Mystery shopping innovator Secret View raises 1.5M EUR Series A funding
Secret View has raised 1.5 million Euros in a Series A funding round led by KIKK Capital, who are joined by Oost NL. This round allows Secret View to expand internationally and accelerate the development of its mystery shopping platform.
Tom Droste (left, co-owner and CTO) and Niek Koning (right, founder and CEO)
Secret View was founded in 2015 with a mission to revolutionize the mystery shopping market, which had lacked any real innovation for decades. Conventional mystery shopping agencies often report in outdated ways using licensed software, whereas Secret View has built an intuitive and comprehensive online dashboard, making it possible to continually optimize the software and provide clients with the best possible insights.
The mystery shopping community consists of regular consumers instead of professional mystery shoppers. These community members provide rich and detailed information based on genuine experiences. The community and platform are used by retail organizations worldwide to gather high-quality, real customer feedback. Insights from mystery shoppers enable these companies to optimize the customer journey, strengthen store operations, increase sales performance, and improve compliance. Secret View’s customers include Albert Heijn, Dyson, Pathé Cinemas, Rituals Cosmetics, and SPAR.
As a profitable company, Secret View will use the Series A funding to expand marketing and sales and accelerate product development aiming at optimizing operations and enhancing the value of research results. “In recent years, we have been able to build an exceptional product and build a large and active international community of mystery shoppers”, says Niek Koning, founder of Secret View. “Through our success building a 50,000+ mystery shopper community in over 30 countries, we have validated that our business model is incredibly scalable. The funding KIKK Capital and Oost NL bring will be used to take our solution to a larger and international audience.”
Team Secret View
KIKK Capital consists of partners with strong roots in the international retail industry, a great match for Secret View. Johan Sebregts, Managing Partner at KIKK Capital: “The successful journey Secret View has had so far, along with their unique market position and ambitious team, proved decisive for us. The innovative platform and flexible community provide many opportunities for growth, and we look forward to helping the business flourish on a national and international level.”
Gijs Luesken, Investment Manager Tech at Oost NL: “Secret View is a great example of a tech startup in our region that recognized the opportunity to disrupt a conventional market. We’re proud to be able to support them in growing and further developing their product, which ultimately leads to a more pleasant environment for consumers.”
Niek adds, “We believe that the best way to effectively train employees, measure progress, and increase sales is through continuous learning from customer experiences in a positive learning environment. These insights are fundamental to building a strong and successful brand, particularly for large international organizations. We are excited to spread that message and our solution across the world.”
About Secret View
Secret View provides retail organizations with high-quality feedback based on real customer experiences. With an innovative online platform and over 50,000 mystery shoppers in 30 countries, Secret View’s mystery shopping research enables organizations and employees to embrace feedback and learn from customer insights in a user-friendly and positive way.
About KIKK Capital
KIKK Capital is an investment company that partners with start-up companies to build strong, successful, and sustainable businesses. KIKK Capital supports ambitious, determined, and motivated management teams by providing not only the funding necessary for businesses to grow, but also by actively supporting and assisting them in maximizing and leveraging growth opportunities.
About Oost NL
Oost NL (East Netherlands Development Agency) is an agency focusing helping local companies achieve sustainable growth, innovation, and internationalization. Oost NL acts as a bridge between government, companies and knowledge institute and supports starting and growth-phase SMEs with risk capital and knowledge, networks, and contacts.
