Affectiva
Affectiva is a Boston-based Emotion AI company, founded in 2009 and now a subsidiary of Smart Eye AB, that builds deep learning computer vision technology to analyze facial expressions and infer emotions from video. Its cloud-based platform, SDK, and in-cabin sensing products serve advertisers, market research firms, entertainment studios, and automotive manufacturers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Affectiva does
Affectiva is a Boston-based Emotion AI company founded in 2009 that develops deep learning and computer vision technology to analyze facial expressions and infer emotional and cognitive states from video. Its core technology processes webcam and optical sensor video streams through 30+ facial classifiers that detect 9 distinct emotions, trained on what the company describes as the world's largest emotion database of 17.4M+ face videos from 90 countries representing 8B facial frames. The platform is offered through a cloud-based Emotion AI Platform, a JavaScript-based Emotion SDK for developer integration, and specialized modules for media analytics (ad testing, entertainment content testing, qualitative research), in-cabin automotive sensing, and behavioral research distributed via the iMotions platform.
The company's customer base spans global advertisers, advertising agencies, market research firms, entertainment studios, and automotive manufacturers. Its technology is reportedly used by 90% of the world's largest advertisers and 26% of Fortune Global 500 companies, with named customers and partners including Kantar, Unruly, GIPHY, Smirkee, and True Emoji Key, plus a research partner network (Millward Brown, Lightspeed, Voxpopme, LRW) reaching 1,400+ brands. Revenue is generated through enterprise SaaS subscriptions to the Media Analytics platform (industry-reported pricing of $50K-$500K annually), SDK licensing, and professional services including study design and analysis support.
In 2021 Affectiva was acquired by Sweden-based Smart Eye AB, integrating its Emotion AI with Smart Eye's automotive-grade eye tracking technology. The combined entity operates Affectiva as a business unit within the Smart Eye group alongside iMotions, with solutions sold through direct enterprise sales, SDK/API distribution, and channel partners. The company has raised approximately $62.5M in total venture funding across rounds from 2009-2019, with its most recent $26M round (April 2019) led by Aptiv. Affectiva is GDPR and CCPA compliant and holds the registered AFFDEX Emotion AI technology trademark.
Affectiva firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Affectiva
- Legal name
- Affectiva, Inc.
- Website
- https://affectiva.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Affectiva is a Boston-based Emotion AI company, founded in 2009 and now a subsidiary of Smart Eye AB, that builds deep learning computer vision technology to analyze facial expressions and infer emotions from video. Its cloud-based platform, SDK, and in-cabin sensing products serve advertisers, market research firms, entertainment studios, and automotive manufacturers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Affectiva industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Emotion AI / Facial Expression Analytics Software
- NAICS
- Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Emotion, Sentiment & Paralinguistic Intelligence (HDAAAFAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Influencer Measurement, Attribution & Analytics (BPAFAHAI)
Keywords
Where Affectiva is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Affectiva business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Emotion AI Platform Licensing: Cloud-based Emotion AI platform licensing to enterprises, agencies, and research organizations for ad testing, entertainment content testing, and qualitative research. Pricing based on usage volume and feature tiers.
- SDK Licensing: Software Development Kit licensing for developers to integrate emotion recognition into third-party applications. Enables real-time emotion sensing in digital experiences.
- Professional Services: Technical support, study design, fieldwork guidance, and analysis services provided to research partners and enterprise customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise licensing with custom pricing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Affectiva product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Affectiva provides a cloud-based Emotion AI platform that uses deep learning and computer vision to analyze facial expressions captured via webcam or optical sensors, detecting emotions, attention, and cognitive states. The platform powers Media Analytics (ad testing, entertainment content testing, qualitative research), an Emotion SDK for third-party developers, and In-Cabin Sensing AI for automotive driver/passenger monitoring.
Product overview
Affectiva offers a unified Emotion AI platform with specialized modules for media analytics, automotive in-cabin sensing, and behavioral research. The core Emotion AI Platform processes video streams to detect facial expressions and emotional responses, which power Media Analytics products (Ad Testing, Entertainment Content Testing, Qualitative Research) available via cloud subscription. The Emotion SDK enables third-party developers to integrate emotion recognition into their applications. In-Cabin Sensing AI applies the technology to automotive safety. All products share the underlying facial expression analysis technology trained on the world's largest emotion database of 17.4M+ face videos. The company operates as part of Smart Eye, with solutions also distributed through the iMotions research platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Emotion SDK: Software development kit providing real-time emotion sensing in digital experiences and applications
- Media Analytics
- In-Cabin Sensing AI
- Behavioral Research
Products and services
- Emotion AI Platform Cloud-based Emotion AI platform that analyzes facial expressions and emotional responses from video streams captured via webcam or optical sensors, detecting emotions, attention, and cognitive states for media analytics, ad testing, and behavioral research.
- Media Analytics Cloud-based solution for measuring consumer emotional engagement with content, products, and services through facial expression analysis. Used by advertisers, agencies, and research firms for ad testing, entertainment content testing, and qualitative research.
- Emotion SDK JavaScript-based software development kit that enables developers to integrate real-time emotion recognition via webcam into applications, supporting detection of multiple emotions and providing on-image success callbacks.
- In-Cabin Sensing AI AI solution for analyzing driver and passenger emotional and cognitive states in automotive environments, including attention, drowsiness, and engagement monitoring for safety and personalization applications.
- Behavioral Research (via iMotions) Multimodal human behavior research solution that combines Affectiva's Emotion AI with iMotions biosensor platform integrations (eye tracking, GSR, EEG, ECG) for academic and commercial research customers.
Quantifiable outcome
- Women smile 32% more than men in emotional responses to content
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Affectiva
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Affectiva technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability7 records
Feature6 records
Affectiva partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- iMotionscoreIntegration with iMotions biosensor research platform. Affectiva's Emotion AI technology is distributed as Media Analytics through iMotions, combining facial expression analysis with other biosensors (eye tracking, GSR, EEG, ECG) in a unified research environment.
- KantarcoreLong-term partnership renewal for advancing attention and emotional insights in advertising and media research. Kantar uses Affectiva's Emotion AI for consumer emotional engagement measurement in advertising studies.
- Smart EyeflagshipAffectiva was acquired by Smart Eye AB, a Swedish company and leader in Human Insight AI. Smart Eye provides industry-leading eye tracking technology used in over 1 million vehicles. The acquisition combined Affectiva's Emotion AI with Smart Eye's eye tracking capabilities, creating a comprehensive human behavior understanding platform.
- UnrulycoreUnruly uses Affectiva's Emotion AI for Super Bowl ad effectiveness studies. Combined Affectiva's facial tracking with Unruly's video analytics for emotional engagement measurement.
- Market Research Partners (Millward Brown, Lightspeed, Voxpopme, LRW)coreCollection partnerships with major market research firms for gathering facial expression data in real-world viewing environments across 90 countries.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Affectiva competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Realeyes: Realeyes is a direct competitor using webcam-based facial coding and emotion AI to measure advertising effectiveness and emotional engagement for major brands — overlapping almost identically with Affectiva's Media Analytics and Ad Testing offering.
- iMotions: iMotions is now a sister company under Smart Eye and distributes Affectiva's Emotion AI as Media Analytics. It competes in adjacent biosensor-based behavioral research, sharing the same customer base (academic and commercial researchers) as Affectiva's Behavioral Research solution.
- Hume AI: Hume AI builds emotion and sentiment AI APIs combining voice, facial, and language signals — a newer, direct competitor to Affectiva's Emotion-as-a-Service offering targeting developers and enterprise integration use cases.
- Kairos: Kairos offers facial recognition and emotion analysis APIs for developers and enterprise, with comparable SDK/API distribution model and emotion-detection value proposition to Affectiva's Emotion SDK.
Broad incumbents
- Smart Eye (standalone automotive): Smart Eye AB is Affectiva's parent and a broader incumbent in automotive eye tracking and Human Insight AI; while now integrated, its automotive DMS capabilities and customer footprint (1M+ vehicles) are the platform Affectiva's In-Cabin Sensing AI rides on.
- Tobii: Tobii is a leading eye tracking research and consumer hardware company with overlapping interest in attention measurement and human behavior research; it overlaps with Affectiva's behavioral research and automotive attention metrics, particularly outside automotive OEM.
- Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services (Face API): Microsoft's Face API and broader Azure Cognitive Services provide facial analysis and emotion recognition at hyperscaler scale, representing a commoditizing incumbent threat to Affectiva's enterprise and developer-facing emotion APIs.
Emerging players
- HireVue: HireVue applies facial and vocal analysis to interview and assessment use cases; while focused on HR/recruiting, it shares the underlying emotion AI technology stack and faces similar regulatory scrutiny.
- Beyond Verbal: Beyond Verbal focuses on voice-driven emotion and health analysis — overlapping with Affectiva's multimodal ambitions but specializing in vocal rather than facial signals.
- Sentiance: Sentiance applies AI to behavioral and contextual signals (including in-vehicle) for mobility and insurance, overlapping with Affectiva/Smart Eye's automotive in-cabin sensing and broader human behavior AI space.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Affectiva social profiles
Digital presenceAffectiva compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Affectiva financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Affectiva leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Affectiva funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds7 records
Investors18 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Affectiva M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Affectiva
What does Affectiva do?
Affectiva provides a cloud-based Emotion AI platform that uses deep learning and computer vision to analyze facial expressions captured via webcam or optical sensors, detecting emotions, attention, and cognitive states. The platform powers Media Analytics (ad testing, entertainment content testing, qualitative research), an Emotion SDK for third-party developers, and In-Cabin Sensing AI for automotive driver/passenger monitoring.
Is Affectiva a public or private company?
Affectiva is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Affectiva founded?
Affectiva was founded in 2009. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Affectiva based?
Affectiva is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Affectiva make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Emotion AI Platform Licensing is the primary driver. The others are SDK Licensing and professional Services.
Who are Affectiva's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Realeyes, iMotions, Hume AI and Kairos. Broad incumbents are Smart Eye (standalone automotive), Tobii and Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services (Face API). Emerging players are HireVue, Beyond Verbal and Sentiance.
Does Affectiva have an API?
Yes. Affectiva provides a JavaScript SDK that enables developers to integrate emotion-sensing technology via browser. The SDK includes a CameraDetector class for capturing webcam video, supports detecting emotions (detectAllEmotions()), and provides callbacks for processing frames (onImageResultsSuccess). Developers can build applications that track emotional reactions to video content. The SDK supports integration with platforms including YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch via their respective APIs. Developer documentation is at developer.affectiva.com.
What industry is Affectiva in?
Affectiva's product category is Emotion AI / Facial Expression Analytics Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAFAI, Emotion, Sentiment & Paralinguistic Intelligence, with a secondary code of BPAFAHAI, Influencer Measurement, Attribution & Analytics. Its NAICS code is 541910 and its SIC code is 7310.