New Orleanian Patrick Comer has been named CEO of Swedish company Cint Group, a global provider of research technology.
Cint bought Comer’s New Orleans-based startup Lucid for $1.1 billion in 2021 — making it the city’s first “unicorn” company valued at over a billion dollars.
Since the that time, Comer has served as the larger company’s chairman of the board. Now he replaces Giles Palmer, CEO since 2023, in a more active role.
“I’ve spent the last few years witnessing firsthand the incredible potential of our team, technology, and vision,” Comer said in an online post. “We’re at a pivotal moment, ready to innovate and push the boundaries of what’s possible in research technology.”
Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Cint has offices in six other countries. Its two U.S. outposts are in New York and New Orleans, which is home to about 50 employees. Comer will work from New Orleans.
“Patrick has been passionately involved with Cint as chair, deeply connected to the business and its strategic direction,” said Anna Belfrage, deputy chair of the board of Cint, in a press release. “His experience and profound understanding of our customers’ needs and expectations make him the ideal person to step into the CEO role at this time.”
Comer moved to New Orleans, his wife’s hometown, in 2008. Two years later, he launched the market research company Federated Sample, which he renamed Lucid in 2015. At the time of its acquisition, Lucid claimed 550 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $80 million.
Comer has said Lucid, and now Cint, helps businesses or organizations connect with data from their customers or constituencies much like Uber connects riders with drivers.
Since the 2021 acquisition, Comer has launched several other ventures, including the high-tech gaming startup Gripnr, and he’s a founder of the Nieux Society, a tech community gathering place based in the Eiffel Tower building on St. Charles Avenue.
He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s degree from Sewanee: The University of the South.
“Opportunity follows successful entrepreneurs,” said Tim Williamson, a Nieux Society co-founder. “Comer’s appointment to a leadership role at a global company’s U.S. headquarters in New Orleans is an indication of the city’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.”