MUMBAI: It’s as low profile as they come. Mumbai-based retail ecommerce analytics firm Intelligence Node hit the headlines after it was acquired by global marketing solutions company the Interpublic group for a healthy $100 million. Not much is known about the firm - or its founders - to executives in the business world, but it is seen as a star in the world of retail and retail analytics.
Intelligence Node co-founders CEO Sanjeev Sularia and chief data analytics officer Yasen Dimitrov met each other when they were employed at UK-based firm ClientKnowledge as heads of analytics & research in 2008 And they hit it off. The firm was acquired by ICAP in 2010.
Yasen went on to work for Expand Research as analyst practice leader where he was responsible for managing and delivering business research projects and strategy initiatives such as market and competitor analysis, benchmarking, KPIs, and helping clients optimise growth. He also implemented a change-management programme that reduced analyses production time by 45 per cent through a process-re-engineering and formalisation program for the analysis and research groups. The firm was acquired by Boston Consulting Group in 2013.
Sanjeev, on his part, joined Exclusively.in (an e-commerce portal for upscale fashion - now acquired by Snapdeal) and Shersingh.com (a private label e-commerce fast fashion portal inspired by cricket - now under Myntra) as CFO between 2011 and 2012. It was there that he gained a deeper understanding of the retail industry and understood what lacunae in terms of data and intelligence plagued retail.
He created CIBnode in 2010, the precursor to Intelligence Node, while working at the two firms. His idea was to create one of the world’s largest and cleanest retail databases, tracking over 1.2 billion products across nearly 100 languages.
Yasen, who was based in the United Arab Emirates, came on board in 2014 after it evolved into Intelligence Node. He managed operations, analytics architecture, and category expansion; including building and maintaining the largest database in the industry and a team of top-flight in-house data scientists. Sanjeev focused on client acquisition and making the business vision a possibility
Along the way they brought in high profile angels to fund their dream project as well as marquee investors including MegaDelta, NEA, Orios VP, CornerStone VP, Caliber VP.
It is the commitment to accuracy and excellence that has driven the firm to come up with products that wowed clients such as Walmart, Nestle, Lenovo, LVMH, Prada, Unilever as they tried to stay on top of the global retail trends and the ever-changing consumer.
Today Intelligence Node’s proprietary AI technology offers competitive intelligence and real-time analytics across pricing and promotions, assortment and availability, digital shelf, and brand compliance.
Yasen has a master of science in finance degree from Hult International Business School, while Sanjeev is a graduate of London Business School.
In an alternate life, Sanjeev would have been a bartender at Lord's; the home of cricket. An avid cricket fan, he has played professional cricket and waited tables at the Lord's too. Hence, his extreme level of fitness as he continues to play even to this day, but in local matches. Sanjeev also loves writing and is frequently featured on the Forbes Technology Council.
With the Interpublic group now acquiring intelligence Node, the duo, along with the team at the company are sure to get the scoreboard ticking even faster.
