experience.

ENDS.

Notes to editors:

For more information about PersonifyXP, contact: Ben Mercer, Co-Founder & CCO Personify XP, +44 203 879 1744, [email protected]

About PERSONIFY XP

Personify XP automates digital experiences for anonymous digital shoppers, driving on average a 10% increase in revenue and is a Gartner Cool Vendor in Personalisation.

Personify XP is able to personalise, in real time, onsite shopping behaviour by identifying the purpose of the shopper’s visit completely anonymously. Personify XP’s proprietary AI dynamically inserts content and products based on shopping context without a retailer or brand’s involvement. Changes in behaviour, driven by celebrity endorsements, discounts and new product launches are recognised automatically in real time, updating and creating new behaviours to drive highly personalised experiences.

Personify XP partners with global brands like boohoo, Farfetch, 7 For All Mankind, Pentland Brands, Hawes & Curtis and Lovehoney.

With GDPR, CCPA and Google phasing out 3^rd party cookies in 2022, Personify XP is the only platform that can deliver a truly personalised digital experience completely anonymously out of the box.

About Founders Factory:

Founders Factory powers founders to go further, faster. As the world’s leading startup studio and accelerator program, the Founders Factory team validates ideas, builds founding teams, finds first customers, and invests directly in startups across multiple disciplines.

Started by Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox, and George Northcott, Founders Factory has received investment from leading corporates across four hubs in New York, London, Paris, and Johannesburg: Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (New York); Marks & Spencer, L’Oréal, easyJet, Guardian Media Group, Aviva, Holtzbrinck, CSC and Reckitt Benckiser (London); Aviva France (Paris); and Standard Bank and Netcare (Johannesburg).

Founders Factory has built over 35, invested in over 140 startups to date and secured over 200 commercial pilots for its startups with 36% of those pilots resulting in enterprise contracts and direct investments. 

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