What Empathy does

Empathy is a privately held Irish market research firm headquartered at 1 Grant's Row, Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. The company describes its offering as connecting brands with a real understanding of how people feel, think, and behave, achieved by combining technology with what it calls "pioneering science from the field of human understanding." Its target buyers are brand owners and marketers seeking consumer insight that goes beyond surface-level data gathering, and the firm positions its differentiation around human empathy rather than purely quantitative analytics.

The company's product surface is a single unified professional services engagement rather than a software platform: project-based consumer research and human insight work, delivered to brand-side clients (a logo wall on the website displays roughly 12 client marks, though names are not rendered in text form). No pricing is publicly disclosed; the website routes inquiries through a contact form and a [email protected] mailbox, consistent with bespoke, consultative selling rather than self-serve or packaged offerings. The firm is reported to have 11-50 employees and has been operating since 2000, with no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no public listing. There is no evidence of a software product, app, API, or SDK, and the technology stack is described only in generic terms on the website.

Commercially, Empathy runs a single-country/domestic GTM with a direct sales motion and one primary organic social channel (LinkedIn). Geographic footprint is Ireland and broadly Europe, with no global footprint claim. The business carries the operating characteristics of a boutique consumer insight consultancy: small team, project-based revenue, direct client relationships, and limited publicly verifiable scale signals.

Name

Empathy

Legal name

Empathy

Website

https://empathyresearch.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Empathy is a Dublin-based market research firm that runs project-based consumer insight engagements for brand owners and marketers, combining technology with behavioral science to understand how people feel, think, and behave. It operates as a small Irish boutique consultancy with 11-50 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Market research services
• Consumer behaviour insights
• Brand research consulting
• Human understanding research
• People insights analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Market Research Services: Provides market research services connecting brands with understanding of how people feel, think and behave. Services appear to be project-based consulting engagements focused on human insights and consumer behavior analysis.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Empathy is a market research firm that provides brands with an understanding of how people feel, think, and behave. It delivers this through project-based research engagements that combine the latest technology with pioneering science from the field of human understanding, going beyond simple information gathering to uncover empathic, behavioural insight for brand owners and marketers.

Product overview

Empathy is a market research company offering a single unified service focused on understanding human behavior. Their offering centers on connecting brands with insights into how people feel, think, and behave, achieved by combining advanced technology with scientific approaches from the field of human understanding. The company operates as a service-based market research practice rather than a software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Market Research Services Project-based market research services that connect brands with a real understanding of how people feel, think, and behave, combining advanced technology with pioneering science from the field of human understanding. Designed for brand owners and marketers seeking empathic, behavioural consumer insight beyond simple information gathering.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Kantar: Global data, insights, and consulting company with a strong brand-tracking and consumer research practice. Competes with Empathy for brand-owner insight budgets but offers a far broader portfolio.
• GfK: Global market research firm with consumer and brand research offerings. Comparable in customer segment and core qualitative/quantitative insight services, but significantly larger and broader in scope.
• Qualtrics: Experience management and research platform serving brand owners with brand tracking, consumer research, and product experience tooling. Overlaps with Empathy on the brand-owner research mission via a software/SaaS delivery model rather than bespoke services.
• Nielsen: Global measurement and data analytics company with consumer research and media/advertising effectiveness offerings. Competes for the same brand-owner insight budgets Empathy targets, with syndicated data products at scale.
• Ipsos: Global market research leader offering brand, consumer, and advertising research. Overlaps with Empathy in qualitative and consumer insight work but operates at vastly larger scale across all geographies.

Emerging players

• Toluna: Technology-led consumer insights and market research platform combining panels, DIY research tools, and qualitative capabilities. Comparable to Empathy on the consumer-insight-for-brands mission with a more tech-forward delivery model.

Direct peers

• Coyne Research: Irish full-service market research agency focused on consumer insight for brand owners. Comparable to Empathy on geography, target customers, and core qualitative understanding services.
• Red C Research: One of Ireland's largest independent market research firms, providing brand, consumer, and political research. Closest Irish competitor to Empathy by scale, customer profile, and qualitative/quantitative offering.
• System1 (formerly BrainJuicer): Emotion-focused marketing research and brand effectiveness firm. Highly comparable to Empathy's "human understanding" and empathy-led research positioning, with technology-enabled qualitative insight at its core.
• Behaviour & Attitudes: Ireland-based market research agency offering qualitative and quantitative consumer insight work to brand owners. Highly comparable to Empathy in geography, customer segment (brand owners/marketers), and qualitative-leaning service mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/500715
• Xx.com/empathymr

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 Empathy