Drinks industry analytics firm Olvin secures seven-figure investment

Shaftesbury Avenue-based analytics platform provider Olvin has raised $2m (c.£1.55m) in seed funding.

The investment round, announced today (January 14), was led by new venture capital fund Brainchild Ventures and Thor Bjorgolfsson, chairman of Novator Partners.

Olvin’s aim is to replicate the successes that industries like retail, finance and manufacturing have had with machine learning, using big data to help businesses in the drinks trade.

It provides a free-to-use platform that analyses location, demographic and behavioural data to give drinks venues and brands real-world insights.

Following the deal, the company’s advisory board will include Mr Bjorgolfsson of Novator Partners; Brent Hoberman, from venture capital firm Founders Factory; Guy Wollaert, formerly of Coca Cola; and Alexander de Carvalho of PUBLIC, a firm that helps tech startups transform public services.

Sam Amrani, founder and CEO of Olvin, said: “We’ve seen how web analytics platforms can provide a tangible boost to digital-led businesses, but that’s not much help to an industry that exists almost entirely in the real world.

“That’s why we created a product that would map out the physical world in the same way that products like Google Analytics have done with tremendous success in the online space.”

He continued: “The drinks trade is an incredibly fragmented industry, which is why Olvin’s behaviour-led data is so important for brands to connect directly to their consumers.

“The platform also enables small businesses with modest marketing budgets to reach the audiences that matter most to them, without having to spend the earth.”