Headed by Madhuban Kumar, the two-year-old company is now eyeing other verticals beyond marketing

From the first round of Tech Invest four short years ago to now, 19 of the presenting companies have raised funding, two floated on AIM and two have been acquired. GrowthBusiness presents the top 13 Tech Innovators of the year.

As of Gartner’s 2015 Hype Cycle, big data is out and machine learning is in. This essentially means that big data analytics is largely recognised as a cornerstone of enterprise functions, while newer technologies including machine learning and artificial intelligence are still in their exploratory phase.

For fast-growth tech firm, Metafused, AI is not a thing of the distant future, but a core tool in powering more direct interactions between brands and people, focusing on faster, smarter responses to their questions and needs.

The company’s BrandFlo system enables marketers to report on the past, analyse the present, and predict and influence the future through real-time analytics.

Metafused – a snapshot

Metafused is a data analytics company that uses artificial intelligence and real time data to enhance marketing decision making and find new revenue opportunities. Marketing is its first vertical.

Based in: London & Manchester

Founded in: 2014

No. of employees: 11

At the helm: Madhuban Kumar, founder and CEO

Madhuban has 20 years of venture investing, product development and entrepreneurial experience in Asia, Europe and the US. Madhuban was the Top 50 2016 Northern Power Women honouring female achievements in business and a finalist for Top Asian entrepreneur in 2016.

Inside track

In hindsight…

I was not a born entrepreneur, but I learnt many of the skills of being an entrepreneur and realise its first a frame of mind. I also feel the number one skill to be an entrepreneur lay within me and that is of being an optimist. As time progressed, I combined this with the reality of a situation to become a realist and this is where I am as I grow Metafused into a global business. The one thing I would have is better vetting procedure for co-founders and extract easily when it does not work.

Ultimate business motto?

Winning with respect

What motivates your team?

Metafused’s culture is based on team spirit, respect, complex problem solving and no bull*hit. The team is a young and hungry team and I am humbled to lead them through this incredible journey.

Life post-Brexit?
We anticipate still being able to trade with European clients and suppliers in much the same way as now. The number one impact, by far, of Brexit on our industry will be the effect it has on recruiting and keeping talent. We, and our peers, have benefitted from employing some of the brightest young European minds in tech who are attracted to the dynamic UK market. It is critical that the government does not put any barriers in the way of tech firms continuing to access this talent. We, through the various tech industry bodies, will be making our voice heard to try and ensure that this does not happen.

Products

• BrandFlo – marketing analytics tool used to enhance customer targeting
• Openmetrics – an open source API allowing developers to store and process raw discrete data into usable forms

Recent technology

Metafused’s BrandFlo platform uses natural language programming and AI to derive insight from unstructured data such as social media. It then fuses this insight with clients’ proprietary data to deliver cross-referenced actionable marketing outputs in terms of new insights, decisions and execute automated campaigns in real time.

Recent milestones

• Received $1 million of investment
• Received £250,000 grant from Innovate UK
• Launched BrandFlo Lite product
• Pilot project with the cloud for their retail customers

Upcoming milestones

• Rollout across the cloud network
• Launch of BrandFlo Basic product
• Build out open API to other areas outside of marketing

Alliances

• Innovate UK – awarded £250,000 Smart Grant
• The Cloud – partnership to distribute BrandFlo technology to their retailer base

Investors

• Innvotec – OION Fund
• AXM Venture Capital – The North West Fund

See also: Tech Innovators 2016 – AimBrain