Newton Insight will run out of London and Prague with a New York office planned for 2017.

The company said it was pioneering new methodologies in social insights with the aim of making social data accessible and more actionable for clients.

Before taking the managing director role at Newton Insight, Lynch was director of media evaluation at Kantar Media and TNS. He is also a visiting lecturer in media insights at the University of Westminster.

He said: “At the heart of our decision to launch Newton Insight is a belief that the research industry has the ability to travel faster to maximise the value of new technology. Research must keep pace with client demands for more innovation in the speed, scale and efficiency of insight programmes.”