Conveo raises $5.3M to revolutionize customer research with AI. Consumer behavior is evolving faster than ever, influenced by AI, the Creator Economy, and the rise of Gen Z and Alpha. Simultaneously, shifting regulations and cultural changes are reshaping how brands engage with customers.
Despite these shifts, many brands still rely on outdated research methods that struggle to keep pace. Traditional qualitative research remains slow, costly, and often discourages companies from conducting research altogether. This results in decisions based on incomplete data, leading to missed opportunities and expensive mistakes.
Trusted by industry leaders such as Procter & Gamble, Google, and Unilever, Conveo’s multimodal AI video interviewer enables companies to conduct hundreds of in-depth customer interviews overnight, in any language, at a fraction of the cost. The fully automated research process — from project setup to AI-driven interviewing and instant analysis — delivers insights 100 times faster than conventional methods, frequently uncovering connections overlooked by human researchers.
From Living the Problem to Building the Solution
At a previous scale-up, CEO and Co-founder Dieter De Mesmaeker observed how businesses made high-stakes decisions with insufficient research, leading to costly mistakes and lost opportunities. Meanwhile, at McKinsey, Co-founder Hendrik Van Hove experienced the inefficiencies of traditional research, which relied on slow, manual processes and made scaling insights difficult.
As Hendrik puts it: "I've seen the value of great research at McKinsey doing hundreds of interviews and countless surveys myself. But with the scheduling, note taking, and long nights analyzing, it was extremely painful to do. That’s why companies don’t do nearly enough research. We've all seen it. Companies losing billions making the wrong investments or missing out on great opportunities."
Recognizing AI’s potential to transform research, the team set out to build the Qualtrics of qualitative research.
"We can’t imagine anyone doing it the old way 2 years from now. And our customers agree. 90% of the time in qualitative research is spent on activities that can be automated so researchers can spend time on actually creating value from these insights. As AI capabilities rapidly progress, we see Conveo becoming an AI research ‘employee’ within organizations," added Dieter De Mesmaeker, Co-Founder and CEO of Conveo. "With perfect recall, Conveo can instantly surface previous research, integrate third-party data, or launch new research in real time. Organizations will face far fewer barriers to gathering insights, driving better decisions, products, and services."
A Powerful Product, A New Research Method
Research efforts at Conveo are led by Niels Schillewaert, PhD, Founder of the global insights agency Human8 and Professor of Marketing at the Vlerick Business School.
"Our product’s strength comes from our team. We combine decades-long research and strategic experience with deep technical expertise. Most of our competitors are only strong in one of the two areas whereas both are critical." - Dieter De Mesmaeker
Conveo’s AI functions like a human researcher, engaging in personal conversations, following topic guides, and asking deeper questions based on responses. More than 50% of valuable insights emerge from AI-driven follow-ups.
- Video Moderation & AI Analysis: AI structures, translates, and codes responses, analyzing transcripts to identify key themes and insights.
- Accessible to Everyone: Anyone within an organization can engage with Conveo’s customer insights base and launch new research.
- Reliable Data, No Hallucinations: A core focus remains data quality, with each insight and data point linked back to original transcripts and videos.