Cognism Raises $12m to Expand Across Europe

Cognism, the world’s leading all-in-one globally compliant prospecting solution, today announces it has raised $12M in funding.

The funding round, led by AXA Venture Partners, is an extension of the $10M already raised with PeakSpan Capital. Since that last funding round, Cognism has opened an office in New York and expanded its three offices in the UK, Europe, and Asia. The company also enhanced its AI expertise with James Hodson, former Head of AI at Bloomberg, joining as Chief Science Officer.

In the five years since it was founded, Cognism has grown to become the leading B2B data provider in Europe. The introduction of the GDPR in May 2018 allowed Cognism to build a leading compliant product. Its foothold in the UK and Europe has allowed Cognism to construct an exceptional localised regulatory knowledge network. Through its association with a top UK law firm focused on data protection, Cognism has built a world-leading GDPR compliant prospecting solution.

The strength of its revenue growth matches Cognism’s dedication to adhering to the GDPR. The company has grown by over 150% yearly and expects that to continue. Cognism’s B2B lead generation tools are trusted by over 500 clients internationally, across industries such as sales, marketing, recruitment and technology.

Axa Venture Partners has decided to invest in Cognism as it prepares for the next growth stage. James Isilay, Cognism’s CEO, had this to say about the funding announcement:

AXA Venture Partners has a proud history of investing in great entrepreneurs and outstanding companies. Imran Akram, General Partner at AXA, commented:

Cognism intends to use the AXA funding to open more offices across Europe and deepen its localised regulatory expertise. This will help the company fulfil its goal of setting the global standard for data compliance in 2020 and beyond.

About Cognism

Cognism is the world’s leading all-in-one globally compliant B2B prospecting solution. Powered by patented AI technology, it provides organisations with compliant B2B data and a suite of sales acceleration tools to help action it. Cognism enables its worldwide business customers to find and deliver new revenue faster.

Cognism is trusted by over 3000 clients in sales, marketing, recruitment, events, and technology. Adzooma, Vidyard, Clifford Chance and Frost & Sullivan are some of the world-famous brands benefiting from Cognism’s leading all-in-one prospecting solution.

About AVP

AXA Venture Partners (AVP) is a venture capital firm investing in high-growth, technology-enabled companies. In less than 5 years, AVP has built a unique investment platform specialised in tech investments with $800 million of assets under management (“AUM”) through three pillars of investment expertise: Early Stage, Growth Stage and Fund of Funds.

To date, AVP has invested in more than 45 Early and Growth equity deals and more than 15 Funds. The AVP team operates globally and has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong. Beyond investments, AVP provides unique access to business development opportunities, helping portfolio companies to scale globally and accelerate their growth.