By Kristy Dorsey
UserTesting, which provides website and app user experience (UX) evaluation to some of the world’s leading brands, has been awarded a grant of £3.2 million from Scottish Enterprise in a move that it says will help create up to 70 new jobs.
The funding will help strengthen UserTesting’s product research and development department based in Edinburgh as the company expands into more European markets. The San Francisco firm launched its European headquarters in the Scottish capital in July of 2019.
“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,” chief executive Andy MacMillan said.
Fergus Kennedy, vice president 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.”
Linda Hanna, interim chief executive at Scottish Enterprise, said the investment comes at a pivotal time for the economy during the coronavirus crisis.
“This is an important investment by an international company at a crucial time for Scotland’s economy,” Ms Hanna said. “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.”
UserTesting says its European customer base has grown by 400 per cent in the first year of operation, with clients such as ASOS, Deliveroo, HelloFresh and Skyscanner. The global business, backed by venture capitalists such as Accel and OpenVie, recently passed the $100m (£75.5m) milestone for annual recurring revenues.
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