Highlight Secures $18 Million in Funding to Automate Product Testing for Consumer Goods Brands
A New Era in Product Testing: Accelerating Innovation and Reducing Risk
In the rapidly evolving landscape of consumer packaged goods (CPG), innovation is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. With thousands of new products launching every year, brands are under pressure to innovate quickly while minimizing risk. Highlight, a pioneering in-home product testing company, has secured $18 million in Series A funding to further develop its technology and continue revolutionizing the product testing industry.
A Founding Story of Passion and Innovation
Highlight was founded by Dana Kim and Ethan Kellough, two individuals with diverse backgrounds in market research and engineering. Their shared passion for innovation and their desire to create a more efficient and effective way of testing products led them to start Highlight in 2020. Today, the company has tripled its revenue, employees, and customer base, working with over 25,000 ‘Highlighters’ – a community of customers who participate in product testing.
The Challenges of Traditional Product Testing
Kim emphasizes that traditional product testing involves multiple vendors, hundreds of emails, months of time, and tens of thousands of dollars. "The number of SKUs on the grocery store shelves is exploding," she notes. "Thirty thousand products launch every year, and 95% of them fail." This staggering failure rate highlights the importance of effective product testing in reducing risk and ensuring success.
How Highlight Is Changing The Game
Highlight’s innovative technology automates the testing process, bringing together real-time dashboards, agile insights, and quick data collection. The company’s platform allows customers to set up testing, receive results quickly, and scale their testing over time. By leveraging a community of thousands of ‘Highlighters’, Highlight uploads customer feedback as it comes in, providing brands with actionable insights.
A Client Portal for Efficient Testing
Earlier this year, Highlight launched its client portal, which has transformed the testing process. "We’ve turned those 300 emails into a nine-minute action with a few clicks," Kim explains. This game-changing feature enables brands to target their audience more effectively and make data-driven decisions faster.
A Strong Foundation for Future Growth
The $18 million Series A funding led by Acre Venture Partners and HearstLab, along with Ingeborg Investments and GS Futures, brings Highlight’s total raised to over $30 million. The new funding will be used to accelerate the company’s product roadmap, including:
- Self-Service Experience: Offering a more intuitive platform with templates, wizards, and best practice resources.
- Onboarding ‘Highlighters’: Growing the community of customers who participate in product testing.
- Iterating User Experience: Enhancing the overall experience for brands and participants.
A Vision for the Future
Kim is excited about Highlight’s future prospects. "We have really cemented this awesome position in the market as the first and only product testing platform that allows you to get quality data on agile timelines," she says. The company is poised to make a significant leap from being a product testing platform to a product intelligence platform, providing brands with an unfair data advantage.
Conclusion
In the fast-paced world of CPG, innovation is not just about creating new products – it’s also about ensuring their success. Highlight’s innovative technology and commitment to customer satisfaction have made it a leader in the product testing industry. With its Series A funding, the company is poised for continued growth and success, empowering brands to innovate with confidence.
About the Author
Christine Hall is a Senior Reporter at TechCrunch, covering enterprise/B2B, e-commerce, and foodtech. She has previously reported for the Houston Business Journal, The Texas Medical Center’s Pulse magazine, and Community Impact Newspaper. Christine holds a degree in Journalism from the University of Texas.