Kin + Carta acquires Edinburgh data firm

The deal, which is for an undisclosed amount, will double the size of Kin + Carta’s European data practice to more than 100 people, as well as increasing its AI, predictive data and data science capacity.

Forecast is based in Edinburgh and has a delivery hub in Poland, focusing on data infrastructure, advanced analytics and commercial insights.

The Forecast teams and brand in Europe will be integrated into Kin + Carta immediately, and Neil Macdonald (pictured left), Forecast’s director and founder, will stay in post and report directly to David Tuck (pictured right), group chief executive officer of Europe at Kin + Carta.

The acquisition builds on previous Kin + Carta deals to buy Cascade Data Labs in 2020 and Octain AI in 2021, and follows the recent opening of Kin + Carta’s Edinburgh office.

Macdonald said: “Forecast and Kin + Carta first worked together on a joint client engagement in February 2022. We have a fantastically talented data team and our goal has always been to be the most impactful advanced analytics team in the UK.

“Combining our strengths with Kin + Carta’s specialisms, scale and geographic reach will help propel us forward towards that goal and to the collective goal of building a world that works better for everyone.”

Tuck said: “Omnichannel experiences powered by data drive huge business impact, and the addition of Forecast bolsters Kin + Carta’s existing capability in building dynamic pricing, analytics and data recommendation engines, all of which support long-term customer value and retention.”

Kelly Manthey, global chief executive officer at Kin + Carta, added: “Enterprise data transformation is a key part of our growth strategy.

“This acquisition strengthens our data and AI capabilities globally helping to satisfy our order backlog and establishing a data hub for Europe that matches our strong capabilities in America.”