Like most tech firms Big Sofa floated with a bang followed by a whimper as reality kicked in.
Founded in 2009 by Simon Lidington and Matt Lynch, the business uses video to research into consumer behaviour.
It floated on AIM in 2016 but chief financial officer Joe McCarthy admits trading was slow as it hunted blue-chip clients.
He said: “We were going after large blue-chips, which is quite tough as they move at a glacial pace. But we’re now inside the tent and on the tech rosters giving us access to different budgets.”
The company now lists an impressive number of household names with clients including Unilever, British Airways, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble.
Its latest results show revenues of £1.7 million and McCarthy expects this to grow by 80% year on year.
Analysts say the company is relevant as old-school consumer research techniques are dead and long gone are the days when customers would be questioned by a man in a mac with a clipboard and pen.
Instead multinationals want data and Big Sofa has created software that transcribes, translates and analyses video so it can be “data mined” for key words or reactions.
The tech is useful as many consumer companies now pay participants so that they can record them in their kitchen and watch their behaviour, including how they load the dishwasher etc.
The firm has some big backers, including polling firm Ipsos, which bought a chunky stake for £3 million last year.
Ipsos has a 17% stake while Lidington and Lynch still have shares.
