Kimberley Hay, Senior Ventures Manager at Blackfinch Ventures, shares how Quin became one of the latest additions to the Blackfinch Ventures portfolio.
Where did you first hear about Quin, and what made you want to find out more?
We first heard about Quin in August 2022 through our internal research tools. Our attention was immediately captured by the high calibre of founders Gülşah and Gonca and their groundbreaking ‘audience engine’, where deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) technology is used to optimise customer experiences. It doesn’t categorise customer behaviour or journeys in a traditionally linear way. Instead, it measures attitudes and optimises customer intentions during the customer experience, making it a much more dynamic and diverse approach.
Unlike some of its competitors, Quin didn't just boast about having a superior product; their case studies presented compelling evidence of tangible value delivered to clients. In fact, some clients experienced a notable 30% increase in revenue through Quin's solutions.
Despite Quin not actively seeking capital during our initial contact, we tracked the company closely, staying in touch to ensure readiness for its eventual formal fundraising round. Our unwavering belief in Quin's vision and potential made us persistent!
How will the Blackfinch Ventures team support Quin, in addition to funding?
Beyond funding, the team at Blackfinch Ventures mostly comprises seasoned entrepreneurs who can offer invaluable hands-on experience and technical expertise. We've weathered the challenges of early-stage start-ups ourselves, which uniquely positions us to apply our skills in supporting Quin's growth.
We also plan on extending our network and industry know-how by placing a well-matched non-executive director on Quin's board. This will help Quin to expand its UK market presence and foster relationships with prominent retailers.
Quin also benefits by becoming part of our vibrant founder community, making first-hand connections during in-person events and our monthly webinars covering crucial start-up topics like 'Scaling to £10m ARR' and 'The Art of Market Positioning’.
What are you most excited about when you look ahead for Quin?
I'm excited about the vast market potential Quin holds and the significant value it can unlock for retailers and other online businesses and industries. As Quin refines its audience engine, expands its segmentation and leverages user behaviour patterns, the market horizon expands exponentially. ‘Generative AI’ makes behaviour prediction possible for businesses of all sizes, and a diverse range of additional industries. But ‘explainable AI’, which brings additional transparency while allowing for personalisation experiences, makes an incredible amount of insight available to both businesses and customers
Personally, I'm also keen to strengthen our bond with founders Gülşah and Gonca, and maximising our support to accelerate their growth journey.
Gülşah Gulser, co-founder of Quin, discusses the advertising industry and working with Blackfinch Ventures.
How has the user experience of websites changed, from traditional information portals to AI-led insights? Where does Quin fit in with that?
In the past, websites were mainly information portals, where users had to navigate through all the content with search and browsing to reach their goals. These could be finding answers to a question or the product they searched for.
Today's consumers actively seek personalised shopping experiences, and they are aware of the existing threats to their privacy based on the data used to make predictions about them. However, the progress of AI technologies means that providing more intuitive – and highly personalised – experiences to thousands of website visitors is now possible.
Traditional AI technologies come at the price of privacy, both for businesses and individuals. Businesses need to invest heavily into building data channels to collect more information about customers and must build AI expert teams capable of development, implementation and maintenance of AI technologies, which is simply not feasible in most cases.
On the other hand, the current industry practice of training AI technologies with third-party cookies, demographic, historical data and market research, undermines the privacy of online visitors. It also results in biased predictions and discrimination in providing customer experiences because of the data used against minorities in each data category.
This is where Quin offers a truly unique proposition. We have made it our mission to address these evolving needs by pioneering a no-code, end-to-end automated deep learning platform where the privacy of customers comes first.
Our no-code deep learning platform understands existing, new, and anonymous online visitors, without using historic, private, or generalised data sets. Our technology has revolutionised online revenue growth for leading brands like IKEA, M&S, and Kingfisher, consistently achieving up to 30% growth while reducing campaign and marketing costs significantly.
Tell us about the team and culture at Quin, what’s it like behind the scenes?
We founded Quin as two sisters – and two female founders – who wanted to combine their domain expertise to build a game-changing technology while also applying values and principles that centre on us valuing individuals.
Even at this early stage, we are a team with diverse backgrounds from different countries, cultures, passions, and professional experiences. However, we all share an ambition to revolutionise how AI is being created and used. Putting people and transparency first keeps us close together.
What excites you most when looking at the future of website user experiences?
Our cutting-edge technology is the first of its kind, and we are building the first generative behaviour prediction technology to make personalisation possible for online businesses of all sizes. The world is moving towards online experiences becoming truly ubiquitous and where individuals can have hyper-personalised experiences.
We understand the needs and global concerns around privacy and the importance of protecting individuals. It excites us to know that we are leading and building a future where AI technologies are not biased towards gender, age, or location but are transparent and used to create a positive impact.
Why did you choose to partner with Blackfinch Ventures for your latest funding?
For a disruptive business like Quin, our partnership will bring numerous benefits. With its team of technology specialists and entrepreneurs, Blackfinch Ventures can offer us invaluable insights and guidance drawn from their deep sector knowledge. They have a proven track record of investing in early-stage, disruptive businesses, and the impressive sales and revenue growth of the other portfolio companies, bodes well for the potential success we can achieve together. More importantly, our values align in addressing real-world needs and making a global impact.
