Insider’s Uncontested Strategy in Predictive Modelling to Enable Auto-optimization Closes $2.2M Series A

The round was attended by Wamda Capital, 212 and Dogan Group’s Oncu GSYO venture capital firms.

Insider, a multi-channel customer experience delivery platform, recently made an entry into the global scene with a single powerful mission: To simplify the lives of marketers with next-gen predictive modelling technologies helping them leverage “actionable data” and drive conversions with advanced segmentation and auto-optimization.

The company already enables global brands such as Allegro, AmRest, Answear.com, Multikino, INEA, PizzaPortal.pl, Toyota, MasterCard, Ticketmaster, GNC, AVIS, Lenovo, McDonalds and CNN across various industries including retail, media, finance travel and e-gaming.

Having offices in London, Moscow, Singapore, Dubai, Warsaw, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Milan, Insider has been growing at a remarkable speed since it’s establishment in 2012, averaging at 200% per year.

“We have witnessed a substantial traction in large, yet under-served markets such as, Japan, South Korea and China. Over the course of the next year, we will cement our presence in Poland and keep expanding into new and exciting markets with the goal of tripling our growth in 2016” said Insider’s CEO and co-founder Hande Cilingir.

In the Series A round, attended by Wamda Capital, 212 and Dogan Group’s Oncu GSYO venture capital firms, Insider closed $2.2M in funding.

“The new funding will be used to achieve three major goals”, Cilingir added: “Investing in predictive modelling, advanced segmentation and auto-optimization technologies; expanding into new and high-potential markets including Eastern Europe, APAC and MENA; hiring the best talent in these regions, especially to fuel our irreplaceable engineering power.”

Relying on data-scientists and analytics tools to make sense of big data and turn insights into meaningful optimization rules is an excruciatingly manual process for marketers. Therefore, Insider is heavily investing in auto-optimization technologies as a part of its predictive suite to help marketers manage complex funnels without depending on rule-based marketing and guesswork.

“When people in our industry see the word “predictive” they immediately imagine some sort of a recommendation engine. In fact, we are currently investing in the development of next-gen predictive technologies which goes far beyond that, helping marketers leverage ready-to-use predictive segments before they take a side step to watch auto-optimization happen” added Cilingir.

This is how it works: A visitor’s likelihood to purchase (L2P) an item in the next 7 days is calculated by a machine learning algorithm. A new L2P score is calculated on a daily basis for each visitor based on their on-site actions in the past 30 days. Marketers can then target a visitor segment with a high L2P score to deliver personalized campaigns using web push notifications, 1:1 messages, product recommendations and more. Auto-optimization comes into play when the algorithm identifies your visitors’ “next preferred channel” to deliver personalized campaigns in real time and automatically takes action to re-engage your audiences if they remain passive.

“Unlike other customer experience delivery solutions in our space, L2P scoring enables marketers to act on high-value segments and optimize marketing spend rather than just focusing on profit maximization. Our clients using L2P segmentation observed conversion rates which are up to 17 times higher compared to the average conversion rate on their sites.” Cilingir said.

Today’s marketer, being able to accurately predict each visitor’s future behaviour and auto-segment audiences based on predictive variables such as likelihood to purchase, customer interest and demographics can target high-performing groups to deliver hyper-relevant personalizations, while increasing conversion rates by over three-fold, using Insider’s platform.

Using predictive micro-segments marketers can design value-based marketing campaigns to attract, engage and retain customers. Building deeper relationships by targeting the right visitors at the right time with unique personalizations, at every stage of the customer life cycle, Insider’s predictive suite helps convert one-time buyers into repeat customers and identify churning customers.

Insider is also investing in mobile-first thinking in product development and working on adapting mobile personalization experiences to the Web, retiring the “web-first” and “mobile-responsive” thinking, switching the rules of the game.

“Mobile traffic represents 60-70% of a site’s traffic in these under-served markets we are expanding into, yet mobile conversion rates suffer dramatically. Our primary goal in these markets is to help companies leverage mobile web and app personalizations to discover their untapped conversion potential, driving unprecedented growth and loyalty” said Cilingir.

Insider’s platform is powered by an international engineering team, dispersed over Singapore, Russia and Istanbul and continues to spread it presence across continents.

“Our engineering team is built at the intersection of different cultures, technical expertise and truly unique backgrounds. If you visit one of our global offices, you’ll quickly realize the level of dedication which diffuses into every stage of product development” added Cilingir.

Investor Quotes:

“We strongly support Insider’s vision of enabling brands worldwide to better understand and thereby better serve their customers. Its multi-channel customer experience platform transforms data into actionable results. A comprehensive data set allows marketers to focus on customers’ wants and preferences, while driving growth and customer lifetime value.”
Fares Ghandour, a partner at Wamda Capital

“Insider has built a remarkable technology platform for marketers worldwide. Powered by a top-notch engineering team, Insider’s software enables anyone interested in e-commerce, media, travel, finance, or e-gaming to better understand and predict customer behavior. Through Insider’s predictive modeling technology, marketers can easily target customers who are most likely to make a purchase and, thereby, turn ad spend into dollars.”
Ali Karabey, Managing Director of 212 Venture Capital Firm

About Insider

Insider is a multi-channel digital experience platform for marketers.

Accessible from a unified data engine, Insider enables marketers to leverage personalization, predictive segmentation and real-time technologies to boost loyalty and digital growth.

Founded in 2012, Insider is a technology company with offices in London, Moscow, Singapore, Dubai, Warsaw, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

Helping world’s leading brands grow beyond the speed of customer expectations, Insider is trusted by over 200 businesses across various industries including Toyota, AVIS, Media Markt, Lenovo, GNC, MasterCard, BBVA, Delivery Hero, Fiat, Carrefour, Ticketmaster, Air Arabia, Tune Hotels, Dominos, McDonalds, Avon and CNN.