Mark Jeffreys might have sold his last company in July, but that doesn't mean he's slowing down.
In fact, Jeffreys is doubling down on efforts to grow his latest marketing startup — 4Sight, which mines consumer reviews to help companies enhance and refine their branding efforts.
The company launched in July 2019 as a spin-off to Jeffreys' first company, Mobile Agent Now, which helped companies respond and manage their consumer reviews with a personal touch. Now, it's already cleared $1 million in year-to-date revenue and secured a roster of high-profile clients, including Jeffreys' former employer Procter & Gamble.
Jeffreys said it's all a sign of the growth still to come.
"You can do a focus group with 20 people, but this is thousands of people," Jeffreys said. "It’s such a ripe area for brands to leverage to grow. … There are companies that do sentiment analysis, but we don’t think of it as a sentiment analysis. That’s interesting but there’s not a lot of action to it.
"We can understand the emotions that are evoked and enable brands to use those words to build their equity."
Right now, Jeffreys said 4Sight is focused on the consumer packaged goods space, particularly dog foods. That's thanks for the coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted a surge in pet adoptions as more people stay home. Jeffreys said his team will continue to adapt to were they see the most demand.
4Sight is located in Over-the-Rhine's coworking space Union Hall and has five employees, including Jeffreys, according to its website.
Jeffreys said the startup raised $310,000 in seed funding from 11 investors last year to help its launch. Its investors include:
- Melanie Healey, former group president at P&G
- Dhani Jones, former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker and chairman of Qey Capital Partners
- David Dougherty, former CEO and chairman of Convergys
- Bobby Fisher, former CEO of Washing Systems.
Ultimately, Jeffreys hopes 4Sight can serve as a model for Cincinnati's overall tech scene since it ties into many of the city's longstanding strengths.
"The big story for us as a region is that we have to continue to grow the startup ecosystem, and I think this is an extension of the (consumer packaged goods) capabilities in Cincinnati," he said.
