Tag Archives: Media

Major investment in the media company ContentCentral

Almi Invest’s portfolio companies ContentCentral in Umeå offers an online service that connects journalists and editors for the sale and distribution of articles and news. Now the company has brought in SEK 8.7 million from investors.

Content Central has since autumn 2014 helped the media house and freelance journalists in Sweden to sell and distribute editorial content. Over 3000 freelance journalists, writers and photographers are connected to the service and signed up thousands of articles, crosswords and images for sale.

The company has now developed into 8.7 million SEK in venture capital, most of which was from Fort Knox and Partners Invest North, part of Almi Invest. Together they have gone in with seven million by issuing new shares. Also converts the Silicon Valley-based VC company 500 Startups earlier paid convertible loan of 1.7 million of shares.

– It feels good to finish this round we have been working on for about ten months. Getting into Fort Knox and Partners Invest as local investors feel really good. They have financial muscle, good skills and have important contacts, but above all we will be able to work close to each other which is important in the phase where we are in. For it feels it is of course very exciting to get the 500 Startups to ownership, which can give us interesting inputs internationally, says Joachim Ljungquist, founder and CEO.

The media industry is under a lot of structural and currently employs over 50 percent of the world’s journalists on a freelance basis. ContentCentral is a platform that simplifies deployment, rights and payment of editorial content.

– We have had dialogue regarding an investment in ContentCentral for a long time and it feels great to now be involved in bringing the business forward. The company has an interesting solution that can be an important part of the transformation that the media industry is going through right now. In addition, the platform, the economy in general, an increasingly important business model, says Henrik Wimelius, investment manager for digital business concepts at Fort Knox.

Right now developing the next generation of service with the new technology, which will be the company’s first live version. In addition, work is underway in full swing for the establishment in the UK.

– I have had the privilege to follow the company since its inception and looks really potential to get out of the English-language market that is much larger than the Swedish. On the occasion of the international ambition included ContentCentral we want to be understood to be on the trip, says Lena Fridlund Forsgren, investment manager at Partner Invest North.

The investment will be used to increase resources for the development and for the establishment of new markets.

Operations are conducted through the company Syndigate AB, where Almi Invest is one of the partners.

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Nordic Capital acquires world-leading innovative research technology provider Cint

Nordic Capital Logo

Nordic Capital Fund VIII (‘Nordic Capital’) has acquired Cint, a leading global player in the insights data collection technology market. Nordic Capital will support Cint’s successful position as a leading global platform, aiding continued accelerated growth in an industry where consumers are becoming increasingly mobile and digital, and brand marketing spend is shifting to online.

Nordic Capital acquires Cint from a large shareholder group that includes Prime Ventures, Creandum, Cipio Partners, the founder, and a group of individual investors and employees.

Fredrik Näslund, Partner at NC Advisory AB, advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds said: “Nordic Capital is impressed by the quality and efficiency of Cint’s technology, its strong value proposition to its customers and the quick adoption of the technology. The company is ideally placed to add value to both suppliers and buyers of research panels as a fully automated, truly global platform. Nordic Capital looks forward to supporting the management team in further accelerating Cint’s growth as well as investing in further development of the company and its products.”

Cint’s CEO Morten Strand added: “We are very pleased that Nordic Capital has chosen to invest in Cint. Nordic Capital’s extensive experience of successfully developing and growing technology businesses, in cooperation with management and employees, suits us very well and gives us the opportunity to continue our positive development. In the age of accelerating digital transformation in consumer insights and behaviour, we will together continue to be a leader in technology innovation for the market research industry.”

Cint’s main product is OpinionHUB, a B2B exchange for seeking and collecting insights. The platform connects the buy-side – typically a market research firm that needs to access panellists for consumer research – with the sell-side, the companies owning consumer panels. This allows the customer easy access to a specific number of pre-defined, deeply profiled panellists in a specific country, region or local area in the world, through the platform’s self-service and real time matching algorithms.

Since launching its OpinionHUB panel marketplace platform in 2005, Cint has rapidly evolved in a technology centric environment and has established a profitable business model, which benefits the whole value chain when working with consumer surveys, as it reduces time and costs for all parties. Cint has a track record of launching industry ‘firsts’ that have raised standards in innovation, transparency and quality within the market research world.

Cint is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and has 13 offices in major cities across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. The company has over 140 employees. Cint has enjoyed exponential growth and development over the last 10 years, and targets above 30% growth annually on average. With Nordic Capital as the new owner, Cint will continue on its rapid growth path, securing a leading position in the sector.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

The investment is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

Press contacts:

Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
NC Advisory AB, advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
e-mail: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

Cint
Morten Strand CEO
Tel: +46 709702974
e-mail: morten.strand@cint.com

 

About Cint

Cint provides access to opinions by innovating market research technology. The company reaches over 19 million people in over 65 countries, all sourced via 800 different panels owned by publishers, local media outlets, market research agencies and non-profits. Cint’s exchange platform, OpinionHUB, a fully transparent insight marketplace, brings together questions and answers from all around the world. Cint is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and has offices in major cities across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please see www.cint.com

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital private equity funds have invested in mid-market companies primarily in the Nordic region since 1989. Through committed ownership and by targeting strategic development and operational improvements, Nordic Capital enables value creation in its investments. Nordic Capital Funds invest in companies in northern Europe and in selected investment opportunities internationally. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund VIII with EUR 3.5 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Funds are based in Jersey, Channel Islands, and are advised by the NC Advisory companies in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the UK. For further information about Nordic Capital please see www.nordiccapital.com

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