Culture Counts

What Culture Counts does

Culture Counts is an Australian-headquartered SaaS company that provides an evaluation platform and standardised metric framework for measuring cultural, social, community, environmental and economic outcomes. Founded in 2013 in Perth, the company serves over 800 organisations across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom, including arts organisations, local government councils, public libraries, and funding bodies. The company's UK sister entity, Counting What Counts Ltd, is the preferred evaluation provider for Arts Council England's Investment Programme (Impact and Insight Toolkit) for 2023-26.

The core platform is a survey-building and data-collection SaaS product with a sector-led metric framework featuring standardised question definitions and Likert-scale instruments designed for cross-organisation comparability. Technology components include a React-based frontend, Digital Ocean cloud hosting (with servers in Singapore and the UK), Tableau-powered data visualisation, and an international benchmarking database exceeding 24 million data points. Modular products include Strategic Alignment (goal-mapping), Online Insights Report (shareable dashboards), Economic Impact Assessment, the Public Libraries Evaluation Network (PLEN) co-delivered with Public Libraries Australia, and a UNESCO Creative Cities evaluation solution. The Workplace Culture domain and Venue Templates launched in 2026 mark the most recent product surface extensions.

The business operates a custom enterprise subscription model on multi-year contracts, distributed via direct enterprise sales and inside sales / client management motions — there is no public pricing or self-serve e-commerce motion. The company has been bootstrapped with only grant support (notably the 2023 Innovation Booster Grant from the Western Australian Government), has approximately 15-20 employees, and has never raised venture capital. Marketing is content- and community-led, anchored by free benchmark reports, resource guides, and the PLEN/Project Hub community portals. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Culture Counts

Legal name

Culture Counts Pty Ltd

Website

https://culturecounts.cc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Culture Counts is a Perth-based SaaS platform that provides standardised evaluation, survey, and benchmarking tools for cultural, community, and government organisations across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the UK.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Evaluation Software

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Marketing Analytics & Measurement Strategy (Attribution, MMM, KPIs) (MPAAAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fieldwork & Data Collection (Online Panels, CATI/CAPI, Fieldwork) (MPAAALAD)

Keywords

• Impact evaluation software
• Survey and analytics platform
• Cultural outcomes measurement
• Benchmarking data platform
• Program evaluation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Perth

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Platform Subscription and Service Fees: Customers pay subscription and service fees to access the Culture Counts Evaluation Platform. The Terms and Conditions reference fees specified in a Proposal document, suggesting a custom/enterprise pricing model. Fees are non-refundable except as provided in Terms or when required by law.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Culture Counts provides a SaaS evaluation platform that enables organisations to build surveys, collect standardised response data, and generate evidence-based reports on cultural, social, community, environmental and economic outcomes. The platform is built around a sector-led metric framework and backed by an international benchmarking database of more than 24 million data points, allowing arts bodies, local councils, public libraries and funders to compare outcomes across peers in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom. Subscriptions are sold on a custom, multi-year enterprise basis with supporting reporting modules such as Strategic Alignment, Online Insights Report and Economic Impact Assessment.

Product overview

Culture Counts is an evaluation platform and software-as-a-service solution consisting of a core platform (Culture Counts Evaluation Platform) complemented by modular add-ons and reporting tools. The platform includes the core survey building and data collection engine, Strategic Alignment for goal alignment, Online Insights Report for sharing results, and Economic Impact Assessment for quantifying value. Industry-specific solutions include the Public Libraries Evaluation Network (PLEN) and UNESCO Creative Cities module. The platform is supported by a Question Bank Library of standardised questions and generates benchmark reports. An international database of over 24 million data points enables benchmarking across sectors. The company operates from Australia with presence in Asia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Counting What Counts Ltd: A sister company that serves as the preferred evaluation service provider for Arts Council England's Investment Programme under the 'Impact and Insight Toolkit'.

Products and services

• Culture Counts Evaluation Platform SaaS evaluation platform that enables organisations to build surveys, collect standardised responses using the Culture Counts metric framework, and generate evidence of cultural, social, community, environmental and economic outcomes. Used by arts bodies, local councils, public libraries and funders to benchmark against peers across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom.
• Public Libraries Evaluation Network (PLEN) Industry-specific solution for Australian and New Zealand public libraries providing standardised survey templates, a big-data benchmarking dashboard, and reporting tools to demonstrate library community value beyond lending statistics. Delivered in partnership with Public Libraries Australia.
• UNESCO Creative Cities

Quantifiable outcome

• 87% of local government survey respondents agreed their experience made them feel proud of their local area (Place dimension)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 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

Feature12 records

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• Digital OceancoreTechnology or IntegrationDigital Ocean provides cloud server and database hosting for the Culture Counts platform. The platform operates on Digital Ocean infrastructure in Singapore and the UK.
• CloudflarecoreTechnology or IntegrationCloudflare provides website bot management services for the Culture Counts website and platform.
• Campaign MonitorcoreTechnology or IntegrationCampaign Monitor is the email campaign service provider used for sending newsletters and marketing communications to subscribers.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe handles payment processing for customer subscriptions and service fees.
• SlackcoreTechnology or IntegrationSlack is used as the internal communications tool for the distributed Culture Counts team.
• ZendeskcoreTechnology or IntegrationZendesk is used as the customer support tool for handling client inquiries and support tickets.
• DatadogcoreTechnology or IntegrationDatadog is used for application monitoring and error tracking across the platform.
• Public Libraries Australia (PLA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPLA co-delivers the Public Libraries Evaluation Network (PLEN) with Culture Counts. The network has been running since 2019, with PLA providing sector endorsement and member engagement.
• Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerALIA's strategic pillars (including Economic and Workforce Development) are referenced in the PLEN framework, indicating alignment with the evaluation outcomes framework.
• Arts Council EnglandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered in the 2011-2014 methodology development phase alongside UK stakeholders. Culture Counts' UK sister company Counting What Counts Ltd is the evaluation provider for Arts Council England's Investment Programme (Impact and Insight Toolkit) for 2023-26.
• DLGSC (WA) - Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural IndustriesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWA government department that partnered in the development of the evaluation methodology and provides ongoing support for the platform's development and adoption in Western Australia.
• Creative New ZealandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew Zealand's arts council partnered in the development of the metric framework and supports Culture Counts' operations in New Zealand.
• Create NSWminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSW arts funding body that has collaborated on research and development of the evaluation framework.
• Create VictoriaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVictorian arts funding body that has partnered in the development of the evaluation framework.
• Arts QueenslandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQueensland arts funding body that has collaborated on evaluation framework development.
• Cultural Development NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustralian network focused on cultural policy and development, partnering in research and development.
• Canada Council for the ArtsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanada's national arts funder partnered in the cross-national methodology development between Australia and the UK.
• The Wellcome TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK-based charitable foundation focused on health research, partnered in the evaluation framework development.
• The Ian Potter FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Australian philanthropic foundation that has supported the development of the evaluation framework.
• NestaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK-based innovation foundation partnered in the research and development of evaluation methodologies.
• CircuitWestmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWestern Australian performing arts peak body engaged Culture Counts to conduct audience research ('2025 Shifting Seats' report), with Culture Counts providing statistical analysis and data insights on live event attendance and ticket purchasing behaviours.
• Counting What Counts Ltd (UK)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulture Counts' UK-based sister company and the preferred evaluation service provider for Arts Council England's Investment Programme (Impact and Insight Toolkit) for 2023-26. Operates as a related entity providing evaluation services in the UK market.
• HumaanminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDigital agency engaged for brand redesign and new website design. Provided design expertise and vision for the complete design overhaul and new brand direction launched in 2016.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Officevibe: Pulse-style employee engagement and culture survey tool focused on SMBs; overlaps with Culture Counts' Workplace Culture domain in anonymous culture and recognition measurement for smaller organisations.
• Typeform: Consumer-friendly survey and form builder, increasingly marketed to small and mid-market organisations for benchmarking and feedback collection. Competes with Culture Counts on survey UX and downstream use cases for cultural/community engagement initiatives.
• Sopact: Social-impact measurement platform helping nonprofits and funders collect, analyse and report outcomes data. Overlaps with Culture Counts' Foundations & Funding Bodies and impact-reporting use cases, particularly for grantee outcomes aggregation.
• Impactful: Outcomes-measurement platform purpose-built for nonprofits and social-impact programmes. Comparable as a niche SaaS targeting the same 'translate intangible outcomes into credible evidence' problem that Culture Counts solves for the cultural sector.

Direct peers

• Counting What Counts Ltd: UK-based sister company running the Impact and Insight Toolkit evaluation framework for Arts Council England. Operates the same metric framework as Culture Counts, serves overlapping UK cultural-sector clients, and is functionally the platform's UK arm — making it the most directly comparable peer.
• Culture Amp: Employee engagement and culture-measurement platform covering engagement, recognition, wellbeing and performance — overlapping directly with Culture Counts' April-2026 Workplace Culture domain on engagement, recognition, and wellbeing dimensions.
• Alchemer: Mid-market survey and feedback platform (formerly SurveyGizmo) with dashboards, logic, and benchmarking features. Targets the same non-technical survey-builder buyer in government and mid-market organisations that Culture Counts serves in its cultural-sector verticals.
• TRG Arts: US/UK arts-sector management consultancy producing audience and attendance research (e.g., CultureTrack, Sector Insights reports) for performing-arts and museum clients — a direct competitor in arts-sector market research and impact reporting.

Broad incumbents

• Qualtrics: Enterprise experience-management platform offering survey design, dashboards, benchmarking and analytics at significantly greater scale. While not culturally specialised, Qualtrics is the closest broad incumbent that cultural-sector buyers evaluate alongside Culture Counts when scoping evaluation tooling.
• SurveyMonkey: Mass-market online survey platform with enterprise tier, templates and benchmarking. Often the default alternative considered by smaller cultural organisations evaluating whether to adopt Culture Counts or build evaluations internally with off-the-shelf tooling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvvA7ZIoyLoEs1cw8pLwfkg
• Facebookfacebook.com/culturecountspage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/culturecounts
• Instagraminstagram.com/culturecounts
• Xx.com/countsapp

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Culture Counts