North west-based multi-family investment office, Arete, has announced it has led a £3m
investment into experience analytics platform, Uncrowd.

Created by retail and systems experts Richard Hammond and Rocky Howard, Uncrowd is a
cutting-edge platform that allows global retailers and brands to measure customer
experience through innovative methods of data collection. It was recognised as one of
Silicon Valley’s best retail tech start-ups at this year’s Plug and Play Fall Summit and has
earnt a place on the Plug and Play accelerator programme.

Unlike traditional customer analytics, Uncrowd works by collecting objective data and
observations to generate an unbiased view of how a company is performing against its
competition, whilst detecting any key areas of improvement. The platform identifies why a
customer chooses one company over another, providing businesses with deeper insights to
allow them to make key decisions that will help them to increase their market share.

Co-founder Richard Hammond has over 30 years’ experience in the retail sector and is the
author of Friction/reward: Be your Customer’s First Choice. This then became the framework
for the Uncrowd business model, following a collaboration of ideas with fellow co-founder
and friend of 21 years, Rocky Howard.
The company was named as Microsoft’s Global Start-Up Partner of the Year in 2020 and is
currently working with a number of high-profile global brands in the UK and the US. The deal
with Arete will enable Uncrowd to further develop the platform and help facilitate the
expansion of the team.

Richard Hammond said: “The traditional customer analytics industry has historically
focussed on a two-dimensional understanding of the customer and their motivation, which is
great, but there was a real gap in the market that needed to be filled in terms of what is
going on elsewhere in the space.

“Uncrowd works by looking at the wider picture, using relative attractiveness to measure a
retailer’s performance – because that is the key to developing your business. When you
know your relative attractiveness versus your competitors, then you have the full 3D picture.

“We have chosen to partner with Arete because the team really understand what we are
about as a business and they offer a real partnership when it comes to investment, which
was a huge priority for us. We had a number of options, but with Arete we saw a genuine
sharing of expertise and we respected them as bringers of extra value right from our first
conversation. We’re looking forward to embarking on a long and successful relationship,
leaning on Arete’s extensive knowledge of the tech and digital sectors to really help drive our
business to its next stage of growth.”

The deal will see Liverpool headquartered Arete add to its growing portfolio of tech-led
businesses and scale-ups, in a year that has seen the firm make a number of investments
into companies such as Manchester-based Peak AI and global multi-channel tech business,
Tactus Group.

Ben Hatton, partner at Arete, said: “We’re really excited to be partnering with Uncrowd. The
business is already operating at a global level, which is down to the hard work and expertise
of the senior management team which has come together to create a stand-out proposition.

“In just four years, Uncrowd has managed to achieve recognition from tech giants Microsoft
and Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play, the largest early-stage accelerator platform in the world.
These are huge achievements for a company so young, which makes this a fantastic
opportunity for Arete. We’re looking forward to working together with Richard, Rocky and the
wider team to drive Uncrowd to the next level.”

The transaction was led by Ben Hatton and Jamie Newall at Arete. Matt Noon and Elan
Iorwerth of Hill Dickinson (legal), David Crout and Jill-Marit Lerum Cornes of PMSI
(commercial), Phil Cox of Iafeya (technical) also advised on the deal. Begin and Matrix
Capital also invested as part of the round.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:
Megan Walsh, Active Profile, [email protected], 07874 856 517

About Arete:
Arete is a multi-family office headquartered in Liverpool with a presence in Manchester that invests
transformational private capital into entrepreneurial companies in a variety of sectors.
The Arete team consists of experienced investors, entrepreneurs and advisors who bring a
relationship-based approach to equity investment.
Their focus is to go beyond capital, working side-by-side with management teams, investors and a
wider network of entrepreneurs to help companies accelerate their growth and fulfil their potential.