Ideally

What Ideally does

Ideally (legal entity: Ideally Group Limited) is a New Zealand-headquartered SaaS company that operates an AI-powered consumer insights platform combining a real human consumer panel with generative AI synthesis. Founded in 2023 and incubated in the venture lab of The Research Agency (TRA), the platform is structured around three modules: Overnight Testing, which delivers real consumer feedback on concepts, creative, and campaigns within approximately 24 hours; Ideally Canvas, an always-on, AI-powered category intelligence view that surfaces buyers, occasions, and white space; and Connected Insights, which links Canvas and Overnight Testing into a single source of truth. The company reports more than 250 brand customers across 30+ countries and 8M+ questions answered on the platform, with named users spanning Bupa, Treasury Wine Estates, Nando's, KFC, Asahi, Goodman Fielder, Bonds, Oporto, Google APAC, DoorDash, Telstra, Revlon, Kraft Heinz, Coopers, Rémy Cointreau and creative agencies including Ogilvy and BBDO.

The product targets four primary buyer segments — marketing/brand teams, consumer insights teams, innovation/NPD teams, and creative agencies — and uses a sales-led, enterprise field sales motion with a self-serve SaaS layer on top, supplemented by an event- and content-driven marketing engine (Showcase, The Ideally Edit newsletter, Overnight Experts podcast, SXSW, RANZ principal sponsorship). Revenue is generated through quote-based Order Form subscriptions combined with a usage-based per-study component, with an option for paid expert research support and a reserved right to license aggregate/anonymised data. Following a $2.15M AUD seed in November 2023, a $5.5M AUD round in October 2024, and a $16M NZD (~$10M USD) Series A in April 2026 led by Shearwater Capital at a $100M+ NZD valuation, the company employs 56 people across offices in Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, and New York; it acquired Aether in May 2026 as its first disclosed M&A move.

Name

Ideally

Legal name

Ideally Group Limited

Website

https://goideally.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ideally is a New Zealand-based AI-powered consumer insights SaaS platform that combines a real human panel with generative AI synthesis to deliver 24-hour concept, creative, and campaign feedback, serving 250+ brands across marketing, insights, innovation, and agency teams in 30+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Insights Platform

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Software/SaaS Subscriptions (Consumer & Prosumer) (CRAFAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

B2B SaaS & Enterprise Personalization (CRM, Sales, Support) (HDAAAGAJ)

Keywords

• Consumer insights platform
• Market research software
• Concept testing
• Category intelligence
• AI research tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. SaaS subscription (Order Form-based fees): Recurring subscription fees negotiated and documented in per-customer Order Forms, with auto-renewal terms, 30-day invoice payment terms, and 12-month liability caps based on fees paid. Pricing and renewal terms are not publicly listed.
2. Usage-based / consumption pricing component: Customers pay per study/test run on the platform (concept tests, ad tests, proposition tests, etc.), creating a usage-driven layer on top of the subscription relationship. Goodman Fielder noted running roughly twice the research for half the cost vs. traditional methods.
3. Aggregate / anonymised data licensing (potential future): Terms reserve the right to derive Anonymised Data and Aggregate Data from user activity and to license/sell aggregate data to third parties — an emerging data-monetisation angle.
4. Professional services / expert research support: Optional 'Our research team backs you when the decision gets bigger' service — paid expert support, methodology design, and managed studies alongside the self-serve product.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Ideally provides an AI-powered consumer insights SaaS platform that combines a real human panel with generative AI synthesis to deliver rapid (~24-hour) consumer feedback on concepts, creative, pricing, and campaigns, alongside an always-on category intelligence view. The platform is sold to marketing, insights, innovation, and creative agency teams at consumer brands, with a self-serve web app supplemented by an optional expert research team for larger decisions.

Product overview

Ideally is a single, unified AI-powered consumer insight platform (marketed as "the all-in-one AI platform") rather than a collection of disconnected tools, built around three named modules: Ideally Canvas (always-on category intelligence), Overnight Testing (rapid, ~24-hour consumer feedback on concepts and creative), and Connected Insights (the integrated configuration that links Canvas and Overnight Testing into one source of truth). The platform sits inside the creative and innovation workflow rather than after it, and is targeted at marketing teams, insights teams, innovation teams, and creative agencies. The platform is offered as a self-serve web application, supplemented by content (The Ideally Edit newsletter) and by acquired capabilities (Aether, acquired May 2026), and is governed by Ideally Group Limited under New Zealand law.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ideally Canvas: AI-powered product providing an always-on, continuously updated view of category insights for marketing teams; launched in the U.S. in April 2026.
• Overnight Testing
• Connected Insights

Products and services

• Ideally Canvas Always-on AI-powered category intelligence module that provides an interactive view of a brand's category — who is buying, why they buy, which occasions matter, and where growth opportunities (white space) exist. Targeted at marketing, insights, innovation, and agency teams at consumer brands.
• Overnight Testing Rapid consumer feedback module that delivers real human responses to concepts, creative, pricing, and campaigns within ~24 hours. Uses AI to synthesise open-ended feedback into themes, direction, and presentable outputs for marketing and creative workflows.
• Connected Insights Combined offering that links Ideally Canvas's category view with Overnight Testing's rapid concept testing into a single source of truth for the brief, the boardroom, and creative execution; marketed as the all-in-one AI platform configuration.
• Expert Research Support (Research Team Services) Optional paid expert research support, methodology design, and managed studies delivered alongside the self-serve product for larger client decisions; positioned as 'Our research team backs you when the decision gets bigger'.

Quantifiable outcome

• Roughly 2x more research for ~½ the cost vs. traditional agency model
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers27 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• AethercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Ideally acquired Aether in May 2026 ('We've Acquired Aether'), extending the platform's capabilities as a corporate M&A milestone.
• Treasury Wine Estates (TWE)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Joint announcement in December 2025 of a 'Global Innovation Engine' — a multi-year co-development partnership under which TWE uses Ideally to drive wine category innovation and consumer-led product development (covering Penfolds and other TWE brands).
• RANZ (Research Association of New Zealand)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 October 2025Ideally became the Principal Sponsor of RANZ in October 2025, embedding the brand in the New Zealand research community.
• Dashing GroupminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 July 2025Jointly published the 'Beyond the Branded Moment: What Makes a Pop-Up Connect?' white paper in July 2025, leveraging Ideally research to evaluate brand activations.
• Mediahub (ANZ)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 December 2024Co-published the 'Slow Dopamine Shift: Reclaiming Connection in a Digital World' trend report (December 2024) powered by Ideally research, combining Ideally's consumer panel with Mediahub's media-strategy expertise.
• The Research Agency (TRA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2023Ideally was conceived inside TRA's venture lab and launched in September 2023 — TRA acted as the founding strategic partner, providing the venture-lab incubation that birthed the product.
• AfterpayminorOthersCustomer logo displayed on goideally.com 'Trusted by' wall.
• KiwibankminorOthersCustomer logo displayed on goideally.com 'Trusted by' wall.
• TelstraminorOthersCustomer logo displayed on goideally.com 'Trusted by' wall.
• OgilvyminorOthersAgency customer logo displayed on the 'Built for creative agencies' and home pages.
• CoopersminorOthersCustomer logo displayed on goideally.com 'Trusted by' wall.
• BBDOminorOthersAgency customer logo displayed on the 'Built for creative agencies' and home pages.
• Kraft HeinzminorOthersCustomer logo displayed on goideally.com 'Trusted by' wall.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Discuss.io: Discuss.io runs a managed consumer insights platform with qualitative research focus; adjacent to Ideally's qualitative/quantitative overnight testing workflow.
• Prolific: Prolific operates a high-quality participant panel for academic and commercial research; comparable to Ideally's panel infrastructure layer and increasingly used for fast concept studies.
• Glimpse: Glimpse is an AI-native trend and concept intelligence platform; a smaller, emerging player that intersects with Ideally Canvas on category-level trend detection.

Direct peers

• Zappi: Zappi is an AI-native consumer insights platform offering rapid concept, ad and innovation testing with a real-human panel; it is the closest functional peer to Ideally with overlapping product, GTM motion and customer base.
• Attest: Attest is a self-serve consumer research platform offering brand tracker, concept testing and audience research to marketers and agencies; directly comparable to Ideally's self-serve, fast-turnaround model.
• Toluna: Toluna operates one of the world's largest consumer panels and an insights platform serving brand and agency clients; comparable to Ideally on panel-driven consumer research, though less AI-native.

Broad incumbents

• Qualtrics: Qualtrics is an enterprise experience management and research platform with brand tracking, concept testing and panel capabilities; broader portfolio but overlapping use cases for Ideally's enterprise customers.
• Kantar: Kantar is a global insights, brand and media research incumbent; competes with Ideally at the enterprise/brand level even though its model is largely services-led.
• Dynata: Dynata is one of the largest first-party data and insights platforms with a global consumer panel; competes with Ideally on panel supply and research services, though less product-led.
• Forsta: Forsta (formerly Confirmit/Decipher) is an enterprise research technology platform serving insights and CX teams; broader legacy stack but overlapping concept-testing and survey workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ideally-insights

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors6 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 Ideally