Metaforms raises USD $9m to revolutionise market research

Metaforms, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup, has raised USD $9 million in Series A funding to support the development of AI infrastructure for the market research industry.

The funding round was led by Peak XV Partners, formerly known as Sequoia India, and included participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Together Fund. With this investment, Metaforms will expand its team, enhance its AI agents, and broaden its platform to include report generation and voice-based research capabilities. The company's integrations already extend to widely used research tools such as Decipher, SPSS, and Confirmit.

Addressing industry bottlenecks

The global market research industry, estimated to be worth USD $130 billion, is experiencing rapid growth. However, agencies face increasing challenges from outdated operational systems, leading to capacity issues and compressed margins. Metaforms aims to address these challenges, enabling agencies to meet client demand without overburdening their staff or turning away work.

"We're thrilled to partner with Akshat and Arjun as they reimagine what a market research agency could look like in an AI-first world. Metaforms is scaling rapidly, by enabling some of the largest research agencies globally to automate workflows such as survey programming and data processing through their suite of AI agents." Shailendra Singh, MD, Peak XV

Research agencies traditionally spend significant time on manual tasks such as converting survey questionnaires into code, coordinating with multiple panel providers via email, and running complex validation scripts. Metaforms' AI agents automate these processes, fitting within agencies' existing workflows and improving efficiency without replacing human expertise.

The platform's functions include converting questionnaires into survey code, identifying problematic data before it impacts projects, coordinating with panel vendors, and managing quotas across multi-country studies. For many agencies, these capabilities represent the difference between being able to scale up or having to refuse additional business.

Industry traction

Since launching commercially six months ago, Metaforms has secured contracts with four of the world's top twenty research agencies, including Strat7. The platform currently processes over 1,000 surveys per month and counts several Fortune 500 companies among its clients. Metaforms reports a 100% expansion rate among clients who started with a single AI agent and have since deployed additional AI functionalities.

"Metaforms has been incredibly successful thanks to their uniquely thoughtful approach to modernising research operations - embedding seamlessly into the workflows, tools, and platforms that researchers and agencies already use. I'm excited to continue supporting the team as they build on that momentum with this Series A." Jonathan Tice, GTM Consultant [Prev: Chief Customer Officer, Forsta]

Akshat Tyagi and Arjun S founded Metaforms in 2022, driven by their own difficulties accessing professional market research as early-stage founders. They identified that agencies were limited not by a lack of demand, but by their operational bandwidth, and set out to build a platform to increase efficiency.

"Our goal is simple: help great research teams spend less time firefighting and more time doing the work that actually matters," said Akshat Tyagi, co-founder and CEO of Metaforms. "When you automate the grunt work, you make high-quality research more accessible to more companies."

According to Metaforms, its AI platform makes high-quality, professional-grade market research more accessible both to large global companies and early-stage startups. By automating high-volume, repetitive tasks, the platform is enabling agencies to serve clients they may previously have had to turn away, improving their ability to scale and manage costs effectively.

"Metaforms is a breakout example of the India-to-global play in AI," said Manav Garg, Co-founder and managing partner at Together Fund. "They're not just automating tasks - they're rebuilding research infrastructure for the modern era. With their early traction across global agencies, Akshat and Arjun are showing what's possible when deep customer empathy meets technical ambition."

Agencies such as Strat7 have reported tangible benefits from deploying Metaforms' platform. Tabita Razaila, Head of Operations at Strat7, said, "Our partnership has delivered strong ROI, thanks to Metaforms' exceptional service and prompt support."

"They're solving a major pain point for the entire industry. That focus and ability to deeply understand customer needs and address that using genetic AI is the hallmark of Metaforms team. We are thrilled to back Akshat and Arjun in their journey of building a remarkable company!", said Jishnu Bhattacharjee and Arjun Gandhi, Nexus Venture Partners.

Future plans

Looking ahead, Metaforms has plans to triple the size of its team and further expand its agent capabilities, including the development of automated reporting, voice research, and expanded language support. The company's long-term goal is to process over 100,000 surveys per year, further increasing access to comprehensive market research across industries and company sizes.

"When research agencies grow, better business decisions get made," added Akshat Tyagi. "We're not here to replace the humans in the loop. We're here to give them leverage."