Vypr, a Manchester-based consumer insights business, has appointed Richard Thornton to its board following a £2.5m investment backed by private equity firm YFM Equity Partners in January. Vypr has built a cloud-based data validation platform that collects and analyzes consumer feedback utilizes behavioral science.

Richard Law, chair of Vypr commented, “I’m very pleased to welcome Richard Thornton to Vypr’s board at such a pivotal point in the business’ development. Richard’s sector experience, contacts and impressive strategic track record in our sector make him a perfect fit for Vypr at a time when the business’ growth, both in terms of revenue and new strategic customers, is accelerating quickly. I believe that Vypr’s prospects are exceptional and having Richard join us at the same time as receiving investment from YFM further enhances our market position and prospects.”

Thornton added, “Joining the Vypr board, alongside YFM Equity Partners, was too good an opportunity to miss. Vypr has a great value proposition, an extremely capable leadership team and is very well placed to help digitally transform an entire category with its agile and behavioural science-led approach to NPD. It is a unique offering in an area that is ripe for innovation and transformation through technology.  Vypr addresses a real and material problem, which is the category wide high failure rate of new product development and product launches. With Vypr technology, brands now have an end-to-end SaaS solution, delivering real-time predictive data and analytics throughout the NPD process. As a result, I look forward to bringing my industry experience and SaaS technology background to help the business on its rapid growth journey.”