Audit
18 Nov 2025
When a company raises funds, it stands at a decisive turning point in its development. Newly acquired financial resources open up new perspectives, but they can also create challenges. In an ever-evolving business world, it is essential to monitor your environment and anticipate changes. This is where 360° strategic monitoring can help.
Once the fundraising has been completed, it is essential to adopt the necessary measures to protect your assets. To ensure that the company continues to thrive, one of the most important measures is to conduct a 360° review of its commercial, technological, and legislative environment. This type of monitoring involves a comprehensive analysis of the company, including market trends, competitors, technologies, regulations, and much more. After raising funds, this intelligence becomes even more crucial for capitalizing on opportunities and minimizing risks.
The Cikisi platform optimizes information search and the strategic information cycle. Within the companies Cikisi equips and advises, and for all monitoring initiatives, the platform automates the exploration and research of information, on the surface web and deep web, regardless of language.
For various reasons, many companies fail to take this step, leaving them vulnerable to a range of risks. Not properly monitoring a company’s market risks missing out on new trends and technologies that could have a major impact on its business continuity and hinder its fundraising efforts. It also risks failing to detect changes in customer behavior or preferences, leading to lost sales and a decline in market share.
Understanding your competitive environment, knowing your R&D projects, and being aware of internal policies gives you an essential advantage for a long-term business strategy. Competitive intelligence enables you to have an overview of your current competitors as well as new entrants.
The Cikisi tool automatically identifies entities based on a technology, application or market segment. You can view their connections with suppliers and/or partnerships. Understanding the trajectory of your competitors is vital.
Nokia, the leader in mobile telephony before the rise of smartphones, is a perfect example. Despite its initial success, Nokia underestimated the impact of smartphones and the emerging app ecosystem. The company did not react quickly enough and ended up losing a significant share of its market in favor of Apple and its iPhone.
Another example is Blockbuster, the video rental company. Blockbuster was once the dominant player in the video rental industry, but it failed to catch up with the rise of streaming services such as Netflix, and was finally forced to close its doors. Although well positioned in the industry, Blockbuster failed to adapt to market changes and was ultimately outpaced by its rivals.
This story clearly demonstrates the consequences of a lack of monitoring and highlights the importance of remaining vigilant to new developments. By neglecting to monitor its environment, Blockbuster lost its leading position and had to reinvent itself to remain competitive.
Similarly, companies that do not monitor their technological environment risk being disrupted by new and innovative technologies. For example, a company specializing in the manufacture of physical products may not be prepared for the rise of e-commerce, which could significantly reduce demand for its products.
In addition, companies that do not monitor their legislative environment may be vulnerable to regulatory changes that could have a major impact on their operations. For example, a company operating in a highly regulated industry may lose its license if it fails to comply with new regulations.
To illustrate the importance of 360° monitoring, it is useful to take the example of Kodak. Kodak, once a leading player in the photography industry, failed to keep pace with the rise of digital photography and was ultimately forced to declare bankruptcy. Although a pioneer in the field of photography, Kodak failed to adapt to the new technological landscape in which its competitors surpassed it.
It is essential for companies undertaking fundraising to have a precise understanding of their environment. By examining all aspects of their activities, companies can identify potential threats and new opportunities to make informed decisions on how to protect and develop their assets. Companies lose agility and reactivity by not conducting 360° monitoring.
However, practice alone is not enough. For this to work within an organization, the monitoring unit must be attached to influential services within the organization, often executive direction, innovation, and marketing. Examples from companies such as Kodak, Nokia, Blockbuster show that executive board members “did not see coming” these innovations and emerging trends despite their obvious nature. This brings up the question of governance of economic intelligence within the organization.
By being closer to the decision-making centers, information flows to the right people and takes on a new dimension, contributing to decision-making. This is the goal of business intelligence: to help make better decisions and meet all challenges!
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