FARMINGTON HILLS — Beringea LLC, a private equity firm providing growth capital to market-leading businesses, today announced it has made a $5 million investment in Chicago-based InContext Solutions Inc., a Web-based company providing 3-D virtual store research, simulations, and software to manufacturers and retailers.
“There is a growing market familiarity with desktop 3-D solutions, and we expect demand for the type of solutions InContext offers customers to grow substantially as retailers and manufacturers realize the significant benefit of online visualization tools,” said Mark Donnelly, principal at Beringea. “Making this investment alongside our London office gives InContext valuable resources to utilize as the company expands into the European market.”
Beringea led the $12 million Series D round, which included a $4 million investment from Beringea’s London affiliate Beringea, LLP, and funding from Plymouth-based Venture Partners, Hyde Park Venture Partners in Illinois, as well as other inside investors.
With the latest funding efforts, InContext Solutions plans to rapidly grow and expand its virtual simulation and research presence worldwide, Donnelly says. Their marquee shopper marketing platform, ShopperMX, is a software-as-a-service offering that allows manufacturers and retailers to collaborate over the web within a 3-D virtual store simulation.
The first-of-its-kind technology takes 3-D visualization to the next level with endless capabilities for testing store, aisle and category layouts, product packaging, in-store marketing or even shopper flow within a store to determine which concept is the most effective for generating demand. ShopperMX helps clients become faster, smarter and more profitable as they bring shopper and retail concepts to market. In the last year alone, ShopperMX growth increased 168 percent and continues to accelerate.
“We are seeing great interest and investments from current clients as virtual continues to gain traction in the market,” says InContext Solutions CEO Mark Hardy. “With this funding round, we will be able to exponentially boost our growth and offer enhanced virtual solutions for clients.”
