EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--San Francisco-headquartered UserTesting, a leading global provider of on-demand human insights to many of the world’s leading brands, today announced it has been awarded a grant of £3.2 million from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency.
The grant is part of a £10 million research and development project that will help create as many as 70 high-value, technical roles in Edinburgh. The funding will help strengthen UserTesting’s product research and development department based in Edinburgh, enhancing the platform’s capabilities, and supporting international growth as UserTesting expands into more European markets.
UserTesting launched its European headquarters in July of 2019, having recognised the Scottish capital’s potential as a top European centre for technology, and an optimal location for the Silicon Valley-founded business to invest in its product, design, and engineering capabilities.
Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting, said: “We continue to be extremely impressed with the quality of technical talent in Scotland, and with the help of the grant from Scottish Enterprise we look forward to growing our European presence.”
Fergus Kennedy, VP of Engineering at UserTesting, said: “It’s an exciting time as we receive this new grant from Scottish Enterprise and partner with the organisation to support growth in the tech community in Scotland. This grant will help us expand our product portfolio through R&D investments, growing our Product and Engineering function with as many as 70 high-value technical roles at our European HQ in Edinburgh.”
“Our inclusive and diverse recruitment process has already enjoyed great success finding local talent in our first year. We will now be taking that to the next level as we further our European ambitions.”
Scottish Enterprise Interim CEO, Linda Hanna, said: “This is an important investment by an international company at a crucial time for Scotland’s economy. The tech sector is a major employer in Scotland, particularly in our cities, and we’re confident it will play a vital role in aiding the country’s economic recovery.”
“Having provided UserTesting with advisory services as it established its European headquarters in Edinburgh last year, supporting it financially underlines our commitment to helping the company grow its Scottish operations, firmly cementing its position as a vital R&D centre and creator of high-value, quality jobs.”
“Scotland has proved to be a gateway to greater European sales for the company already and we believe this project will spur UserTesting on to further success.”
Scottish Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation, Ivan McKee, said: “In our recently published Inward Investment Plan we set out a more focused approach to attracting inward investors. The plan highlights our emphasis on digital and this UserTesting grant will help to support our ambition of creating high-value jobs and contribute to the wider growth of the technology sector.”
“Scotland faces significant challenges as a result of the coronavirus crisis, and tech companies, with their focus on innovation and growth potential, have a critical role to play in our economic recovery.”
With access to more technical talent in Edinburgh, UserTesting plans to ramp up its product development operation, bringing internationalised solutions to market faster, and supporting the needs of its growing European customer base, which includes brands such as ASOS, Deliveroo, HelloFresh, and Skyscanner. In addition to recruitment, the new funding will help to level up UserTesting’s core products, improve the customer experience for test participants, and leverage data and machine learning to deliver more efficient and effective tools and processes.
In the last quarter, UserTesting announced that its European customer base had grown by 400 percent in the first year of operation, while the global business surpassed the $100 million ARR milestone.
About UserTesting
UserTesting enables every organization to deliver the best customer experience powered by human insight. With UserTesting’s on-demand Human Insight Platform, companies across industries make accurate customer-first decisions at every level, at the speed business demands. With UserTesting, product teams, marketers, digital, and customer experience executives, designers and UX researchers confidently and quickly create the right experiences for all target audiences, increasing brand loyalty and revenue. UserTesting has more than 2,000 subscription customers, including more than half of the world’s top brands, and has delivered human insights to over 35,000 companies to-date. UserTesting is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. To learn more, visit www.usertesting.com.
About Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is Scotland's national economic development agency. We’re committed to growing the Scottish economy for the benefit of all, helping create more quality jobs and a brighter future for every region. Follow on Twitter and LinkedIn.