Know when, where, who, and what to buy. Attest, a consumer behavior platform that facilitates global market research

A research platform for consumer behavior in 55 languages ​​in 49 countries around the world

――First of all, could you give us an overview of the service?

Attest offers specialized solutions for market research. The main client is the B2C business. B2C brands often don't have data about their population, even if they have a customer base that wants to roll out their products, and often don't know how to plan a strategy or what to start with. However, the brand is also the layer that will determine the success of the brand in the future, with customers who may potentially buy their products, so what kind of people have what kind of tastes and consumption behaviors. You have to figure out if you are doing it. Understanding your target customers is paramount in your business. Until now, doing this has been very complicated, but Attest has managed to simplify this process.

――What made you start a business?

First of all, I was originally a scientist studying animal behavior, specializing in the field of synthetic biology. Personally, I am very interested in "empiricism" that uses data to encourage decision making. I think business should be a kind of science field. Next, I had nine years of experience at McKinsey, a major consulting firm. During the McKinsey era, I found it easy to get information about existing customers, but it was very difficult to gather information about customers that I hadn't captured yet. Existing customers can give us feedback and be a fan of the brand. However, it was difficult for some reason to change the viewpoint and look around. "What's the new trend?" "Why is it born?" "What do people think about this ad?" It wasn't. And finally, the international market research market is a market with total sales of 8 trillion yen, but it supplies only a small part of the existing demand. This is the place to look, and I thought it would be a business opportunity.

――Please tell us about the technologies that support the solution.

We have made it easy for anyone to do market research. Whether it's processing large amounts of data, making decisions based on that data, or sharing data with other colleagues, our products are very simple. However, the technology that underpins a simple solution is extremely complex.

Image: Attest HP

There are three points in particular, but the first is to be able to design simple market research that is error-free. It allows users to specify the right prospect tier, form the right logic for each question, and visualize it without writing code. The second is to guarantee the quality of the data. It's not difficult to get answers, but it's difficult to apply different answers to a unified standard to equalize information and maintain comparable data quality. We use machine learning and AI to ensure that different data inputs maintain the same quality. And the third is to develop flexible solutions that can be provided to clients with different needs. The solution consists of 15 steps, each with about 80 elements built in. All of them are provided in 55 languages, and comparison functions and data aggregation must also be provided in 55 languages ​​and shared in different time zones. You can imagine how endless it is. All of this is done out of sight of the client.

Raised a total of 90 billion yen from the days of struggling to raise funds

――How was the road from the establishment in 2015 to this point?

I'm used to working with big companies because of my being a scientist, my MBA at Harvard, and my career at McKinsey. Therefore, it was very fun and meaningful to start from scratch, take risks and start as a micro enterprise. Looking back over the last six years, the best moment in business was when we started selling our products on an annual contract from 2017 to 2019. I developed products for two years and worked day and night to develop products so that I wouldn't miss an opportunity. I was worried about offering products on an annual contract basis, but when I opened the lid, I achieved annual sales of 100 million, making it the best year. From there, it also led to receiving support from the largest VC in Silicon Valley. On the contrary, at that time, there was a shortage of working capital. Sales are up from existing customers, but there's a 20% chance that you won't be able to pay your employees. The problem was lack of transparency. In the end, I honestly raised the issue to the investors who were there at the time, and as a result, some of the investors covered the missing parts. First of all, I am grateful for such trust, and as a result, it has led to operational transparency.

Eliminate unexploded new products with effective market research

――What are your thoughts on the future of market research?

Research is something that is hard to get along with, and many people have been left untouched even if they wanted to. It's like eating vegetables, and even if you know you have to do it, you don't take the initiative. Also, as a result of research, I am confused when I can see data that is different from what I expected. Every company knows that they need to be familiar with their prospects and make good use of facts and data. So, I think the future of market research is a world where more companies are comfortable doing research and the frequency is increasing. In the past, market research was done only a few times a year due to the high cost and time involved of large companies. If you change it a little easier and easier, the barriers to entry will be lowered. For example, if you do research on advertising before the launch of a new product, you are less likely to receive negative feedback about advertising after launch. The company's reputation is at stake because it has received high praise internally but has not conducted research outside the company. While 95% of new products are said to be unexploded, what if we could reduce that probability to 90%? That alone is a big change. The future of market research is capable of bite-sized, less risky research. That way, the impact will be dozens of times higher than it is now.

--We raised $ 60 million in the October 2021 funding round. What are your thoughts on how to use it?

International expansion and technology investment. Very popular in Europe, but medium in the US, our goal is to have a stronger presence in both markets and eventually expand into Asia. Our goal is to continue developing existing solutions to make them more extensible, easier to use, and easier to customize. There are many things you can do to do this, such as investing money in marketing or hiring engineers to raise awareness. It is our mission for as many companies as possible to incorporate external feedback into product development, develop practical products and encourage decision making. By then, there is a long way to go due to the possibility of IPO and M & A, but it is our long-term vision to be adopted all over the world.

――It seems that you can use it in Japanese, but are you planning to make a full-scale entry into Japan?

of course. By all means, I would like to expand into Japan and seize business opportunities in the near future. I have been to Japan personally and I like it too. Our service is also available in Japanese, so please try the product for free. You can compare to the Western market, learn about competitors and get a lot of information about consumer behavior.