Only two months after the launch of TRA (The Research Agency) Labs and Previously Unavailable’s incubated start-up Ideally, the company has secured $2.15 million in funding.
Ideally, the innovative customer insights platform that give on-demand insights for clients while also giving them the opportunity to test concepts, ideas and messages with target audiences using generative artificial intelligence technology, is rapidly expanding across Australasia.
Icehouse Ventures, the VC firm for Kiwi companies, will be supporting Ideally with $2.15 million as they plan to further across the continent.
Already, Ideally has worked across some of the largest companies across both New Zealand and Australia, including Tegel, Asahi Beverages, Danone Nutricia and more.
“Six months ago, Ideally was just a concept, today we’re helping grow the ideas of some of Australasia’s most innovative businesses. Icehouse Ventures investment will help us significantly dial up that growth even further, and lay strong foundations for big global ambitions,” says James Donald, CEO and Co-Founder of Ideally.
The funding comes after Ideally pitched to more than 1000 investors at Spark Arena for Icehouse Ventures’ annual showcase of the country’s most exciting start-ups, and later at the inaugural SXSW Sydney pitch competition
Read more: TRA and Previously Unavailable launches new insights innovation platform, Ideally
Barnaby Marshall, Partner at Icehouse Ventures, says that there is an “enormous global opportunity of Ideally’s product”.
“There’s an old saying that it’s not the big that eat the small but the fast that eat the slow. Many large organisations struggle with being confident in new products and decisions. Many small organisations struggle to get enough data to make high quality decisions. Ideally serves both customer groups and gives an element of objectivity to new marketing and product ideas. We believe the potential here is huge,” says Marshall.
Alongside securing the funding, Ideally have recruited two of New Zealand’s most experienced start-up talents: Joshua Nu’u-Steele will move into the Chief Revenue Officer role after leading Parkable’s international efforts as its Global Sales Manager and Brendan Cervin has taken the mantle as Chief Technical Officer, bringing a wealth of experience as CTO of several SaaS companies with specialist expertise in AI and Large Language Learning.
Donald says these two new additions will help Ideally build alongside its rapid development and demand.
“With Josh and Brendan joining the fold we have two technology leaders with significant experience building important, global, Kiwi-headquartered businesses, with the ambition to go global,” he says.
“By bringing their expertise across innovation, marketing, and AI together, Ideally is in an incredibly strong position for capturing this market and scaling globally.”
