Member Article

Ecommerce behaviour specialists Formisimo secure £350k equity funding

Formisimo has secured a £350,000 venture capital investment from a syndicate led by The North West Fund for Digital & Creative and including two London based angels and leading accelerator, Seedcamp.

The injection of cash will allow the founders to return from Google Campus and to grow the team to fourteen in the first twelve months in their new MediaCity base.

Formisimo measures and analyses consumer behaviour in online checkouts and online forms, showing companies how they can make small adjustments that drive big changes. 67% of people who start typing in an online checkout don’t complete the buying process, costing companies a significant amount of sales and enquiries.

Brands that have already signed up to Formisimo include Travelex, Secret Escapes, Genting, WeBuyAnyCar, Asda, Virgin Active, Borro and The FT.

Formisimo have appointed Anish Kapoor, the co-founder of Telecity, as their first Manchester based advisor. The Formisimo team will continue to be mentored by London-based advisors from Google, Seedcamp, Moo.com and OneFineStay.

Al Mackin, co-founder of Formisimo, said: “We’ve self-financed Formisimo and have seen significant growth, with a thousand customers in over sixty countries.

“With the support of our investors, advisors and mentors we can enhance our current offering, grow our team in Manchester and create further ways that make it easier for consumers and businesses to exchange information.”

Tom New, co-founder of Formisimo, said: “I’d like to thank the team at The North West Fund, Seedcamp, our two angels and all those involved in this round for their support.”

Manchester based agency theEword has supported Formisimo on development and marketing.

Launched as a beta product in May 2013, Formisimo has tracked more than 380 million customer interactions and counts over 1000 companies – including seven global brands – among its users. The company exited beta in January 2014, and has successfully moved to a paid model.

Rupert Wingate-Saul, investment manager, AXM Venture Capital, which manages The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, said: “Formisimo’s platform elegantly meets a real need in the e-commerce market. The management team combine genuine commercial experience and huge ambition and we are confident in their ability to make a success of the market opportunity.

“We are equally delighted to support their strategy of returning the business to the North West and growing the team at MediaCity.”

The North West Fund for Digital & Creative is part of The North West Fund and is financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .