'Drowning in data, starved of insight': Ideally raises $13.4m to shake up research

Market research may be a $90 billion industry, but for many marketers it still feels slow, expensive and out of step with how decisions are actually made.

Ideally is betting that’s about to change.

The market research platform, used by brands including DoorDash, Telstra, Google and Asahi, has raised $13.4 million in Series A funding as it looks to replace traditional research models with faster, more accessible consumer insight.

The round, led by Shearwater Capital with support from Altered Capital, Icehouse Ventures and Ecliptic VC, values the company at more than $83 million.

"When we started Ideally, we saw an industry that needed fixing," James Donald, CEO of Ideally, said. "Market research hasn't kept pace with the modern marketer, and brands are drowning in data but starved of insight they can actually use.

"Our goal is to put real consumer understanding at the heart of every decision, and with our new partners behind us, we're ready to take that to every market that needs it.”

Ideally said its platform is designed to help teams test ideas earlier, validate decisions faster and move more confidently across product and marketing cycles. More than 250 brands across APAC and the US are already using the platform across areas including pricing, proposition development and creative testing.

The raise will support further expansion into the US, where Ideally opened a New York office earlier this year and has since grown revenue by 350%, with customers including Duckhorn, Tilray and Rémy Cointreau.

Alongside the funding, the company has launched Ideally Canvas, a new product designed to replace one-off research studies with a continuously updated view of consumer behaviour.

Rather than static reports that quickly become outdated, the platform builds a compounding dataset over time, giving teams a more dynamic understanding of their category and audience.

“Consumer sentiment moves in dog years these days,” Donald said. “The biggest risk in marketing is making a bold call based on who your customer was months ago.”