The Journal, September 2012
A digital start-up firm that analyses website traffic to help turn visitors into customers has secured a £370,000 investment to push its product to a wider audience.
Newcastle-based CANDDi (Campaign and Digital Intelligence) has spent the last 12 months proving the value of an online tool that can help firms collect and process vital customer data.
The business is headed by digital marketeer Tom Cheesewright and serial entrepreneur Tim Langley, who has launched four other businesses.
The new funding round is led by venture capitalist Northstar Ventures, which has put in £250,000 mixed debt and equity investment.
The remaining £100,000 comes from a selection of business angels, including former TravelSupermarket.com and managing director at online retailer Kelkoo, Chris Nixon, and Clement Schvartz, EMEA large customer sales director at Google.
CANDDi first emerged in 2009 as part of the Difference Engine accelerator in the North East and, backed by an initial £150,000 investment from Northstar, established bases in Newcastle and Manchester while it developed its technology from proof-of-concept to a sellable product.
The startup currently targets the websites of companies who tend to advertise online but close their deals offline, such as real estate agents, car dealers and B2B services.
Cheesewright says that until now, customers have been acquired through the team’s own contacts, but that the new funds will allow them to boost sales and marketing efforts. To this end, CANDDi has already hired ex-Google executive Fred Abrard as sales manager.
“Websites are terrible at converting visitors into customers,” he said. “It’s very hard to know who has been to your site, and why they didn’t buy something or make an enquiry.
“The funding will help us move from being an interesting set of technology ideas into a proper commercial venture. The first 18 months was about building a complex product and the last 12 months has been about proving that product.
“We’re live on about 20 different websites, including Skipton Building Society, who is a very happy customer of ours. Websites are like shops without shop assistants.
“There’s no one there to converse with or answer your questions. That’s what we’re trying to overcome with this software.”
CANDDi employs four full-time staff in Newcastle, four in its Manchester office and five contractors. Langley says users who visit the About Us page as part of their journey through a site tend to be likely to spend more if they end up buying. Using this data, CANDDi can automatically tweak factors such as the user journey and the kinds of messages visitors receive from the website in order to help close a sale.
Langley said: “The last 12 months have been spent proving the value of CANDDi with customers in the finance, B2B marketing and automotive sectors. Now we plan to take our product to market more aggressively. With the skills, the funding and the experience we have brought on board with this round, we are well equipped for explosive growth.”
Alex Buchan, of Northstar Ventures, said: “We are delighted to be working with CANDDi again, this time as an Accelerator investment. The team has enthusiasm and with this new funding is going to be able to grow CANDDi to its full potential.”