Berlin’s ‘research-as-a-service’ startup Atheneum raises €127.56M to fund its growth and expansion

Atheneum, a Berlin-based B2B research technology platform that connects investment funds, consulting firms and corporations with the world’s experts, announced today that it has secured $150M (approx €127.56M) in a fresh round of funding.

Investors

The current round was led by Guidepost Growth Equity with participation from select Limited Partners. In addition, existing investors Crosslantic Capital Management, Michael Brehm, Vogel Communications Group, and the founding management team of Atheneum also invested in this round.

Speaking on the development, Atheneum’s co-founder & CEO, Mathias Wengeler says, “We are excited to have found the perfect partners for the next phase of growth and to further disrupt the fast growing, $22B data and intelligence market. Guidepost shares our vision to continue to build a fully digital cockpit for primary research, a one stop shop to gather raw data from surveys, virtual focus groups to in-depth interviews – all delivered by our evolving suite of products.”

With this investment, general partners of Guidepost, Roshen Menon and Chris Cavanagh, will join Atheneum’s board.

“Faster insights. Better data.”

Founded in 2010 by Mathias Wengeler, Ammad Ahmad, and Marta Margolis, Atheneum provides on-demand access to market intelligence based on the experience and knowledge of experts in an industry, within 24-36 hours. This helps in understanding industry trends, market intelligence needs in new business development and operations, and industry structure research for expansion.

Atheneum’s machine-learning and cloud-based ‘Insights’ platform delivers qualitative (expert consultations and placements) and quantitative (surveys and data products) research solutions to support over 500 enterprises through more than 680,000 opinion leaders globally.

Despite the pandemic, Atheneum claims to have grown 45 per cent in 2020 and has continued its growth in the first seven months of 2021 with the company’s growth nearly doubling. It has 11 offices globally including in London, Munich, and Shanghai. The company has it’s US headquarters in New York. It comprises 500 employees around the globe.

Capital utilisation

The proceeds from this round will help the company expand its services in different markets, including in the US. The funds will also help Atheneum to continue its technology and product development, as well as increasing the workforce.

Brief about Guidepost

Founded in 2007, US-based Guidepost Growth Equity partners with growth-stage technology companies offering innovative solutions. The firm offers solutions in tech-enabled services, application software, data and information services, and infrastructure software and services. 

Guidepost Growth Equity provides flexible capital, operational support, and strategic guidance to support growth-stage businesses and has over $1.3B of capital under management.