Bloomberg today announced that it has acquired data analytics platform Second Measure, a San Mateo-based startup that leverages big data to glean insights on consumer behavior and company performance.
Founded in 2015, Second Measure has developed a self-serve analytics platform that supports both real-time and daily metrics tracking, using data from “billions of anonymized transactions,” including credit card payments. Its machine learning algorithms can scan purchase records to generate insights which can be compared and contrasted by geography or time frame, for example, and used for predictive analytics. Built-in behavior-tracking tools enable businesses to drill down and view data points such as similar stores consumers shop at, or which alternative brands they typically turn to after ditching a rival.
U.S. coffee chain Philz used Second Measure to carry out a market analysis of coffee drinking in local areas after opening new stores. Elsewhere, Second Measure has amassed some notable clients through the years, including Instacart, Postmates, Domino’s, Spotify, and Goldman Sachs.
Above: Second Measure: Coffee market analysis for Philz
Aside from its news publishing property, Bloomberg is perhaps most renowned for its financial data and analytics services which are accessed by thousands of businesses through Bloomberg Terminal. Investors are a major target audience for Second Measure, as it delivers insights into specific businesses or sectors they may be wishing to invest in, and this “alternative data” is seemingly what attracted Bloomberg to Second Measure, as investment firms pursue “more data-driven investment strategies,” according to Bloomberg. Second Measure, ultimately, helps investors make sense of the deluge of data they’re faced with.
Terms of the Bloomberg deal were not disclosed, but Second Measure had previously raised around $25 million, the bulk of which arrived via its series A round in early 2019, so this deal likely amounted to more than chump change.
