Why we invested in Conveo
A qualitative research platform that conducts and analyzes in-depth, AI-moderated voice & video interviews
6 Degrees Capital has led the investment round of $5.3m in Conveo, together with our friends from Pitchdrive, Entourage Capital and Syndicate One.
Companies use Conveo to gain better customer insights, receive feedback on new product features, test brand messaging, optimise pricing, and so forth. The platform completely transforms how market research is done, delivering actionable insights in hours instead of months, with artificial intelligence driving every step of the process.
Qualitative corporate research
Companies invest $140bn annually in market research. Approximately 1/3rd of this goes to qualitative research, where businesses conduct in-depth interviews with focus groups to understand customer perceptions of products, flavours, brands, etc. For example, Pepsico alone spends $100m per year on qualitative research.
The remaining 2/3rds is allocated to quantitative research, typically digital questionnaires and surveys. We’ve all received emails asking about our satisfaction with a recent purchase, a hotel stay, or an interaction with a helpdesk.
Quantitative research offers a poor user experience – one wonders who still responds to these survey emails – and provides only superficial insights to the companies relying on them.
Qualitative research offers deeper insights but is expensive and takes a long time to gather. Specialist consultants typically begin with multiple meetings to define the research questions. Then, focus groups are assembled, interviews are conducted, feedback is analysed, and finally, a static report is produced by the consultant with their findings. The entire process can take months and cost tens of thousands.
Conveo
Conveo revolutionises market research by using artificial intelligence in every step of the process:
AI-powered study design: simply define the research goal and add any initial questions you have – Conveo does the rest. Its AI co-pilot generates additional questions, structures the survey, and creates a comprehensive interview guide.
AI-driven interviews: Conveo’s conversational AI Agent autonomously conducts the interviews. Conversational AI has reached the point where it can handle complex interactions in a natural human-like tone and style. It responds to what the interviewee says and does not follow a fixed script. Yet it ensures that the conversation remains aligned with the research objective.
Instant AI-generated insights: once the interviews are completed, Conveo instantly generates a report with actionable insights. The format is not pre-defined; the AI determines the most effective way to present its findings, using a dynamic mix of text, graphs, and visualisations. It also links the video interviews to its findings, allowing users to watch fragments relevant to certain findings at the click of a button.
Interactive AI platform: The output is not limited to the report that was automatically created. With Conveo’s Chat-GPT-style interface, you can ask any question about the survey and AI will instantly analyse all interviews and provide an answer. It can update the existing report or create a separate report on the question, ensuring real-time, on-demand insights tailored to the user’s needs.
Conveo showcases the transformative power of artificial intelligence in the workplace. Its AI agent autonomously delivers in hours what human consultants take months to achieve. And it does so with greater depth and precision. By delivering market research at scale, instantly, and at a fraction of the cost, Conveo is redefining the industry.
Commercial traction
Once customers experience a demo of Conveo, they immediately recognise that continuing with the traditional approach to market research is no longer an option. Companies quickly move from demo to contract as this is need-to-have rather than a nice-to-have technology, for businesses that are looking to stay competitive.
Conveo just started its commercial journey and signed an initial 10 consumer brands. The quality of the early customer base is remarkable for a company that is less than 1 year old, with Google, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, AB Inbev, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Edgard & Cooper, General Mills and Orange amongst the initial client group.
Moreover, the contracts are scaling fast. For example, one consumer company is expanding Conveo across multiple brands and has already tripled its contract size in a short period of time.
Given the magnitude of the opportunity (most companies above a certain size, across all sectors, rely on market research), the organic interest, the high conversion speed, and the rapid scaling of existing clients, we expect Conveo will scale fast from here.
Team
CEO and CTO Dieter De Mesmaeker is a repeat entrepreneur. As co-founder and CTO of DataCamp, he helped scale the company to $54m in ARR. His experience with rapid scaling and execution is evident in the way he is building Conveo – decisive, agile and efficient. Moreover, the strong reputation of Dieter in the tech ecosystem has been instrumental in attracting top-tier talent.
Co-founder Hendrik Van Hove leads go-to-market strategy and sales. Hendrik brings expertise in market research from his time at McKinsey, and has impressed us with his commercial skills. Hendrik also played a pivotal role in securing Conveo’s acceptance into Y Combinator, which serves as another accelerant to the company’s growth.