KINGSTON, Jamaica – The GraceKennedy (GK) Group has announced that it has entered into an agreement with entrepreneur and information technologist Larren Peart to make a private equity investment in Bluedot.

Bluedot was founded by Peart in 2016 and is a full-service research and data intelligence consultancy, which uses data collection and analytics to inform business insights and decision making.

GK Group CEO Don Wehby explained, “Our private equity investment in Bluedot will lay the foundation for it to become the Caribbean’s leading strategic insights consultancy.

According to a release, Peart will continue as Bluedot’s Managing Director and will be exclusively responsible for day-to-day operations and developing the Company’s strategy. GK will not be directly involved in the management of Bluedot.

“We have a view to possibly take Bluedot to market in the long term, provided certain criteria are in place. Larren’s drive and entrepreneurial spirit has impressed us, and we are confident that he and the Bluedot team have what it takes to take the business to the next level,” said Wehby.

According to Peart, this vote of confidence from GK will only improve Bluedot’s capabilities to serve clients even better.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Bluedot, and I am proud to be leading our team during this new phase. Data is driving the future of business, and we are looking forward to growing and expanding Bluedot into new markets with the latest in data intelligence technologies. We have always prided ourselves on bringing a unique service offering to the regional marketing industry,” he added.

As the brainchild behind Bluedot’s data intelligence methodologies, Peart highlighted how much COVID-19 has “accelerated digitalisation around the world, resulting in businesses becoming increasingly data-driven.”

“We consider this space a prime area for investment,” he said.

Wehby said he is looking forward to great things from the partnership with Bluedot as they “evolve in Jamaica and across the region.”