What MarketShare Associates does

MarketShare Associates (MSA) is a woman-owned, private development consulting firm founded in 2009 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with operational offices in Toronto, Dhaka, Kampala, Amman, and Kigali. The firm delivers action research, monitoring, strategic advisory, evaluation, and thought leadership services to international development donors, multilateral organizations, implementing NGOs, and governments, applied across market systems development, women's economic empowerment, financial inclusion, circular economy and climate resilience, jobs and trade, and impact investing. Its primary technical differentiator is the proprietary Behavioral Analysis and Norms Diagnostic (BAND) Tool, a five-phase methodology for identifying social norms that shape economic behavior, applied across at least ten countries and multiple sectors including agriculture, housing, finance, and retail.

MSA's business model is professional services fee-for-service, with engagements secured through competitive tenders, sole-source contracts, and partnerships with lead implementers such as DAI, GIZ, TechnoServe, and ACDI/VOCA. Named institutional clients and funders include USAID, the UK Government Department of Health and Social Care, IDRC, the IKEA Foundation, GIZ, USDA, TechnoServe, DAI, Habitat for Humanity's Terwilliger Center, CGAP, BEAM Exchange, SEEP Network, MEDA, Aga Khan Foundation, and CARE International. Notable program-level engagements include support to IDRC's InnoVet-AMR commercialization stream, a multi-year mixed-methods impact evaluation of the IKEA Foundation/GIZ WE4D Kenya program, and an independent post-monetization impact assessment for USDA's Regrow Yirga program across East Africa.

The firm operates across six continents and roughly 20 countries with 11-50 employees, generating revenue through project-based consulting contracts with bilateral and multilateral donors and implementing partners. Distribution and thought leadership are reinforced through partner platforms including SEEP Network, BEAM Exchange, CGAP, Agrilinks, Marketlinks, and EmpowerWomen.org, and through conference participation such as the Women Deliver conference. Operating status indicators (active website, current copyright, ongoing engagements) support continuity rather than distress, though no financial figures are publicly disclosed.

Name

MarketShare Associates

Legal name

MarketShare Associates

Website

https://marketshareassociates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MarketShare Associates is a woman-owned, Denver-headquartered development consulting firm providing action research, monitoring, strategic advisory, evaluation, and thought leadership services to bilateral donors, multilaterals, foundations, and implementing NGOs across market systems development, women's economic empowerment, financial inclusion, circular economy, and impact investing in roughly 20 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Advisory Services: MSA generates revenue through fee-for-service consulting engagements with development donors, governments, and implementing organizations. Projects span action research, monitoring, strategic advisory, evaluation, and thought leadership services across market systems development, economic empowerment, financial inclusion, and impact investing.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

MarketShare Associates (MSA) is a woman-owned development consulting firm that delivers action research, monitoring, strategic advisory, evaluation, and thought leadership services to international development donors, governments, and implementing organizations. The firm applies systems-thinking and behavioral analysis methodologies—including its proprietary Behavioral Analysis and Norms Diagnostic (BAND) Tool—to address complex market systems development, economic empowerment, financial inclusion, and impact investing challenges across dozens of countries.

Product overview

MarketShare Associates (MSA) is a woman-owned consulting firm that provides advisory and research services rather than a software product company. Their portfolio consists of the Behavioral Analysis and Norms Diagnostic (BAND) Tool and six core service offerings: Action Research, Monitoring, Strategic Advisory, Evaluation, and Thought Leadership. These services are applied across focus areas including private sector engagement, circular economy and climate resilience, market systems development, jobs and trade, economic opportunities, financial services, and impact investing. The BAND Tool is their primary structured product offering for social norms assessment, while their advisory services address the full project lifecycle from research through evaluation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Behavioral Analysis and Norms Diagnostic (BAND) Tool A proprietary five-phase diagnostic tool that helps organizations identify and understand social norms shaping economic behavior, applied across agriculture, housing, retail, finance, workforce development, and organizational change in countries including Egypt, Palestine, Mozambique, Tanzania, Peru, Kenya, India, Bangladesh, Niger, and Jordan.
• Action Research Services Market research and stakeholder analysis services that gather market and stakeholder data to understand behaviors and catalysts of systemic change for development donors and implementing organizations.
• Monitoring Services Results measurement services at project and system levels that capture outcomes that matter most, enabling learning and strategic pivoting throughout project lifecycles for development programs.
• Strategic Advisory Services Strategic design and execution services to achieve measurable, lasting impact for clients in market systems development and economic empowerment contexts.
• Evaluation Services Thematic expertise services that assess program effectiveness, determine what works, and identify areas for improvement in market systems and development programs.
• Thought Leadership Services Knowledge capture and dissemination services that influence industry practices and promote good practices in market systems development and economic empowerment through publications, webinars, and conference presentations.

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IDRC (International Development Research Centre)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025MSA was engaged by IDRC to support InnoVet-AMR grantees in commercializing innovations, including vaccines, phages, microbial-derived products, and phytochemicals, bridging the gap between promising research and market entry across 15 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
• UK Government's Department of Health and Social CarecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-funder of the InnoVet-AMR program alongside IDRC, a CAD $28.4 million, 4-year program funding research on innovative veterinary solutions to reduce antimicrobial use in livestock, poultry, and aquaculture across low- and middle-income countries.
• IKEA FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Funder of the WE4D Kenya program, a multi-year initiative focused on generating sustainable livelihoods for women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises within Kenya's waste management and circular economy sectors, with MSA leading the impact evaluation.
• GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2025Implementing partner for the WE4D Kenya program alongside MSA and the IKEA Foundation, with MSA leading the rigorous mixed-methods impact evaluation.
• TechnoServecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2025Implementing partner for the USDA Food for Progress Regrow Yirga Program; MSA serves as independent third-party research partner responsible for designing and executing the post-monetization impact assessment.
• USDA (United States Agency for International Development)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2025USDA engaged MSA as the independent third-party research partner for the post-monetization impact assessment of the Regrow Yirga Program, examining whether monetization activities disrupted local agricultural production in East Africa.
• USAIDcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSA has partnered with USAID through multiple initiatives including the Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO) activity, Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships (MSP), Feed the Future Inova Mozambique Agricultural Innovations Activity, and various other market systems development programs.
• DAIcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA is a partner in DAI-implemented programs including the Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships (MSP) Activity and the Arab Women's Enterprise Fund (AWEF), providing technical expertise in market systems development and women's economic empowerment.
• ACDI/VOCAcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA collaborated with ACDI/VOCA on the Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO) project, Feed the Future programs, and various market systems development initiatives involving research, evaluation, and tool development.
• SPARC (Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture in Recurrent Conflict)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA conducted qualitative research on pastoralist resilience strategies in Adamawa and Yobe states, Nigeria, published as a policy brief by SPARC Knowledge.
• BEAM ExchangeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSA partners with BEAM Exchange on market systems development research, including work on social norms, systems change, and ex-post evaluation synthesis, distributing content through the BEAM platform.
• SEEP NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSA collaborates with the SEEP Network on women's economic empowerment working group activities, webinars, practitioner learning briefs, and conference side events.
• CGAPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSA partnered with CGAP on the Women-Inclusive Return on Investment Framework and social norms diagnostic work, including persona design studies for understanding women's financial inclusion.
• Habitat for Humanity's Terwilliger Center for Innovation in ShelterminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA applied the BAND tool in a design study across Peru, Kenya, and India for the Terwilliger Center, examining how social norms affect market players' design and purchasing decisions in the low-income housing market.
• MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA served as MEDA's learning partner on the INNOVATE initiative, producing briefs and synthesis reports assessing non-traditional finance for smallholder agricultural innovation adoption in South Asia, South America, and East Africa.
• CARE InternationalminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA documented CARE International's efforts to promote access to basic financial services and agricultural input and output markets in Zimbabwe, examining savings groups and agro-dealer models.
• Aga Khan FoundationminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA collaborated with Aga Khan Foundation on the Livelihoods and Food Security Technical Assistance (LIFT) project and studies on integrating savings groups with agricultural marketing.
• GIZ (MENA Region - separate engagement)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSA conducted a pilot study on household-level results of GIZ-implemented, BMZ-funded private sector development programs in Egypt and Morocco, integrating qualitative monitoring tools for women's economic empowerment.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Abt Associates: Abt Associates is a large, established international development research and consulting firm providing M&E, market systems, and economic growth advisory services to USAID, USDA, and global donors. Overlapping capabilities in evaluation and policy advisory, but operates at much broader scale.
• Mathematica: Mathematica is a major research and evaluation firm with a long-standing international development practice serving USAID and multilateral donors. Comparable in rigorous M&E and impact evaluation work, though much larger and more diversified.
• Tetra Tech International Development: Tetra Tech's International Development Services division delivers monitoring, evaluation, and learning services across USAID and FCDO programs globally. Overlapping technical capabilities and donor relationships at much broader scale.
• DAI Global: DAI is both a prime implementation partner and a broader competitor across Feed the Future MSP, AWEF, and similar market systems programs. Comparable in market systems focus but operates at substantially larger scale as a lead implementer.

Direct peers

• Itad: Itad is a UK-based evaluation, monitoring, and learning specialist serving FCDO, BEAM Exchange, and SEEP — the same institutional networks MSA serves. Both firms operate as M&E partners on market systems programs and share the same donor-ecosystem tooling and publications.
• Camber Collective: Camber Collective is a similarly-sized research and evaluation firm focused on social norms, gender, and behavior change in international development. Highly comparable in methodology, scale (small specialist firm), and donor clients (USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
• ACDI/VOCA: ACDI/VOCA is both partner and direct competitor on Feed the Future/MSP, LEO, and women's economic empowerment programs. Comparable in market systems development, social norms work, and smallholder agriculture focus.
• Palladium: Palladium operates the flagship market systems development programs (e.g., PIERS, Leveraging Economic Opportunities) and works directly with the same donor set (USAID, FCDO, IKEA Foundation). Highly comparable in offering systems-thinking program design, evaluation, and private sector engagement.

Emerging players

• TechnoServe: TechnoServe implements market-led agricultural and economic development programs (e.g., Regrow Yirga) where MSA serves as research partner. Overlaps in market systems development, smallholder agriculture, and women's economic empowerment — but focused on implementation rather than evaluation/research.

Others

• CARE International: CARE is an international NGO implementing development programs where MSA functions as evaluation/research partner (e.g., Zimbabwe financial services study). Comparable in women's economic empowerment and market inclusion focus, but operates as an implementer rather than a research vendor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/marketshareintl
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/marketshare-associates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 MarketShare Associates