Ideally raises AUD $13.4m to expand US market research

Ideally has raised AUD $13.4 million in a Series A funding round led by Shearwater Capital, valuing the market research company at more than AUD $83 million.

Altered Capital and Icehouse Ventures also participated in the round. The Sydney- and Melbourne-based business plans to use the funding to expand further in the US and add a new product to its platform. More than 250 brands across Asia-Pacific and the US use Ideally's service, including DoorDash, Telstra, Google and Asahi.

Founded about two and a half years ago, the company has grown to 56 employees. It presents itself as an alternative to traditional market research projects, which can take weeks or months to complete and cost significantly more than software-led approaches.

Its platform is built around consumer response data, using artificial intelligence to shape questions and analyse results. Ideally aims to combine rapid turnaround with direct input from human respondents, as parts of the research sector rely more heavily on automated tools.

Brands use the platform to identify category opportunities, test early-stage ideas and make decisions across product development and marketing. One example the company cited involved Treasury Wine Estates, where concept testing and refinement for new wine products was reduced from a nine-month process to 90 days.

The products named by Ideally included Cali by Snoop (Smooth), Sorbet, Matua Bagnums and Squalini, which are now sold in stores around Australia.

US push

Part of the new funding is earmarked for US expansion. Ideally opened a New York office in early 2026 and says it has since increased US revenue by 350%. Customers there include Duckhorn, Tilray and Rémy Cointreau.

The investment reflects continued interest in software companies serving marketing and insights teams, particularly those promising faster access to customer feedback. Marketers have long criticised market research as too slow to inform early creative and commercial decisions, especially in categories where consumer behaviour changes quickly.

Chief Executive James Donald said the business was created to change that process.

"The best creative work has always come from genuinely understanding real people, but that understanding has been locked behind months of waiting and six-figure budgets," Donald said.

"The Australian brands winning right now are the ones closest to their customers, and we built Ideally to give every team that closeness at the speed and scale that modern markets actually need. Every test compounds on the last, every insight gets smarter, and every brand that joins the platform gets a genuine competitive advantage," he said.

New product

Alongside the funding, the company has introduced Ideally Canvas, described as a continuously updated view of consumer, category and competitor trends. The product is designed to give clients an ongoing dataset rather than a single project-based snapshot.

That approach reflects a broader shift in marketing technology towards subscription products that collect and update information over time. Instead of commissioning one-off studies to validate campaigns or products late in development, companies are increasingly seeking regular signals to inform decisions earlier in the process.

Donald said the pace of change in customer attitudes had made older research cycles less useful.

"Consumer sentiment moves in dog years these days. The biggest risk in marketing is making a bold call based on who your customer was half a year ago, let alone 18 months ago. Better decisions come from understanding how people are thinking, feeling and behaving right now, not relying on yesterday's assumptions," he said.

Shearwater Capital said Ideally's approach to research delivery was central to its investment decision. The investor pointed to changes in how marketing teams want to commission and use research, with shorter cycles and lower barriers to entry than traditional agency-led work.

"Ideally has taken what was a long, expensive, waterfall research process and rebuilt it as something fast, iterative, and accessible. Once marketers experience the speed of overnight responses, it becomes indispensable," said Zac Zavos, Managing Partner at Shearwater Capital.

"What impresses us most is how every aspect of this business has been built around customer delight, and the pace at which they've scaled revenue, customers, and team since inception reflects that. They're moving fast and building the category as they go," he said.