New Orleans native Patrick Comer has been named CEO of Swedish company Cint Group, a global provider of research technology.
In 2021, Cint acquired Comer’s New Orleans-based startup Lucid for $1.1 billion, making it the city’s first “unicorn” company valued at more than $1 billion.
Comer has served as chairman of the board of the conglomerate ever since, and is now taking a more active role as CEO, succeeding Giles Palmer, who will take over from 2023.
“Over the past few years, I’ve seen the incredible potential of our team, technology and vision,” Comer said in an online post. “We’re now at a pivotal moment, ready to innovate and push the boundaries of what’s possible with our research technology.”
Cint is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in six other countries, and has two U.S. locations in New York and New Orleans, with about 50 employees. Comer will be based in New Orleans.
“Patrick has been committed to Cint as chairman and has been deeply involved in the business and its strategic direction,” Anna Belfrage, vice chair of Cint’s board of directors, said in a press release. “His experience and deep understanding of our customers’ needs and expectations make him the ideal person to take on the CEO role at this time.”
Comer moved to his wife’s hometown of New Orleans in 2008. Two years later, he founded market research firm Federated Samples, which he renamed Lucid in 2015. At the time of the acquisition, Lucid had 550 employees worldwide and annual revenue of more than $80 million.
Comer said Lucid, and now Cint, helps businesses and organizations connect with data from their customers and advocates in the same way that Uber connects riders with drivers.
Since the acquisition in 2021, Comer has launched several ventures, including tech gaming startup Gripnr, and is also the founder of Nieux Society, a meeting place for the tech community based in the Eiffel Tower building on St. Charles Street.
He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and his BA from Sewanee: The University of the Southern.
“Opportunities exist for successful entrepreneurs,” said Tim Williamson, co-founder of New Society. “Comer’s appointment to a leadership position at a global company’s U.S. headquarters in New Orleans is a sign of the city’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.”