UPDATED 10:11 EDT / NOVEMBER 06 2018

BIG DATA

Data startup PredictHQ raises $10M for its global events API

An isolated snowstorm passing over a city isn’t likely to make a big dent in store visits for a national retailer with locations across the country. But in aggregate, weather changes and numerous other localized events that influence customer behavior either indirectly or directly have a noticeable affect on demand.

Companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. keep track of these developments with the help of data from San Francisco-based PredictHQ Ltd. The startup, which was originally founded in New Zealand three years ago, today announced that it has secured a $10 million funding round led by Aspect Ventures.

PredictHQ operates a cloud platform that aggregates information about events with potential business significance. The startup monitors weather reports, airport delays, concert tours, elections and a wide range of other developments around the world that may influence customer behavior. PredictHQ makes this data available through an application programming interface that organizations can integrate into their analytics workflows.

There are millions of events throughout the world each year that impact specific industries in different ways,” PredictHQ Chief Executive Officer Campbell Brown said in a statement. “Often, there are multiple events in the same place and time creating a perfect storm of demand that no one expected. By understanding the impact of events, PredictHQ helps business respond to customer demand and unlock instant profits that are hidden in plain sight.”

A ride-hailing provider such as Uber, for instance, might pull information about upcoming business conferences and concerts in a city to predict user demand. A delivery company could harness the same data to determine if its drivers should expect traffic congestion.

PredictHQ ranks the information to help organizations determine which events have the biggest impact on their operations and prioritize accordingly. The fact that the data is delivered via an API means it can be fed into automated business systems to facilitate use cases such as real-time price optimization.

For situations where an analytics team may prefer to interact with the information directly, PredictHQ provides a web application that layers a graphical interface over the API. It includes various value-added features including an alerting tool for keeping track of specific events.

Uber is only one of several high-profile customers that rely on PredictHQ’s platform. Other notable users include Domino’s Pizza Inc., Accenture PLC and Booking Holdings Inc., the company behind Booking.com.

Photo: Unsplash

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