Nonfiction Research

What Nonfiction Research does

Nonfiction Research is a Brooklyn-based, privately held B2B research consultancy founded in 2018 that produces commissioned, narrative-driven qualitative and mixed-method research studies for enterprise clients. Its core offering combines deep ethnographic fieldwork—in-depth interviews, observational studies, and immersive multi-day engagements—with large-scale behavioral data analysis (e.g., tens of thousands of Spotify playlists) to surface "hidden" consumer attitudes that traditional survey-based research misses. The firm publishes the resulting reports publicly as marketing collateral while commissioning clients (such as Paytient, Twill, and the Luka Dončić Foundation) receive proprietary insights and branded content, including podcasts and co-branded microsites.

The product surface is a portfolio of discrete research engagements rather than a modular platform: published reports span youth basketball (with the Luka Dončić Foundation), delayed healthcare among insured Americans (with Paytient), the emotional experience of pregnancy (with Twill), secret U.S. financial behaviors, Americans' music playlists, America's relationship with news (proposing the "Fair Play Test"), and intimacy in America. Underlying methodology emphasizes interviewer skill—"more like detectives than researchers," per third-party characterizations—and emotionally resonant storytelling, with execution spanning two continents.

The business model is professional services: revenue is generated through commissioned, per-project enterprise engagements priced on a project basis (not publicly disclosed), while public report distribution, LinkedIn/Instagram/Twitter presence, and earned media (MSNBC, ABC News; endorsements from Scott Galloway, Citi COO Lee Smallwood) drive inbound demand. Customer concentration is narrow, with only three named paying clients alongside independent research that functions as marketing rather than a paid line of business.

Name

Nonfiction Research

Legal name

Nonfiction Research

Website

https://nonfiction.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Nonfiction Research is a Brooklyn-based B2B research consultancy, founded in 2018, that produces commissioned ethnographic and mixed-method studies for enterprise clients such as Paytient, Twill, and the Luka Dončić Foundation, combining deep fieldwork with large-scale behavioral data analysis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Qualitative Research (Focus Groups, IDIs, Ethnography) (MPAAALAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Qualitative research services
• Ethnographic consumer insights
• Commissioned market research
• Consumer behavior studies
• Brand research consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Commissioned Research Reports: Nonfiction Research generates revenue by producing custom research studies commissioned by corporate clients. Companies like Paytient, Twill, and Luka Dončić Foundation commission the firm to conduct in-depth studies on specific topics. The company publishes these reports publicly while the commissioning client receives proprietary insights and branded content.
2. Public Research Publications: The company publishes research reports publicly (available as PDFs or on websites), which serve as marketing materials to attract future commissioned work. This establishes credibility and demonstrates methodology to potential clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Nonfiction Research produces commissioned qualitative and ethnographic research studies for enterprise clients across financial services, healthcare, sports, and consumer industries. Each engagement combines in-depth interviews, immersive fieldwork, observational studies, and large-scale behavioral data analysis to produce narrative-driven research reports that reveal hidden consumer behaviors and emotions. Clients such as Paytient, Twill, and the Luka Dončić Foundation commission specific studies, while many resulting reports are also published publicly to demonstrate the firm's methodology and attract new business.

Product overview

Nonfiction Research is a research company that produces in-depth qualitative and quantitative research reports across diverse topics including health, finance, media, culture, and sports. The company operates as a single unified offering rather than a platform architecture—delivering commissioned research reports to clients (such as Paytient and Twill) as well as independent investigations. Their portfolio includes reports on youth basketball (Inside Youth Basketball), healthcare accessibility (The Hidden Lives of Workplace-Insured Americans), pregnancy experiences (The Invisible Weight), American financial behavior (The Secret Financial Lives of Americans), music streaming habits (America's Secret Playlists), media consumption (Saving Americans from the News), and human connection (Intimacy in America). Each report represents a discrete research engagement, with no modular platform or add-on structure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Inside Youth Basketball

Quantifiable outcome

• Research described as 'the single best piece of research I have ever come across in the financial sector—or any sector' by Citi COO
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Luka Dončić FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'Inside Youth Basketball' - a 5-month research study conducted across the US and Balkans examining youth basketball and its impact on children's lives. The study culminated in Luka's Total Hoops Approach, a blueprint developed from Nonfiction Research's fieldwork including interviews with hundreds of players, coaches, parents, and experts, and insights from thousands of families.
• PaytientcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPaytient commissioned Nonfiction Research to conduct 'The Hidden Lives of Workplace-Insured Americans' study, examining how Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance delay healthcare due to affordability issues and the impact on their personal and professional lives.
• TwillcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwill commissioned Nonfiction Research for 'The Invisible Weight' - a 9-month research project and podcast exploring the hidden, uncensored emotional experience of pregnancy, told through voices of pregnant Americans and frontline care experts.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• System1 (formerly BrainJuicer): System1 (formerly BrainJuicer) builds on behavioral science and emotional research to predict advertising and brand effectiveness. It overlaps with Nonfiction in its emphasis on emotion, behavior, and storytelling in market research, but operates a more productized, scaled platform model.

Direct peers

• Hall & Partners: Hall & Partners is a brand and communications research consultancy serving major enterprise marketers with custom qualitative and quantitative work. Comparable to Nonfiction as a B2B research consultancy with a brand-strategy and consumer-insight focus.
• Kelton Global: Kelton Global is a research and insights consultancy that combines quantitative reach with qualitative depth for major brands. It overlaps with Nonfiction in serving enterprise clients that want richer, narrative-driven consumer insights than traditional surveys deliver.
• ReD Associates: ReD Associates is a strategy consultancy built around ethnographic and qualitative research, with offices in Copenhagen and New York. It is the closest comparable to Nonfiction in both methodology (deep immersion, anthropology-led insight) and client base (global enterprise brands seeking human-centered strategy).
• C Space: C Space is a customer insights and research consultancy that builds ongoing private communities for enterprise clients to surface qualitative consumer truths. It is comparable to Nonfiction in being a B2B qualitative insights firm, though its delivery model skews more toward community panels than deep individual ethnography.
• The Hartman Group: Hartman Group is a long-established consumer research firm specializing in qualitative and ethnographic studies of culture, health, and lifestyle for CPG and retail clients. Comparable to Nonfiction in its qualitative depth and enterprise target market.
• Human8 (formerly InSites Consulting): Human8 is a global insights and innovation consultancy that blends qualitative communities, ethnography, and consumer research for enterprise brands. It is comparable to Nonfiction in methodology and enterprise focus, though at significantly larger scale.
• Applied Marketing Science: Applied Marketing Science is a consulting firm specializing in qualitative and voice-of-customer research for B2B and B2B technology companies. Comparable to Nonfiction in being a dedicated qualitative research consultancy for enterprise clients.

Broad incumbents

• Mintel: Mintel is a global market intelligence firm publishing syndicated consumer research across many verticals, with a custom research arm. It overlaps with Nonfiction's client base (enterprise brands seeking consumer insight) and is a relevant broad incumbent benchmark for category scale.
• Ipsos: Ipsos is one of the largest global market research firms, offering both syndicated and custom qualitative and quantitative research. It competes with Nonfiction for enterprise insights budgets, but as a full-service incumbent with significantly broader scale and a more standardized delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/nonfictionhq
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nonfictionresearch
• Instagraminstagram.com/nonfictionresearch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Nonfiction Research