Highlight Wins Startup of the Year at Greenbook's IIEX Conference

Content originally posted on PR Newswire.

Highlight wins Startup of the Year at IIEX

Founded in 2021, Highlight is a product research platform built for modern in-home product testing. At this year's Insight Innovation Exchange North America (IIEX), we won Startup of the Year—validation from some of the best minds in consumer insights that the industry needed a better way to test physical products.

IIEX and the Greenbook Startup Pitch

Greenbook, the premier marketing and thought leadership platform for the global consumer insights industry, has hosted the IIEX conference since 2014. With 1,000+ attendees, 100+ speakers, and five tracks, IIEX has become one of the largest, most anticipated insights events globally. As GreenBook's flagship event, it's also one of the most sought-after incubators for innovation.

At IIEX in Austin this year, Highlight was chosen to participate in the Startup Pitch and competed among five startups from around the world to pitch ideas head-to-head for a chance to win $10,000.

The pitch that earned the award

Founders Dana Kim, CEO, and Ethan Kellough, CPTO, shared the Highlight story on the big stage. Key themes of the pitch included:

What Highlight delivers for product teams

• Physical product research for the 21st century: We streamline everything from recruit to data set, including all the logistics of getting products to target customers—right on our platform.
• Cut time to insight in half: Researchers can get projects moving in a few clicks. No more waiting for final datasets—teams get access to an easy-to-use online platform where data streams in real time.
• Engaged tester access: Every member of our Highlighter community is pre-screened for articulation and fully profiled. Only ~50% of applicants are approved, ensuring unmatched 90% completion rates and average 20-word open-ended responses. Advanced targeting supports broad gen pop audiences or niche segments under 1% incidence.

What industry leaders are saying

"We've worked incredibly hard to build a product we believed the industry needed and wanted, so we are excited to see some of the best and brightest in the industry validate that hypothesis," said Dana Kim, Highlight's co-founder and CEO.

Earlier this year, Kim was also recognized by Greenbook's GRIT Future List, which recognizes excellence in a curated list of next-generation insights leaders.

"While the insights industry booms with technology innovation, in-home product testing has long been overlooked, and we're here to change that. Estée Lauder, P&G, and Pepsi have all already chosen Highlight for their physical product testing, but it's an honor to be acknowledged by our peers as well," said Ethan Kellough, Highlight's co-founder and CPTO.

"It is no small feat to have your pitch judged and selected by a panel of experts, then voted on live by industry peers. That's one reason the GreenBook Pitch has become a great predictor of success; previous winners, the likes of Zappi and Remesh, went on to gain great commercial interest and investment. Additionally, innovative thinking like Dana and Ethan's moves the insights industry and profession forward. We're excited to see them further Highlight's success in the future," said Karen Lynch, Head of Content at Greenbook.

About Highlight

Highlight is an agile product research platform. The turnkey, all-in-one system handles product research end to end—from recruit to report, including any shipping of product. Brands get access to an engaged tester community, granular targeting, and live data in visualized dashboards, while cutting time to insight in half.

See the platform behind the award

Ready to modernize how your team runs physical product research? Book a demo to see the Highlight Product Research Platform in action, or explore our platform overview to learn how brands test anytime, anywhere.