Customer Data Platform Industry Attracts New Participants: CDP Institute Report

(IN BRIEF) Despite challenging business conditions in the second half of 2023, the Customer Data Platform (CDP) industry saw continued growth, with ten new participants, mostly small firms established within the last five years, focused on profile building and analytics. The CDP Institute’s Industry Update report indicates that there are still opportunities for new vendors to enter the market, particularly those specializing in specific regions, industries, or price points. However, the overall industry exhibited sluggish growth, with only a 2% increase in employment and cumulative funding. Larger companies showed better results, accounting for the majority of industry employment and funding. The report also highlights key funding and ownership events and the dominance of U.S.-based firms in the CDP industry. Marketing-focused CDPs remained prevalent, comprising 66% of vendors, while profile building and analytics CDPs made up the remaining 34%. The full report provides detailed information on CDP vendors, employment, and funding across various parameters.

(PRESS RELEASE) MILFORD, CT, United States, 19-Jan-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — The Customer Data Platform (CDP) industry continued to attract new participants despite challenging business conditions in the second half of 2023, according to the CDP Institute’s latest Industry Update report.  Most of ten companies added in the latest edition of the report were small firms started in the past five years and focused on profile building and analytics.  In previous reports, many added vendors were older, larger firms that adding CDP features to existing campaign and delivery products.

“The CDP market still contains pockets of opportunity for new vendors to fill,” commented CDP Institute Founder and CEO David Raab.  “Companies specializing in a particular region, industry, or price point continue to identify niches where they can compete.”

Growth of the over-all CDP industry remained sluggish during the six–month report period.  Employment and cumulative funding both rose 2%, well below historical averages.  Total industry size was reported as 186 firms, 16,381 employees, and $6,917 million funding.

There was some improvement in employment growth at previously listed companies, which rose by 1.1% compared with just over 0.5% in the preceding report.  The share of firms reporting an employment increase rose from 62% to 65%.

As in previous periods, larger companies showed better results than smaller firms: employment among previously listed companies rose 2.1% at the largest 25% of firms, compared with a drop of 1% at the remaining 75%.  The top 25% of firms now account for 65% of total industry employment and 80% of funding.  Still, the industry remains highly fragmented, with the five largest firms accounting for only 16% of employment and 13% of funding.

Other key findings in the report include:

• Funding events including one Initial Public Offering (Klaviyo), one large financing round ($52 million Series D for Simon Data), and four smaller financing rounds.
• Three ownership events including acquisition of Easyence by mediarithmics, merger of Adabra and Neodata to create Blendee, and purchase of PUSHTech by Cendyn.
• U.S.-based firms continue to dominate the industry, accounting for 46% of companies, 63% of employees, and 83% of funding.   European vendors make up 37% of firms with 23% of employment and 8% of funding, while Asia-Pacific firms are 18% of companies, 14% of employment and 9% of funding.
• CDPs that provide marketing functionality make up 66% of vendors with 75% of employment and 75% of funding.  CDPs with functions limited to profile building and analytics account for 34% of vendors, 25% of employment, and 25% of funding.

About the Report

The CDP Industry Update Report provides detailed information on CDP vendors, employment, and funding broken by CDP type, location, founding year, and more.  It is based primarily on public data and includes eight years of information collected at six-month intervals.  The report can be downloaded for free at https://www.cdpinstitute.org/resources/industry-update-january-2024/.

About the Customer Data Platform Institute 

The Customer Data Platform Institute is a vendor-neutral organization that educates marketers and technologists about customer data management.   The Institute publishes industry news and educational materials, provides vendor comparison reports, builds directories of industry vendors and service firms, and offers Webinars, workshops, and consulting on related issues.

Customer Data Platforms are defined as “packaged software that maintains a unified, persistent customer database which is accessible to external systems.”  They are the only types of packaged software specifically designed to create and share a complete view of each customer.

For more information, visit www.cdpinstitute.org.

Media contacts:

Susan Raab
sraab@cdpinstitute.org
+1 914-241-2117

Website:

SOURCE: Customer Data Platform Institute