YFM Equity Partners (YFM) has led a $8.2m investment round into GEEIQ – a UK-based metaverse data intelligence specialist with a roster of big name, international clients.

The funding will enable GEEIQ (‘geek’), which is headquartered in London, to accelerate its scale-up plans, explore potential international expansion and further develop its data platform product, with participation from GFR Fund, which has invested in a number of gaming startups, and FOV Ventures, which invests in metaverse-based startups.

Launched in 2018, GEEIQ has grown rapidly by addressing a mounting need for data intelligence in the evolving metaverse market, which it defines as virtual gaming and social environments, such as Roblox, Decentraland and Fortnite. Its platform leverages data from this space, which GEEIQ sees as a natural evolution of social media, to help brands navigate it effectively.

The global gaming market is valued at $178bn today and is forecast to reach over $250bn by the end of 2025. The platform enables brands to maximise their investment in this new marketing vertical, through data-led decision making and to measure and attribute the real-world value of engagement with their virtual activations.

As a result of this technology, GEEIQ has positioned itself as the decision-making point for brands seeking to identify and optimise their virtual strategies, helping them to reach, engage and retain new, virtual audiences. It supports its clients through a subscription-based model with managed services embedded into contracts.

High-profile, international brands that have engaged GEEIQ to-date include Walmart, Porsche, L’Oreal and Gucci. The platform also helped to ensure the successful execution of Elton John and Universal Music’s ‘Elton John Presents: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road’ virtual Roblox concert and experience – which became the highest-rated concert in Roblox history.

Commenting on the latest round of investment into the platform, GEEIQ CEO, Charles Hambro said:

“The biggest brands in the world have been relying on GEEIQ and this latest investment will turbo-charge our ability to support them further, as well as enabling us to tap into new business opportunities. We want to ensure that our company is as well positioned as possible to help visionary brands gain a data-driven and profitable presence in the virtual space.”

“YFM have provided us with outstanding support from the outset of our relationship with them. Going far beyond what a typical investor would offer, they have taken the time to really understand the drivers of our business, which can be challenging in such a new sphere.

“Their comprehensive due diligence approach has been hugely advantageous, as has their help with building out our growth strategy. The YFM team also aided us in appointing a new, highly experienced Chair, Michel Cassius, previously of Apple, Electronic Arts and Microsoft Xbox, who is playing a key role in our development.”

Helen Villiers at YFM added,

“GEEIQ is testament to the fact that brands are beginning to take virtual environments and the metaverse far more seriously.”

“We’re at an inflection point where traditional advertising and social media presence will no longer cut it for brands entering this space. They need tools like GEEIQ for KPI measurement and attribution. While many tech businesses operating in this space received extensive investment during the early metaverse ‘hype’ period, GEEIQ continues to operate and thrive and represents a more mature metaverse investment opportunity. The business is helping to define the future of these virtual environments as a marketing vertical and has huge growth potential.”

The YFM team included Helen Villiers, Zach Francis and Jamie Roberts.

Advisers on the deal included: RPL, Customer Referencing; HCR, Legal; Leckie Kershaw, Tech DD; Human Factor Health Check, Organisational DD; HMT, Financial DD; Sales Blueprint, GTM DD and Philip Hare & Associates, VCT advice.

ENDS

About GEEIQ

GEEIQ is a London-based data platform and insights provider founded in 2018 that enables some of the world’s biggest brands, including H&M, L’Oreal, and even Elton John, to navigate the metaverse and the wider virtual landscape.

We empower brands of every shape and size to create long-term, data-led virtual strategies that enrich the experience of untapped virtual communities, grow addressable audiences, and create sustainable revenue streams in this new marketing and communications vertical.

Our platform leverages data from across the vast landscape of virtual gaming and social environments to enable benchmarking against branded virtual activations, competitor analysis, partner and influencer identification, as well as a deeper understanding of audience affinities and demographics. For our Premium and Enterprise subscribers, our in-house experts provide bespoke reporting and long-term virtual strategy curation that’s focused on tangible measurement and attribution, rather than positive PR and metaverse ‘hype’.

For more information. please visit www.geeiq.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About YFM

YFM invests £2m to £10m into businesses with strong growth potential located across the UK through a regional network of offices in London, Leeds, Manchester, Reading and Birmingham.

YFM Equity Partners are specialist, independently owned, private equity investors. Having recently celebrated 40 years of investing experience, our portfolio may have changed over the years, but our ethos has remained the same – to support small businesses across the UK in their next phase of growth. We seek to unlock value and growth potential by providing up to £10 million of equity to fuel the development of established business throughout the UK regions. We do this by helping our portfolio companies launch new initiatives, make transformative acquisitions, and upgrade technologies and systems. We are dedicated to working alongside management teams to create

long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and make a positive economic impact for the communities in which we work. We manage funds in excess of £420 million which include venture capital trusts and private equity funds.

YFM Equity Partners conducts its investment business through its subsidiary YFM Private Equity Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 122120).

For more information, please visit www.yfmep.com or follow us on LinkedIn.