NEWS2 March 2018

Ipsos invests in Big Sofa

FRANCE – Ipsos has invested £3 million into shares in video analytics firm Big Sofa Technologies and Laurence Stoclet, deputy chief executive and group chief financial officer at Ipsos, will sit on Big Sofa’s board as a non-executive director.

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The investment involves a subscription for 16,402,143 ordinary shares of 3 pence each at a price of 18.5 pence per Ordinary Share for 20% of the enlarged issued ordinary share capital of Big Sofa.

Big Sofa and Ipsos have had an increasingly active trading relationship for more than two years. In April 2017, they signed a Master Service Agreement.

The investment will mean Big Sofa can enhance its sales and marketing functions – particularly in the US – to build its market as well as improve its video analytics platform and technology infrastructure.

Didier Truchot, Ipsos chairman and CEO, said: "Ipsos is investing in technology which we believe has the potential not only to transform the consumer research market, but also to disrupt other sectors where codification, discovery, learning and meaning are equally transformed through visual data. We have tremendous respect for Big Sofa’s brand and its leadership team."

Simon Lidington (pictured), chief executive officer of Big Sofa, added: "We are extremely proud that Ipsos has chosen to invest in the considerable potential of Big Sofa’s technology to be applied both within its industry and potentially in wider areas. Its investment is intended to help Big Sofa develop faster as an innovative technology business and add additional capacity to accelerate our rate of revenue growth."