CivicScience

What CivicScience does

CivicScience is a Pittsburgh-based, privately held consumer intelligence company founded in 2008 as a Carnegie Mellon University incubator project and led by founder-CEO John Dick. It operates an always-on, AI-enabled survey platform that collects more than one million declared-attitude responses per day from a permissioned, unpaid U.S. panel of 165M+ consumer profiles, aggregating 6B+ survey responses and 13+ years of contiguous longitudinal history in its proprietary Cascabel syndicated database.

The company's product surface spans four core franchises: Consumer & Market Insights (subscription access to psychographic, intent, and trend data delivered via the InsightStore self-service platform and full-service reporting), Audience Activation & Measurement (data-driven advertising and brand-lift measurement across Display, Native, Online Video, and Connected TV), Publisher & Media Partnerships (in-content polling modules deployed across hundreds of publisher sites that trade first-party data and ad inventory for audience insights), and AI Solutions (real-human data supplied to AI developers as a calibration and validation layer to mitigate synthetic consensus and demographic bias). Specialized indices — the Economic Sentiment Index, Consumer Financial Health Index, and Well-Being Index — and the recently launched Poll of the Day newsletter extend the platform's reach.

Revenue is generated through enterprise subscriptions, data-driven advertising spend, AI data licensing, and publisher revenue-share arrangements, all sold on a quote-based, custom-contract basis with annual billing. Go-to-market relies on a direct enterprise sales motion targeting Fortune 500 advertisers (Target, Apple, Meta, McDonald's, Disney, Best Buy, Ally Financial, Hershey, Paramount), media agencies, AI platforms, and tier-1 publisher partners (Microsoft News, Vox Media, Sinclair, Nexstar, Univision, PMC). The company has raised roughly $20.8M in disclosed funding, most recently a $15M round from NPD Group in August 2021, and operates with a headcount of 11-50.

Name

CivicScience

Legal name

Civic Science

Website

https://civicscience.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CivicScience is a Pittsburgh-based consumer intelligence platform that collects over one million daily survey responses from 165M+ U.S. consumer profiles to deliver real-time psychographic, intent, and brand-lift data to advertisers, publishers, and AI developers via subscriptions, advertising, and data licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Insights & Market Research Software

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Advertising Agencies (54181), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Audience Measurement & Media Research (Ratings, Attribution, Media Mix Insights) (MPAAALAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Attribution, Measurement, Analytics & Incrementality (BPAMALAF), Human Oversight, Review & Content Moderation Tooling (HDAAAMAH)

Keywords

• Consumer insights platform
• Market research data
• Audience targeting solutions
• Advertising measurement tools
• AI training data

Headquarters

HQ city

Pittsburgh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Data-Driven Advertising: Programmatic and managed advertising campaigns across Display, Native, Online Video (OLV), and Connected TV (CTV) powered by consumer insights. Revenue generated through media buying fees and performance-based pricing.
2. Consumer & Market Insights: Subscription-based access to real-time psychographic and intent consumer insights. Self-service SaaS and AI tools, full-service collaborative reporting, and data export options (raw data files and APIs) for strategic decision-making.
3. AI Data Enrichment & Validation: Real human data services to calibrate AI models, prevent synthetic consensus, and keep outputs grounded in reality. Partnerships with advanced platforms, agencies, and brands for Layer 1 data supply.
4. Publisher & Media Partnerships: Deployment and management of in-content polling modules for publishers. Revenue share from incremental advertising demand from CivicScience premium advertising clients and AdEngage in-poll ad units.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CivicScience operates an AI-enabled consumer insights platform that runs continuous real-time polling of a large U.S. consumer network, aggregates declared attitudes and intent into its proprietary Cascabel database, and monetizes the resulting intelligence through SaaS subscriptions to brands and agencies, syndicated data licensing, publisher survey-monetization partnerships, advertising activation and brand-lift measurement, and licensed AI training/validation data. Its core deliverable is decision-grade attitudinal and intent data, refreshed continuously, that customers can query, activate against audiences, or license to train and calibrate AI systems.

Product overview

CivicScience is a consumer trends data company operating a unified platform combining multiple products and services. The core offering is the Consumer & Market Insights Platform powered by the proprietary Cascabel Syndicated Database, which delivers always-on psychographic and intent data through AI-enabled survey technology. The platform includes Audience Activation & Measurement for data-driven advertising across digital and CTV channels, Publisher & Media Partnerships for in-content polling deployments, and AI Solutions providing real human data for AI training and validation. Additional modules include Data Export & API Access for platform integration, Self-Service SaaS & AI Tools for direct desktop access, and specialized indices including the Consumer Financial Health Index (CFHI), Economic Sentiment Index (ESI), and Well-Being Index (WBI). The company also offers The CivicScience Poll of the Day as a daily consumer polling product delivering real-time insights within 24 hours.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The CivicScience Poll of the Day: A daily polling initiative providing nationally representative consumer insights within 24 hours, covering topics like current events, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle.
• What We're Seeing (WWS)

Products and services

• Consumer & Market Insights Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% improved ad performance reported by clients using CivicScience audience targeting versus industry benchmarks
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Microsoft NewscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublisher partnership deploying in-content polling modules. Microsoft News leverages CivicScience data for ad sales support, audience benchmarking, and first-party data enrichment to enhance editorial content personalization.
• Sinclair Broadcast GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBroadcast media partnership providing polling deployment across Sinclair's television station network. Partnership enables audience data collection and ad sales intelligence for the media company's digital properties.
• Vox MediacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigital media publisher partnership deploying CivicScience polling modules across Vox's editorial network of properties including Vox.com, SB Nation, and Curbed.
• Nexstar Media GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor television broadcasting company partnership providing access to local TV station audiences for polling data collection and advertising impact measurement.
• UnivisioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish-language media partnership deploying polling modules across Univision's digital properties to reach Hispanic American audiences and provide first-party data for advertisers targeting this demographic.
• Penske Media Corporation (PMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEntertainment and lifestyle media company partnership deploying polling across PMC properties including Variety, Rolling Stone, and WWD for audience insights and ad sales support.
• Ziff-DavisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology and lifestyle media publisher partnership providing polling deployment and audience data enrichment across Ziff Davis digital properties.
• The Arena GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSports media company partnership (formerly Sports Illustrated) deploying polling modules for audience engagement and advertising measurement.
• US News & World ReportminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNews and consumer advice publisher partnership deploying polling for audience research and content personalization capabilities.
• PopSugarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLifestyle media company partnership (part of Vox Media) deploying polling across its women's lifestyle and entertainment properties.
• SlateminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigital news and culture magazine partnership deploying polling for editorial content engagement and audience understanding.
• QVCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVideo retail and media company partnership providing consumer insights for product and shopping behavior analysis across QVC's broadcast and digital platforms.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Quantilope: Automated consumer research platform offering brand tracking, ad testing, and concept testing via survey methodology. Competes with CivicScience in the consumer/market insights category, particularly for enterprise research teams seeking self-service and quant methodologies.
• YouGov: Global consumer research and polling firm offering survey-based audience insights, brand tracking, and panel-based data. Directly comparable to CivicScience in always-on consumer polling, panel scale, and syndicated insights delivered to brands and agencies.
• Attest: Consumer research platform offering brand tracking, market exploration, and audience profiling through global survey panels. Directly comparable to CivicScience's always-on consumer insights and brand measurement offerings, particularly for direct-to-consumer and growth-stage brands.
• Zappi: Consumer insights platform specializing in advertising and innovation research for brands, including concept testing, ad testing, and brand tracking. Comparable to CivicScience in delivering consumer intelligence to brand advertisers, with stronger emphasis on creative and innovation testing.
• Suzy: AI-powered consumer insights platform providing rapid survey-based research to brands and agencies. Directly comparable to CivicScience in delivering always-on consumer intelligence, though differentiated by Suzy's emphasis on speed-of-execution for on-demand research versus CivicScience's longitudinal attitudinal database.
• Toluna: Global consumer research panel and insights platform providing survey-based research, panel access, and analytics to brands and agencies. Overlaps with CivicScience in panel-based consumer polling, syndicated insights, and audience research for enterprise clients.

Broad incumbents

• Nielsen: Global audience measurement and consumer insights incumbent providing ratings, panel data, and analytics across TV, digital, and CTV. Overlaps with CivicScience in audience measurement, brand tracking, and advertising effectiveness, though at far broader scale and with established enterprise contracts.
• GfK: Global market research firm providing consumer intelligence, brand effectiveness, and industry-specific insights across CPG, retail, tech, and durables. Broadly overlaps with CivicScience in consumer insights and brand measurement, though GfK operates at greater scale and with deeper panel infrastructure.
• Comscore: Digital audience measurement and analytics provider offering cross-platform ratings, brand measurement, and advertising effectiveness. Comparable to CivicScience in audience measurement and CTV/digital advertising analytics, though positioned as a legacy measurement infrastructure provider.

Emerging players

• Prolific: Online participant recruitment and research platform providing high-quality survey respondents for academic and commercial research. Comparable as a participant-pool competitor for declared-data collection and as a supplier of human-in-the-loop data for AI training and validation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/civicscience
• Xx.com/CivicScience
• Facebookfacebook.com/CivicScience

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CivicScience