Video analytics firm Big Sofa announces Aim flotation after raising over £6m
Video analytics firm Big Sofa begins trading today on London’s junior market, with an eye on US expansion.
Big Sofa has raised around £6.1m by way of a placing of, and subscription for, new ordinary shares at 17 pence per share, valuing the business at £10m. It hopes the fundraising will boost expansion in the US, as it expects the country to become one of the largest markets for video analytics.
Its shares begin trading on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) at 8am Monday.
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Founders Simon Lidington and Matt Lynch created the business in 2009, interviewing consumers to build up insight into customer behaviour.
Initially they conducted the interviews on an inflatable sofa and film the results, but the time-consuming process of playing back the video and compiling the responses led to their development of software that transcribes and analyses video. So key words and reactions are flagged.
Big Sofa’s customers include Procter and Gamble, Unilever, British Airways and Kantar.
Lidington, Big Sofa’s chief executive, said: “Our belief is that video is transforming the consumer insight sector, but to be truly valuable, brands and agencies need to be able to manage the vast amounts of video content they acquire.”
The aim of his firm’s technology is to allow companies to do so.
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“Our listing on AIM gives us the means to accelerate our growth ambitions both domestically and internationally in order to create a highly profitable business of scale,” Lidington added.
The market for video analytics is expected to be worth more than £7bn worldwide by 2023, according to Transparency Market Research.
The London Stock Exchange's junior market has been gearing up for a festive frenzy of floats, with firms looking to push through plans ahead of Christmas. The likes of ECSC, Oxford BioDynamics, Diversified Gas & Oil and Creo Medical Grouo, all announced plans to float in December too.