What Human8 does

Human8 is a global human-driven consultancy formed in 2021 through the consolidation of ten market research and insights firms, headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. The company employs more than 600 people across 24 offices and 8 partner hubs spanning EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, serving enterprise clients including L'Oréal, Nestlé, AB InBev, Mars, Mattel, Standard Chartered, Volkswagen, and Unilever. Its offering is organized around three solution pillars - Innovation, Brand, and Experience - and five capability pillars - Insight, Data & Analytics, Activation, Consulting, and AI & Technology - supported by proprietary platforms including the Square online insight community platform, the BeautyTalks/BeautyTalks Studio enterprise consumer-connect platform (deployed for L'Oréal across 29 countries and 30 entities), and the in-house Space Doctors cultural consultancy.

The underlying technology combines proprietary online community infrastructure with applied AI capabilities including generative AI avatars, conversational AI research, NLP-based theme analysis, AI video sentiment mapping, predictive analytics, and the AI-powered Empathy Vault operationalized in 2026. Human8 also operates the eÿeka creative crowdsourcing network and publishes the annual 'What Matters' trend report series (sixth edition in 2026). The firm maintains a database of 3,000+ validated insights used for client benchmarking.

Human8 generates revenue through professional services engagements - market research, consumer insights, consulting, and strategic advisory - delivered via custom project-based and retainer models with pricing not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales through senior Global Managing Directors, event-driven demand generation via webinars and regional events, and community-led engagement through Square-based online insight communities. Customers are predominantly large multinational consumer brands and retailers, with horizontal segmentation across beauty, F&B, retail, technology, automotive, finance, travel, and health/wellness verticals. No public funding rounds or external institutional investors are disclosed; the company operates as a privately held entity.

Name

Human8

Legal name

Human8

Website

https://wearehuman8.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Human8 is a privately held global human-driven consultancy formed in 2021 from ten merged market research firms, employing 600+ people across 24 offices. It serves enterprise consumer brands (L'Oréal, Nestlé, AB InBev, Unilever, Mars) with insights, consulting, and AI-enabled community platforms like Square and BeautyTalks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research and Consumer Insights Consulting

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Advertising Agencies (541810), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Social & Digital Insights (Social Listening, Online Community Research) (MPAAALAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

People Analytics, Assessment & Psychometrics Consulting (BPAHAGAH), Advertising, Marketing & Customer Personalization (HDAAAGAC)

Keywords

• Market research consulting
• Consumer insights services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Innovation consulting services
• Customer experience design

Headquarters

HQ city

Ghent

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices19 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research and Consulting Services: Human8 generates revenue through professional services in market research, consumer insights, consulting, and strategic advisory services. They offer capabilities across insight, data & analytics, activation, consulting, and AI & technology.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Human8 is a global human-centered consultancy that conducts qualitative and quantitative market research, consumer insights, brand and innovation strategy, and customer experience design for enterprise clients. It combines proprietary online community platforms (Square, BeautyTalks) and AI capabilities with consulting, cultural insight (via Space Doctors) and creative crowdsourcing (via eÿeka) to help consumer brands uncover opportunities and translate consumer closeness into measurable brand and innovation outcomes. Revenue is generated primarily through professional consulting engagements with global brands across beauty, food & beverage, retail, financial services, automotive and technology sectors.

Product overview

Human8 is a global human-driven consultancy offering an integrated portfolio of research, strategy, and activation services organized around three solution pillars (Innovation, Brand, Experience) and five core capabilities (Insight, Data & Analytics, Activation, Consulting, AI & Technology). The flagship technology product is Square, an online insight community platform that enables ongoing consumer research communities. For L'Oréal, they operate BeautyTalks and BeautyTalks Studio - a digital consumer connect platform featuring AI-powered Empathy Vault, booking/matchmaking tools, and video libraries. Additional offerings include proprietary frameworks like NOW-WOW-HOW, the eÿeka creative crowdsourcing network, and annual trend reports (What Matters series, Silver is the New Gold). The company combines human insight with AI capabilities including generative AI avatars, conversational AI research, and AI-powered analysis tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Square Online Insight Community Platform Human8's proprietary online insight community platform that connects organisations with thousands of pre-screened consumers across multiple countries for ongoing qualitative research, co-creation, feedback collection and consumer engagement programmes. Used by enterprise clients such as L'Oréal to operate multi-market insight communities at scale.
• eÿeka Creative Crowdsourcing Network Creative crowdsourcing network used by Human8 to run global ideation contests and creative challenges, generating out-of-the-box innovation and marketing solutions for client brands such as Mars Snacking. Operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Human8.
• BeautyTalks Consumer Connect Programme L'Oréal's Global Consumer Connect Programme operated by Human8, combining state-of-the-art technology with human engagement to embed customer empathy across L'Oréal's global organisation, featuring Learn, Book, Share, Consult and Track functionalities across 29 countries with 1,200+ consumer participants.
• BeautyTalks Studio Platform Digital platform powering Human8's consumer connect programmes (notably for L'Oréal), with training materials, DIY booking tools, matchmaking features, AHA moment sharing, a video library and progress tracking on connects, impact and budget.

Quantifiable outcome

• Anheuser-Busch's share of industry innovation volume grew from 10% to 50% in two years
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability10 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Space DoctorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpace Doctors is Human8's in-house cultural, creative and foresight consultancy. They bring unique expertise in cultural and semiotic insight to help brands connect and respond to cultural change. Multiple case studies (Barbie, Durex, Mars, Ocado) were originally published by Space Doctors and brought to Human8's portfolio.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kantar: World's largest marketing insights and analytics firm, offering consumer research, brand tracking, and consulting across the same enterprise CPG, retail, and tech clients Human8 serves. Directly comparable on scope; Human8's incoming CEO previously led Kantar North America.
• GfK (NielsenIQ): Consumer insights company (now part of NielsenIQ) serving many of the same CPG, tech, and retail clients, with overlapping capabilities in consumer research, innovation, and shopper insights.
• Hall & Partners: Brand and communications insights consultancy with a comparable client roster and service offering; Human8's CEO Tim Wragg was previously Global CEO of Hall & Partners, making it a near-direct peer and likely active competitor for the same brand-tracking and effectiveness mandates.
• Mintel: Market research firm producing syndicated consumer research, trends, and competitive intelligence for CPG and retail clients — overlapping with Human8's insights, brand, and innovation work for global brands.
• Kadence International: Global market research consultancy with a similar blend of consumer insights, innovation consulting, and cross-border fieldwork — directly comparable in service mix and client profile to Human8.
• Savanta: Data-led insights consultancy offering qualitative and quantitative research, brand tracking, and customer experience work to enterprise clients, with similar mid-sized scale to Human8.
• Ipsos: Global market research and consumer insights firm competing head-to-head with Human8 in qualitative research, innovation consulting, and brand strategy for enterprise clients worldwide.

Emerging players

• Prophet: Brand and customer experience consultancy that, like Human8, blends strategy with insights; comparable on the 'Brand' and 'Experience' pillars but less research-native than Human8's insight-led proposition.
• System1: Brand effectiveness and emotional measurement firm — overlapping with Human8's brand and innovation work, particularly for CPG clients, with a more productized/platform-led go-to-market.

Broad incumbents

• Gartner: Diversified research and advisory powerhouse with significant overlap in technology, consumer, and brand insights research; not a direct qualitative-research competitor but increasingly competes for enterprise insights wallet share via syndicated and advisory offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/columinatemr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/human8
• Xx.com/columinate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Human8