AI MODERATED MARKET RESEARCH COMPANY BOLT INSIGHT RECEIVES £7M IN FUNDING TO ACCELERATE FURTHER EXPANSION
London, UK – 9th December 2025: Today Bolt Insight, the market research company helping brands unlock consumer insights through AI-moderated research, announces it has received a £7 million funding round led by Pembroke VCT. Pembroke has invested £3.5 million, joined by 212, Active Partners, Velocity, and TIBAS Ventures.
Bolt Insight is evolving beyond being a research provider. The new funding will help to scale BoltChatAI globally, and the new ambition is to create the Assistant AI Chief Insights Officer, a real-time intelligence partner that acts as a decision-making platform for brands.
This AI-powered system will be able to instantly answer business questions by tapping into a company’s historical research and market data as well as autonomously engage real consumers through new AI-moderated interviews, and deliver fresh, actionable insights, all within a record time.
Bolt Insight believes this will fundamentally change the way insights are sourced, moving from passive, project-based research to an always-on, proactive intelligence hub embedded in business decision-making.
Bolt Insight is led by CEO and Co-Founder Hakan Yurdakul, who spent 14 years at Unilever in brand strategy and transformation, and CTO and Co-Founder Kerem Turgay, a Harvard and ETH Zurich-trained engineer with experience at Siemens, Coca-Cola and Afiniti. They are joined by Co-Founders Baybars Umur, Ester Marchetti and Melek Özsoy, leading a 50-strong team across London, Istanbul, Paris, New York, and Singapore.
Its platform has already interviewed more than 5 million consumers across 90 markets and is trusted by 11 of the world’s top 15 consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, including Unilever, Danone, and Reckitt. To date, the company has worked with over 150 brands in 20+ countries, achieving a 90% client renewal rate and has been recognised with multiple industry awards, most recently winning ‘Best Online Qual’ at the MRS Operations Awards.
Hakan Yurdakul, CEO & Co-Founder of Bolt Insight said –
“When we launched Bolt Insight in 2019, our mission was to bring real consumer voices into the heart of business decision-making. With the launch of BoltChatAI in 2022, we proved that AI-moderated qualitative research could deliver rich insight at unprecedented speed and scale. Today, we’re building on that foundation with a bold new ambition, to create the Assistant AI Chief Insights Officer, a real-time intelligence system that can answer critical business questions instantly or engage real consumers when new thinking is needed. This new investment will power the next phase of that journey. We’re grateful to Pembroke for their partnership as we redefine the role of insight within organisations.”
Andrew Wolfson, CEO at Pembroke Investment Managers, said –
“Bolt Insight is a brilliant example of how AI can lead change in an established industry by putting real consumer voices at the heart of decision-making. Hakan, Kerem and the rest of the team have built an impressive platform trusted by some of the world’s biggest brands, blending the speed of AI with the depth of human insight to deliver smarter, faster research at scale. As demand for real-time intelligence continues to grow, Bolt is perfectly positioned to lead a new generation of consumer understanding. We’re proud to support the team as they expand globally and continue redefining what’s possible in market research.”
Ali Karabey, Managing Director at 212, added –
“We’ve been consistently impressed by Bolt Insight’s thoughtful approach to helping brands stay closer to their consumers. The team has built a platform that makes real human insight more accessible, faster, and more globally inclusive, without losing the depth and nuance that truly informs decisions. In a landscape where research often becomes transactional, Bolt Insight stands out by creating space for genuine understanding at scale. We’re grateful to support them on the next stage of their journey and look forward to what they will build next.”
The company has an impressive track record delivering on previous investment rounds including pre-seed and seed rounds (2020, 2022 and 2023 respectively) which were used by Bolt Insight to expand markets and grow the team.
With demonstrable EU and UK strength and with plans to capitalise on the Assistant AI Chief Insights Officer potential, the broader market opportunity remains significant as, for example, North America accounts for 52% of the global market research spend.
London-headquartered Bolt Insight, established in 2019, is a consumer research firm enabling brands to engage with consumers globally and make data-driven decisions using AI. The investment will also help Bolt Insight strengthen its position in a global insights market valued at around $153 billion.
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About Bolt Insight
Bolt Insight is an AI-powered consumer intelligence firm offering both qualitative and quantitative research at scale. Our platform, BoltChatAI, powers our qualitative work, using AI moderation to run real-time, dynamic conversations with consumers. With smart probing, stimulus testing and multimedia capture, it uncovers deeper, more authentic insights across markets and languages. Combined with our advanced quant capabilities, we help brands understand audiences, respond to change and make confident decisions faster.
About Pembroke VCT
Established in 2013 and managed by Pembroke Investment Managers LLP, Pembroke VCT plc has £250m+ AUM and invests in growth-stage companies across the consumer, business services, and technology sectors. With over 45 companies in the portfolio, the VCT supports entrepreneurs with financial investment, human capital and strategic expertise, helping to accelerate growth and build long-term value. Its portfolio includes innovative brands such as LYMA and Seatfrog, with successful exits from companies such as Secret Food Tours (5.3x realised return) and ME+EM (16.2x return). Pembroke VCT is committed to partnering with ambitious founders and providing investors access to some of the UK’s most innovative businesses.
About 212
212 is a venture capital firm that backs bold, early and growth-stage tech companies across Emerging Europe and the diaspora; “Hunting for Dragons.” Established in 2011, the firm scouts and supports opportunities in overlooked emerging markets and the diaspora from the outset of their global journey and backs B2B tech solutions with demonstrated traction and a precise product-market fit. Over three funds, 212 has created +$2B in value investing in early-stage technology startups. 212 is utilising a robust presence in Istanbul, Doha, and New York.
