Real Nation
Real Nation is a Dublin-based behavioural change agency that designs evidence-based education, L&D, and experiential programmes combining psychology and creativity for corporate, government, and public-sector clients across Ireland and selectively into the UK and Netherlands.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersDublin, Ireland
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Real Nation does
Real Nation (legal entity Real Event Management) is a Dublin-headquartered behavioural change agency that designs and delivers evidence-based programmes combining education, psychology and creativity to change how people think and act. Founded in 2000 by Aidíne Calvert, the firm has built a 24-year track record anchored by flagship programmes including Food Dudes (a nationwide primary-school healthy-eating behaviour-change programme delivered with Bord Bia since 2005, awarded by the WHO in 2007), Laya Super Troopers (Ireland's only Health Homework programme across 2,000+ schools), AIB Future Sparks (1,000+ post-primary schools since 2021), the AIB CX Lab employee experience programme engaging 10,000+ staff, Heineken Ahhh-cademy (gamified bar-staff training), Tesco Stronger Starts Cooks, and the Our World Awards from Irish Aid. The company's cognitive and pedagogical methodology is grounded in Cognitive Load and Social Learning theories, with WCAG 2.2 AA-compliant accessible materials built directly into Adobe InDesign and validated with NVDA and VoiceOver tools.
The business is organised into eight integrated service divisions: Education, Events & Experiential, Design, Production, Research, Third Level, CogNation (L&D), and Accessibility, supported by sub-brands CogNation and Food Dudes and approximately 40 employees across Education, Events & Experiential, and Design departments. The technical stack is service-led rather than platform-led; proprietary components include the CogNation experiential learning framework, born-accessible WCAG 2.2 AA InDesign document systems, a gamified micro-learning mobile app used in bar-staff training, and the Food Dudes evidence-based behaviour-change model. Programmes typically package curriculum design, materials production, teacher/staff training, logistics, on-site delivery and evaluation under single contracts. AI usage is limited to AI-driven design-department workflows for research, ideation and iteration.
Commercially, Real Nation operates a B2B/B2G professional-services revenue model priced per project, secured through direct enterprise engagement with corporate brand managers, government procurement offices (tenders/RFPs) and NGO decision-makers. The customer base spans major Irish and multinational accounts including AIB, Heineken Ireland (with rollout into UK and Netherlands), Tesco Ireland, Laya Healthcare, Irish Aid, the Department of Agriculture and Breakthrough Cancer Research, alongside a long-tail of schools, third-level institutions, and corporate L&D buyers. The company is privately held by founder Aidíne Calvert with no disclosed institutional investors, funding rounds, or parent company.
Real Nation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Real Nation
- Legal name
- Real Event Management
- Website
- https://realnation.ie
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Real Nation is a Dublin-based behavioural change agency that designs evidence-based education, L&D, and experiential programmes combining psychology and creativity for corporate, government, and public-sector clients across Ireland and selectively into the UK and Netherlands.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Real Nation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Behavioural Change Marketing & Communications Services
- NAICS
- Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Business Associations (813910), Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations) (81399)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Education Access & EdTech for Equity (Low-cost Learning, Skills Platforms) (BPAGALAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Education Access & Quality (International Development) (BPAGABAE), Government Digital Service & eGovernment (Service Delivery, IDs, Portals) (BPAIAAAE), Digital Transactions & Online Services (eGov, Banking, Telehealth) (EDAAAIAE)
Keywords
Where Real Nation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Dublin
- HQ country
- Ireland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Real Nation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Behavioural Change Programme Delivery: End-to-end design, management, and delivery of educational and behavioural change programmes for corporate and public sector clients. Includes programme conceptualisation, materials development, logistics coordination, and on-site delivery.
- Research and Insights Services: Voice-of-the-child insight and evaluation research, behaviour change measurement, co-design consultation, feasibility testing, and trend studies targeting children and young adults.
- Digital Accessibility Services: WCAG 2.2 AA compliant document and website accessibility services including born-accessible document creation, remediation, and compliance consulting under European Accessibility Act requirements.
- Production Services: Event infrastructure, exhibitions, fit-outs, carpentry fabrication, AV/tech integration, and print production for experiential activations.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Real Nation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Real Nation is a behavioural change agency that designs, manages, and delivers evidence-based programmes combining education, psychology, and creativity for leading brands, organisations, and public sector clients. Its end-to-end services span nationwide school initiatives (e.g., Food Dudes, AIB Future Sparks), corporate training and experiential events (e.g., Heineken Ahhh-cademy, AIB CX Lab), third-level student engagement, production services, research and insights, and WCAG 2.2 AA digital accessibility services supporting European Accessibility Act compliance.
Product overview
Real Nation is a behavioural change agency (trading as Real Event Management) that operates as a portfolio of eight integrated service divisions: Education, Events & Experiential, Design, Production, Research, Third Level (student engagement), CogNation (L&D), and Accessibility. The company creates evidence-based programmes combining education, psychology, and creativity to change how people think and act. Key named products include the Food Dudes healthy eating programme, Laya Super Troopers health homework programme, AIB Future Sparks schools initiative, AIB CX customer experience programme, Heineken Ahhh-cademy bartending training, Tesco Stronger Starts Cooks cooking programme, Our World Awards from Irish Aid, and the Breakthrough Cancer Research exhibition. The Accessibility division offers WCAG 2.2 AA-compliant digital services supporting European Accessibility Act compliance.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CogNation: Adult learning and development practice delivering experiential learning programmes, gamified journeys, and continuing professional development.
- Food Dudes
Products and services
- Education Programmes Design and delivery of evidence-based educational programmes (e.g., Food Dudes, AIB Future Sparks, Tesco Stronger Starts Cooks, Our World Awards) for primary, secondary, and post-primary audiences on behalf of corporate and government sponsors.
- Events & Experiential End-to-end experiential marketing services including large-scale exhibitions, awards ceremonies, campus activations, and immersive brand experiences for corporate and public sector clients.
- Design Services Multi-disciplinary design services spanning brand, print, digital, and experiential work delivered by an in-house design team using AI-driven workflows to accelerate research, idea generation, and iteration.
- Production Services Event infrastructure, exhibition fit-outs, carpentry fabrication, AV/tech integration, and print production for experiential activations, led by Head of Production Dan Vaughan.
- Research and Insights Voice-of-the-child insight and evaluation research, behaviour change measurement, co-design consultation, feasibility testing, and trend studies targeting children and young adults.
- Third Level / Student Engagement University partnerships and campus activation services providing branded experiences and sponsorship access to 400,000+ third-level students across 22 institutions and 90+ campuses through partnerships with AMLÉ and BICS.
- CogNation (Learning & Development) Adult learning and development practice blending playful creativity with smart design for corporate L&D; offers learning design, gamified journeys, experiential events, micro-learning, and CPD programmes.
- Digital Accessibility Services WCAG 2.2 AA-compliant born-accessible document creation, remediation, and website accessibility consulting supporting European Accessibility Act (EAA) compliance, with testing in NVDA and VoiceOver.
Quantifiable outcome
- 22% increase in students choosing Art & Design as career (flagship first programme)
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use Real Nation
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Real Nation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature4 records
Real Nation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Bord Bia and Department of AgriculturecoreLong-term partnership since 2005 for delivery of Food Dudes nationwide healthy eating programme. Real Nation manages all aspects including planning, teacher training, logistics, and reporting. Partnership expanded from 400 to 1,400 schools annually.
- Science Museum Group (UK)minorLicensed the 'The Science of Cancer' exhibition from the Science Museum Group and adapted it for Irish audience, highlighting Irish contributions to cancer research.
- AMLÉ (Association of Irish Third Level Students)corePartnership with AMLÉ for student app promotions and title sponsorship of flagship student events. Heineken Ireland secured exclusivity for their portfolio of brands on the MyAMLÉ student app.
- BICS (Board for Irish College Societies)corePartnership with BICS supporting student societies through the Clubs and Societies Network for campus activations and brand campaigns.
- EU School Fruit and Vegetable SchemecoreFood Dudes is delivered in partnership with the EU School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme which provides funding to make fresh fruit and vegetables available to children in schools.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Real Nation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Behavioural Insights Team: Global behavioural change consultancy applying psychology and economics to public policy and commercial outcomes; closest direct analogue to Real Nation's evidence-based behaviour-change methodology.
- Tonic: Irish creative and communications agency delivering campaigns and content for consumer and public-sector clients; directly comparable as a Dublin-based creative agency targeting similar enterprise and government buyers.
- Wilson Hartnell: Leading Irish PR and public affairs agency with deep public-sector and corporate communications practice; competes for similar Irish enterprise and government communications mandates.
- Drury Porter Novelli: Irish communications and social marketing agency working across public-sector behaviour-change campaigns, CSR, and consumer brand activations; comparable in scope and client mix to Real Nation.
- Small Fry: Irish creative agency focused on behaviour-change, social marketing, and youth-targeted campaigns; directly comparable in methodology and target audiences to Real Nation.
Broad incumbents
- Edelman Ireland: Irish arm of global communications firm Edelman, with purpose and behavioural-change offerings; broader portfolio but overlapping enterprise and public-sector clients in Ireland.
- Weber Shandwick Ireland: Global communications agency with Irish presence delivering campaigns for public-sector and enterprise clients; broader scale and resources than Real Nation.
- Ogilvy Ireland: Global creative and behavioural science network with Irish operations; competes for enterprise brand campaigns and increasingly offers behaviour-change advisory adjacent to Real Nation's positioning.
Emerging players
- Initiafy: Irish-headquartered platform focused on contractor training and workforce behaviour change; partial overlap with Real Nation's corporate L&D and behavioural-change work via CogNation.
Others
- Frontline (Bord Bia education partner network): Adjacent ecosystem players within Bord Bia's food education delivery network and Irish Department of Agriculture school programmes; competing or collaborating partners in the Food Dudes delivery ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Real Nation social profiles
Digital presenceReal Nation compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Real Nation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Real Nation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Real Nation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Real Nation 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 Real Nation
What does Real Nation do?
Real Nation is a behavioural change agency that designs, manages, and delivers evidence-based programmes combining education, psychology, and creativity for leading brands, organisations, and public sector clients. Its end-to-end services span nationwide school initiatives (e.g., Food Dudes, AIB Future Sparks), corporate training and experiential events (e.g., Heineken Ahhh-cademy, AIB CX Lab), third-level student engagement, production services, research and insights, and WCAG 2.2 AA digital accessibility services supporting European Accessibility Act compliance.
Is Real Nation a public or private company?
Real Nation is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Real Nation founded?
Real Nation was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Real Nation based?
Real Nation is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, in the Europe region.
How does Real Nation make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Behavioural Change Programme Delivery is the primary driver. The others are research and Insights Services, digital Accessibility Services and production Services.
Who are Real Nation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Behavioural Insights Team, Tonic, Wilson Hartnell, Drury Porter Novelli and Small Fry. Broad incumbents are Edelman Ireland, Weber Shandwick Ireland and Ogilvy Ireland. Initiafy is listed as an emerging player. Frontline (Bord Bia education partner network) is listed as an others.
Does Real Nation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Real Nation.
What industry is Real Nation in?
Real Nation's product category is Behavioural Change Marketing & Communications Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGALAH, Education Access & EdTech for Equity (Low-cost Learning, Skills Platforms), with a secondary code of BPAGABAE, Education Access & Quality (International Development). Its NAICS code is 8133 and its SIC code is 8200.