Mainz-based startup Horizon, a B2B SaaS company in the field of consumer insights & research tech, raises USD 1.4 million as part of its pre-seed funding. Together with their team, co-founders Daniel Putsche and Lutz Petrean offer companies a comprehensive testing software that integrates consumer behavioural data before clients take critical product and pricing decisions. In addition, Annie Melnic, previously heading up Consumer Insights for Outdoor Sports at adidas, comes on board.

For their pre-seed financing of USD 1.4 million, Horizon was able to win Catapult Analytics Ltd., including the former CEO of Nielsen Entertainment, Andy Wing, as well as the former MD of MarketCast International, Henry Piney, in addition to Investitions- und Strukturbank Rheinland-Pfalz as investors. Additionally, Sebastian Heinz (Co-Founder of Statworx), Dr. Marco Adelt (Co-Founder of CLARK) and further business angels invested in Horizon.

“A game changer for consumer-validated product development and pricing”

"I am very pleased to be able to support Horizon, an innovative company from the Rhine-Main area. Looking at the software solution and the unique team, I see very great potential for Horizon to become a global game changer in product development and the customer-centricity efforts of companies", explains Marco Adelt.

"As a SaaS company at the intersection of consumer insights, research technology and artificial intelligence, Horizon offers companies clear added value: brands can validate at a very early stage which products and what characteristics in value proposition, pricing or features will resonate with target groups. Horizon is supplementing existing research solutions with an innovative tech-enabled approach, which then integrates real behavioral data into advance decision making. Horizon is going to be a key part of the future of market research", adds Henry Piney.

“Best blend”: Annie Melnic joins from adidas

Simultaneously with the funding, Horizon announces an important team development: Annie Melnic, previously heading up Consumer Insights for Outdoor Sports at adidas, will join the team as Head of Data Analytics & Insights.

"We are proud to have Annie with her background join us in this strategically important position. She will be instrumental in helping us ensure that clients, across all industries can generate valuable insights for their strategic product decisions. Her experience in the analytics and consumer acquisition space combined with her consumer insights expertise represents a 'best blend' for us", comments Horizon CEO Daniel Putsche.

Horizon was founded in 2021 by Daniel Putsche and Lutz Petrean. The current team of 11 works on the SaaS solution from anywhere in the world, in line with the "remote first" approach. Just one year after its founding, major blue-chip companies have already integrated Horizon into their core processes. The software makes it possible to use landing page tests (also known as fake door tests) to analyze user behavior in response to strategic questions. On this basis, important decisions can be made with the highest data quality at a much earlier stage than before.