How can a small business survive during a crisis? A good marketing campaign, enhanced by an excellent understanding of clients’ needs is vital not only when it comes to small businesses that rely on occasional customer flows. The global location intelligence market is expected to reach over €20.8B by 2027, a number that can significantly increase due to the growing demand for accurate client analysis caused by the pandemic. How are local startups in the sphere doing?
The Greek location intelligence startup bespot has received €1M in a new funding round led by Uni.Fund, one of the well-known local funds that manages around €27M aimed at Greek startups. Bespot aims to transform the way market research is done by using machine learning to locate customers, analyze their transaction data and facilitate a better understanding of customer behavior. This is not the first time Uni.Fund invests in the startup. In 2019, bespot received another investment from the fund, the amount of which remains undisclosed. The new round will be used for supporting the company’s expansion in Ireland, Italy, Morocco, and the US in the next couple of years.
Enhanced customer preferences analysis
Bespot prides itself on the interactiveness of its app that transforms the customer experience. Its free mobile app enables customers to track down and receive rewards from shops near the places they visit. Customers are stimulated by coupon offers and other gift vouchers as rewards for sharing their experience with visiting a particular shop. The solution systematically records traffic data for 5,500 points by tracking customer transaction data and. The data is combined with location data from the bespot information network so to be presented to shop owners and other users of the services the startup offers.
Currently, bespot offers advanced buyer behavior analytics and is capable of distributing different customers into categories, the so-called personas, according to their behavioral patterns and interests. The solution can be of great use to retail shoppers as it helps them make informed strategic decisions through in-depth analysis of existing and potential customers’ needs and tastes. The services can also be used by municipalities and associations so that they can improve their community infrastructure by enabling citizens and members to give feedback to local shops.
The three key figures behind the startup – Leon Gavalas, Vasilis Stavrou, and Anastasia Griva – have over 20 years of experience with business analytics. While Stavrou co-founded another retail analytics company – ShopMind, Griva is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow, recognized for her work in the sphere of software research. Entrepreneur Leon Gavalas, on the other hand, has previous experience with managing companies such as Hydroscopio and JT Pro. Established in 2018, bespot has so far received recognition from the Latsis Foundation (VivaNest), the Athens International Airport (The Digital Gate), and was awarded in the Ignite Ideas innovation program by Nestlé Hellas back in 2019. In November 2020, it became clear that the Municipality of Athens will be using bespot to expose problems when it comes to municipal services and buildings while monitoring daily traffic.
