Wayan
Richard Jones founded Engage Sciences in 2011 with a mission to help marketers collect customer data in engaging, transparent ways. The company started humbly in the UK but recognized a massive market opportunity: as privacy regulations tightened globally (GDPR, CCPA, and emerging state-level laws), brands could no longer rely on third-party data and cookies. They needed a way to collect explicit, first-party data directly from consumers.
The original Engage Sciences technology was powerful but needed distribution and credibility. In a strategic move, Richard merged Engage Sciences with Wayan, a company founded by Scott McNeely (former CEO of Sun Microsystems), bringing deep enterprise relationships and operational expertise. Richard became CEO and Scott became chairman and mentor. The combined entity rebranded as Wayan and expanded aggressively into the US market.
Wayan's platform lets non-technical marketers build interactive experiences—contests, quizzes, games, content unlocks—that provide value to consumers in exchange for data and marketing opt-ins. A concrete example: Air New Zealand launched "What Makes You Say Yay to the USA," an interactive experience where 100,000 users swiped through travel content, discovered their perfect US destination, and opted in for a chance to win. The brand captured rich traveler preference data and drove millions in incremental ticket revenue through a discount code campaign.
As of the interview, Wayan operates with 152 enterprise customers across Fortune 500 brands, generating over $10 million in ARR with 62% year-over-year growth. Average customer contract value is $65,000-$70,000 in year one, with 25% expansion rates and exceptional 125% net revenue retention in their top cohort. The company operates lean—just 2% of revenue on marketing—and has raised $54.2 million total ($50M pre-merger, $4.2M from Engage Sciences). They recently inked a strategic partnership with Adobe, positioning themselves at the center of the first-party data revolution.
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