Artificial intelligence-powered market research platform Bounce Insights has raised $4.5m in a funding round led by ACT Venture Capital.
Irrus Investments, Enterprise Ireland, the Digital Irish Venture Fund and industry veteran and MRops founder Ian Kiernan also participated in the round.
Bounce Insights combines proprietary data, generative AI and in-house researchers to power 90% of its market research.
The company claims its platform delivers actionable insights seven times faster and 40% more cost effectively than traditional research agencies and tools.
Founded by Butler, Rónán Dowling-Cullen, Brandon Dooley, Josh Stafford and Brian O’Mahony at Trinity College, Bounce launched its platform in 2022.
“We leverage generative AI and proprietary datasets to not only replace the number of humans in the market research process, but build a superior offering for brands," said Charlie Butler, co-founder and co-CEO of Bounce Insights., who is moving to New York full-time to join early hires in the US.
"It is an industry dominated by repeatable tasks, and we are going to change that.”
The new funding will be used to accelerate expansion in the US and hire more staff in software engineering, sales and research to be based in Dublin, London and North America.
The company has ambitions of disrupting the $125bn research industry.
Bounce Insights has raised $6.5m to date and counts major companies like Coca Cola, Diageo, Mondelez, Unilever, Pernod Ricard, Clorox, Tesco, and Marks & Spencer among its clients.
The company previously raised $1.2m in two years ago with contributions from angel investors Anne Heraty (Cpl Resources), Gareth Lambe (Meta, Medihive), David Shackleton (OpenBack, Ding) and Michael Dwyer (Pigsback).
“This funding is fuel that will allow us to continue to ship new product fast, expand our offering for clients and grow the team to execute on a massive opportunity. We are raring to go, it’s going to be an exciting few years” said Rónán Dowling-Cullen, co-founder and co-CEO of Bounce Insights.
Mairéad Roche from ACT Venture Capital added: “Marketing decisions are investment decisions, the best of which are made from a mix of quantitative and qualitative data; Bounce’s AI infused platform gives global household-name brands access to consumer insights with unrivalled agility and accuracy."
Accounts for Bounce Marketing Ltd show the company has made losses of more than €1.6m to date after losing €540,600 in 2023.
The company, which employed 12 people last year, has current assets of €968,000, including €507,200 in cash, and net assets of €159,400.
(Pic: Supplied)
