Motista, an on-demand consumer intelligence solution for marketers, has raised $4.5 million in series A financing led by El Dorado Ventures. El Dorado Partner Tom Peterson will be joining Motista’s board of directors. Motista is not disclosing its total funding numbers, but the company was originally backed by founders Scott Magids and Alan Zorfas as well as several angel investors, who collectively invested several million dollars, according to Marketing Director Paula Cavagnaro.
Motista also announced that it will be bringing its headquarters to Silicon Valley, relocating operations from Maryland to San Mateo, CA.
Founded in 2007, Motista aims to develop consumer data and connection metrics in an effort to provide marketers with more intelligent ways to help brands reach their customers. Which is another way of saying that the startup surveys and collects data on consumer habits, allowing your business to access reports on what kind of products your customers are buying and why — as well as how to better target them.
The company was created on the notion that marketing companies still rely heavily on traditional research methods and outside consultants to build profiles of their customers, and doesn’t typically provide useful analysis of the many customer interaction channels introduced by Web and social media.
To address these industry shortcomings, Motista built a realtime consumer intelligence database by performing large-scale studies with consumer anthropologists across a variety of verticals and interviewing thousands of consumers for background data, according to Motista co-founder Alan Zorfas. The startup continues to survey thousands of consumers in an effort to provide its customers with up-to-date consumer intelligence.
Building on its database of consumer research, Motista’s consumer connection platform provides marketers with the ability to see, for example, whether or not the people following their business on social networks have a stronger connection to their brand — and if they actually buy more of the product as a result. The startup’s web-based app also enables marketers to answer questions, test and justify hypotheses, view their highest performing connections, and explore competitor data.
The baseline for a year-long subscription to Motista is $75K, which includes consumer connection intelligence specific to the purchasing brand, its category, and two competitors. Zorfas claims this is comparable to the cost of one custom research study.
With its new round of funding, the startup plans to expand its staff of 12 and ramp up hiring. The company will be also be launching a widely available version of its product later this year. Stay tuned.
For more on Motista, check out the video below: