BeMyEye acquires major competitor and closes €6.5m in Series B funding 

• European leader in mobile crowdsourcing receives backing from Nauta Capital, P101 and previous investors, among which 360 Capital Partners, and consolidates market, as it aims to change the way people work
  
• BeMyEye will invest funding in international growth and product development; doubling the size of its technology development team to offer companies real-time data with unparalleled reach and precision through Europe’s largest crowd 
  
• BeMyEye connects people with tasks crowdsourced from companies and brands, including Coca Cola, P&G, Nestle, Samsung, Nespresso, Mattel, Heineken, Lavazza and Universal

LONDON, UK (May 18th, 2016) - BeMyEye, the European leader in mobile crowdsourcing, announces that it will receive €6.5m in Series B funding from Nauta Capital, P101 and previous investors, among which 360 Capital Partners. The closing of the funding is expected for the end of May, subject to certain customary conditions for transactions of this kind.

The news coincides with BeMyEye’s acquisition of one of its major competitors, LocalEyes. The acquisition of LocalEyes will give BeMyEye access to new customers and a total crowd of 250,000, enabling the company to emerge as the European leader in the growing market for real world mobile crowdsourced data insights.

BeMyEye gamifies tasks, enabling people to make money wherever they are using their smartphones. The company is building Europe’s largest crowd of real world data gatherers (known as ‘Eyes’) and is connecting them with businesses looking for location-specific information, such as checking in-store promotion and prices, generating sales leads or gathering street level data for mapping enrichment. Individuals use a free mobile app and perform micro-jobs on a voluntary basis, earning cash in return for visiting stores or points of interest in their vicinity. The method empowers businesses to “see” thousands of locations in just a few days.

Luca Pagano, CEO at BeMyEye comments: “For businesses, the potential benefits of the crowd are truly endless. The traditional 9-5 way of working is in decline, spurring a fundamental shift in the way we earn a living. BeMyEye is an agent for this change, giving people the chance to complete jobs wherever they are and whenever they want to. This is all achieved within a gamified environment that provides real monetary rewards and growth opportunities for those who successfully complete challenges. By leveraging people’s talent, time and locations we’re able to provide businesses with unique, real-time local insights that will allow them to grow sales, spot new market opportunities and significantly reduce costs.” 

BeMyEye is already connecting people with crowdsourced data tasks from companies and brands across retail, FMCG, consumer packaged goods, technology and media, including Coca Cola, P&G, Nestle, Samsung, Nespresso, Mattel, Heineken, Lavazza and Universal. The insights shared by BeMyEye’s crowd allow companies to observe, audit and take control of their physical presence; giving them the intelligence to identify new revenue streams, uphold brand integrity and make savings quickly.

Founded in 2011 by Gian Luca Petrelli, BeMyEye is the fastest growing operator in the market, with offices in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Having seen a tenfold increase in revenue over the past two years, BeMyEye is well on track to double its revenues in 2016, with year on year revenue growth in Q1 2016 of 180%.

BeMyEye will use its Series B funding to further accelerate its product development. The company plans to double the size of its technology team to cater for the increasingly innovative ways that brands are utilising the power of the crowd. It will also use the investment to boost its salesforce and marketing function to further the company’s international growth. 

Pagano adds: “We are so convinced of the global opportunity for mobile crowdsourcing that this year we moved our headquarters from Milan to London’s tech city. This will give us access to some of the very best talent and enable us to better connect with global brands and support their businesses all over the world.” 

Carles Ferrer, Partner at Nauta Capital comments: “BeMyEye is proven as the European market leader in this high growth space. The power of the crowd to give businesses feet on the street is a model where we see huge potential. We’re delighted to support BeMyEye in its continued international expansion.”

“BeMyEye is a disruptive game-changer in a market where real world big data is a growing need. We, at P101, strongly believe this new funding round will consolidate the company's leadership at an international level,” says Giuseppe Donvito, Partner at P101.

Fausto Boni, General Partner at 360 Capital Partners adds: "We have always believed that ByMyEye would bring about disruption in its sector, in the same way that Uber and Airbnb did by leveraging megatrends, innovation and empowerment of the crowd. With the financial support of experienced investors like Nauta Capital and P101 I am convinced we'll succeed in this endeavour."

Pagano continues: “Real world data is a huge blind spot for companies at the moment. Information collected about businesses’ physical locations is often vague, expensive or even impossible to gather. Thanks to the crowd we’re entering a new era of real world data insights from the real world, in real-time, that companies have never had access to before and is enabling unparalleled reach and precision."

ENDS

 

 

About BeMyEye

BeMyEye is the European market leader in mobile crowdsourcing, changing the way that people work. The company is home to Europe’s largest crowd of real world data gatherers (known as ‘Eyes’). BeMyEye connects the Eyes with businesses looking for location-specific information, such as checking in-store promotion and prices, generating sales leads or gathering street level data for mapping enrichment.

BeMyEye gamifies tasks by setting location-specific challenges, enabling people to make money wherever they are, using their smartphones, whenever they wish to work. The crowdsourced insights allow businesses to uncover reliable, real world insights, collected from any location, at scale. This method empowers businesses to “see” thousands of locations within moments, giving them the intelligence to identify new revenue streams, uphold brand integrity and make savings quickly.

Founded in 2011 by Italian entrepreneur and innovator, Gian Luca Petrelli, BeMyEye is established across Europe with 250,000 Eyes subscribing to tasks set by leading companies including Coca Cola, P&G, Nestle, Samsung, Nespresso, Mattel, Heineken, Lavazza and Universal. BeMyEye, headquartered in the UK with offices in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, is a VC-backed company with investment from Nauta Capital, p101 and 360 Capital Partners

Contacts

Hotwire for BeMyEye
Beth Sissons
Beth.sissons@hotwirepr.com

+44 (0)20 7608 4670