Today is a big day for Black Swan Data. It’s an intrepid leap forward for our team and our customers.
I am exceptionally proud to share that Black Swan has been acquired by Mintel. A global leader in market intelligence. With a culture and a mission very similar to our own.
In this short blog, I’m going to explain what the acquisition means for Black Swan, our valued customers and the future. But first, a walk down memory lane…
Black Swan has come such a long way. It’s been quite the journey. From an idea scribbled down onto a beermat over a beer (or two) with Steve King eleven years ago. To a tiny (and remarkably ugly) office in Waterloo. Through rapid growth and international expansion. And then the challenges of Covid and inflation.
From day one, right up to today, we’ve focused on our core mission: to pioneer smarter ways to leverage big data, to fix data silos, and use data to help companies predict, innovate and grow.
I’d like to thank all our customers for their partnership and also thank every single one of the 1,474 Swans that have been part of the journey over the years. We wouldn’t be here without their hard work and ingenuity.
Today marks the beginning of the next chapter. Joining forces with Mintel will supercharge our team and our capabilities and ultimately allow us to deliver exceptional results for our customers.
What does this mean for Black Swan and our customers?
First of all, Black Swan will continue to run as a standalone business. All of our clients will keep working with the tools and teams they already know.
But there are now opportunities for collaboration.
Mintel and Black Swan will combine our data, technology and human expertise to answer the big insights and innovation questions in a more complete and connected way.
We know many of our customers face big challenges in their markets and enabling new ways to drive growth is critical. We believe this collaboration will allow us to support our customers and partners better than ever.
What does this mean for the future?
Black Swan and Mintel have different approaches to understanding consumers. Both are powerful but together we have an opportunity to create a new industry standard for understanding and predicting consumer behavior.
The fusion of our predictive social data with Mintel’s structured product and market data will provide a 360° view of what consumers want now, next and in the future.
Together, we want to pioneer a new era of predictive intelligence.
It’s a future that I, the team, and our new Mintel colleagues are genuinely excited about.
As Matthew Nelson, Group CEO of Mintel explains:
“What excites me about our partnership with Black Swan Data is our shared vision for the future of market intelligence, where we are embedded within our clients’ organisations as trusted copilots who simplify complexity, humanize data, and drive confident action. Our datasets and shared mindset are a powerful combination that will drive success for our clients.”
If you have any questions, please reach out
More information will come over the next few weeks and months. But if you have any questions, just reach out.
For current customers, I advise contacting your account manager.
