Ascend2
Ascend2 is a B2B research agency that designs and executes personalized survey-based original research for marketing technology vendors and agencies, monetizing through custom research programs, a $3,000/program subscription service, and a freemium research library for thought leadership and demand generation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersMarstons Mills, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Ascend2 does
Ascend2 is a B2B research agency founded in 2013 that designs, executes, and packages personalized survey-based original research exclusively for marketing technology vendors and marketing agencies. Its core technology is a survey-based B2B research platform with established methodology for running studies across marketing topics, paired with a proprietary research library of 700+ published charts and 3,000+ analyzed data sets drawn from surveys of 14,000+ participants. The firm is led by CEO Todd Lebo (25+ years experience at MarketingSherpa, Kiplinger, and the National Institute of Business Management) and COO Jenna Balegno, operating as Ascend2 Partners LLC from Marstons Mills, Massachusetts with 1-10 employees and no disclosed external funding.
The company monetizes through three revenue streams: Custom Research Programs sold as professional services engagements, A2 Pulse Research offered as a subscription product priced at $3,000 per monthly or bi-monthly program with 14-day delivery, and a freemium Research Library that functions as a top-of-funnel content marketing asset. Distribution is handled through direct website consultative sales and a Research Partner Program in which martech vendors and agencies co-fund research that is then placed in earned media outlets including Harvard Business Review, Forbes, MarketingProfs, eMarketer, MediaPost, Search Engine Journal, and ChiefMarTec. Named customer logos include Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, HubSpot, Informatica, Adobe, Oracle, Cisco, Dun & Bradstreet, Vidyard, LeadCrunch, Uberflip, PathFactory, Act-On, and Synthio.
Ascend2 operates an asset-light, founder-led services model in which output (custom research reports, charts, and content) scales roughly with team capacity rather than through software leverage. The 2025-2026 partnership cadence with Anteriad, Mailchimp, TopRank Marketing, GrowthLoop, StackAdapt, Canto, Modus Create, and PGM signals continued GTM momentum and geographic expansion into UK, APAC, Canada, Australia, and Europe. There is no evidence of platform productization, API, SDK, or AI/ML capability built into the core offering.
Ascend2 firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ascend2
- Legal name
- Ascend2 Partners LLC
- Website
- https://ascend2.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Ascend2 is a B2B research agency that designs and executes personalized survey-based original research for marketing technology vendors and agencies, monetizing through custom research programs, a $3,000/program subscription service, and a freemium research library for thought leadership and demand generation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ascend2 industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Market Research Services
- NAICS
- Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Survey/Panel-Based Lead Capture & Co-Registration Services (BPAFAKAN)
Keywords
Where Ascend2 is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Marstons Mills
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Ascend2 business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Custom Research Programs: Full-service original research programs where Ascend2 conceptualizes research, surveys target audiences, and creates branded reports. Partners use research for content marketing, lead generation, SEO, and sales engagement.
- A2 Pulse Research Subscription: Monthly or bi-monthly research programs at $3,000 per program providing bite-sized research with 3 custom questions, delivered with charts and insights.
- Research Library Subscription: Free research library with monthly insights into marketing topics, with option to subscribe for regular research updates.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | A2 Pulse Research - Fast, efficient, agile custom B2B research |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Custom Research Programs - Tailor-made B2B original research |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Ascend2 product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ascend2 is a B2B research agency that delivers personalized original research services for marketing technology firms, agencies, and B2B marketers. The company designs and executes custom surveys, identifies target audiences, gathers data, and produces branded research reports used by clients to drive content marketing, demand generation, lead generation, SEO improvement, and thought leadership. Additional offerings include A2 Pulse Research (rapid 14-day research delivered monthly or bi-monthly) and media engagement services that secure coverage in major outlets such as Harvard Business Review and Forbes.
Product overview
Ascend2 is a B2B research agency providing personalized original research services. The core offering consists of Custom Research Programs for creating branded research reports, Media Engagement services for thought leadership positioning, and A2 Pulse Research for monthly/bimonthly agile research content. The company also maintains a free Research Library covering marketing topics such as AI, martech, attribution, content marketing, and personalization. Research deliverables can be repurposed into various content formats including infographics, webinars, blog posts, videos, podcasts, and social media content for demand generation and SEO purposes.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- A2 Pulse Research: Fast, efficient and agile custom B2B research delivered in 14 days with monthly or bi-monthly options for continuous flow of tailored content.
Products and services
- Custom Research Programs Tailor-made B2B original research service for brands seeking to build credibility, establish thought leadership, and influence their market with data-driven authority. Ascend2 conceptualizes and formats surveys, finds appropriate participants, and creates branded reports. Designed for marketing technology firms, agencies, and brand marketers.
- A2 Pulse Research Monthly or bi-monthly custom B2B research program delivering 3 survey questions with charts and insights in 14 days, allowing partners to pivot topics based on content requirements or market conditions. Priced at $3,000 per program.
- Media Engagement Strategic media outreach service leveraging relationships with outlets including MarketingProfs, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, eMarketer, and Search Engine Journal to establish partners as industry thought leaders and drive earned media coverage.
- Research Library Free research library containing reports on marketing topics including A/B testing, AI in marketing, martech stack, marketing attribution, content marketing, email automation, personalization, and multi-channel marketing trends, with option to subscribe for regular research updates.
Quantifiable outcome
- 85x ROI on research purchase price reported by LeadCrunch
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Ascend2
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ascend2 technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Ascend2 partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- AnteriadcoreOngoing research partnership conducting annual B2B marketing research reports. The sixth annual report surveyed 631 marketing decision-makers across US, UK, and APAC regions, identifying key performance differentiators including data-driven strategies, buying group implementation, full-funnel attribution, and campaign agility.
- GrowthLoopcorePartnership for 2026 AI and Marketing Performance Index, surveying over 300 marketers and data leaders across U.S. and Canada. Research found that despite rapid AI adoption, 40% of marketers face slow marketing cycles due to fragmented data.
- StackAdaptcorePartnership for October 2025 survey on personalization barriers, finding that 42% of brand marketers and 47% of agency marketers cite limited platform integration as top barrier to personalization at scale.
- Modus CreateminorPartnership for study of 500+ business leaders across Europe and US on AI adoption in product development, finding that while 84% report AI integration, only 28% use it for prototyping.
- CantominorPartnership for fourth-annual State of Digital Content 2026 report surveying 434 content and creative professionals in US and UK, finding that content fragmentation causes employee burnout (44%) and wasted budget (39%).
- Intuit MailchimpcorePartnership for 'The Art of the Opt-In' research report surveying over 6,000 consumers and 2,000 marketers across US, Canada, UK, and Australia on email and SMS marketing practices.
- TopRank MarketingcorePartnership for B2B thought leadership research surveying 797 senior-level marketing leaders in US and UK, finding that 47% plan to increase use of original research and data-driven thought leadership content in 2026.
- PGM (Porch Group Media)minorPartnership for The State of Customer Acquisition Research Report, finding that 88% of home improvement marketers find acquiring new customers more difficult in 2025.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ascend2 competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- eMarketer (Insider Intelligence): Large-scale digital marketing and advertising research publisher covering ad spend, martech, and media trends. Overlaps with Ascend2 on thought-leadership content distribution and is a media partner Ascend2 leverages for placement.
- Forrester Research: Major research and advisory firm covering B2B marketing, martech, and customer experience. Competes for enterprise research spend and now owns the SiriusDecisions B2B sales-and-marketing operation that overlaps Ascend2's remit.
- Gartner for Marketing Leaders: Global research and advisory firm serving CMOs and marketing leaders with syndicated research and benchmarks. Competes at the enterprise tier of the same buyer budget Ascend2 addresses via custom research.
Emerging players
- Chief Marketer: B2B marketing publication producing research, benchmarks, and editorial coverage aimed at senior marketers. Competes for the same reader and advertiser attention as Ascend2's research library and media-placed reports.
- Aberdeen Group (now under Intentive / GlobalData): Technology-focused research firm publishing benchmark reports for B2B software buyers. Comparable custom-survey and thought-leadership model targeting overlapping martech buyers.
- Demand Gen Report: B2B media and research brand covering demand generation, content marketing, and martech. Comparable audience and content format, with research-driven reports and vendor-sponsored content similar to Ascend2's partner model.
Direct peers
- ITSMA: Research and advisory firm focused on B2B marketing, sales enablement, and account-based marketing benchmarks. Competes for the same martech research and thought-leadership budgets that Ascend2 targets.
- B2B International: Specialist B2B market research agency running custom survey programs and global benchmarking for B2B brands. Closely comparable to Ascend2 on methodology, audience panels, and thought-leadership content creation.
- Researchscape: Boutique B2B market research firm providing custom surveys and reports for technology vendors. Operates in the same niche as Ascend2 with a comparable service catalog and customer profile.
- MarketingSherpa: Long-running B2B marketing research publisher producing benchmark reports, case studies, and email newsletters for marketers. Ascend2's founder led MarketingSherpa, and Ascend2's Custom Research and Pulse offerings compete directly for the same research-content budget.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ascend2 social profiles
Digital presenceAscend2 financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ascend2 leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Ascend2 funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ascend2 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 Ascend2
What does Ascend2 do?
Ascend2 is a B2B research agency that delivers personalized original research services for marketing technology firms, agencies, and B2B marketers. The company designs and executes custom surveys, identifies target audiences, gathers data, and produces branded research reports used by clients to drive content marketing, demand generation, lead generation, SEO improvement, and thought leadership. Additional offerings include A2 Pulse Research (rapid 14-day research delivered monthly or bi-monthly) and media engagement services that secure coverage in major outlets such as Harvard Business Review and Forbes.
Is Ascend2 a public or private company?
Ascend2 is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Ascend2 founded?
Ascend2 was founded in 2013. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Ascend2 based?
Ascend2 is headquartered in Marstons Mills, United States, in the North America region.
How does Ascend2 make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Custom Research Programs are the primary driver. The others are A2 Pulse Research Subscription and research Library Subscription.
Who are Ascend2's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are eMarketer (Insider Intelligence), Forrester Research and Gartner for Marketing Leaders. Emerging players are Chief Marketer, Aberdeen Group (now under Intentive / GlobalData) and Demand Gen Report. Direct peers are ITSMA, B2B International, Researchscape and MarketingSherpa.
Does Ascend2 have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ascend2.
What industry is Ascend2 in?
Ascend2's product category is Market Research Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAKAN, Survey/Panel-Based Lead Capture & Co-Registration Services. Its NAICS code is 541910 and its SIC code is 7311.