• Prague-based ad testing laboratory Behavio gets EUR 2.25M of Seed investment from Airbridge Equity Partners
• The platform tests the performance of ads on various stages of marketing campaigns
• The platform will use the new investment on the development and implementation of new AI-powered features and tools

This May, Czech ad performance assessment startup Behavio successfully secured EUR 2.25M of Seed Investment. The lead and only investor of the round is the Amsterdam-based VC fund Airbridge Equity Partners.

Behavio in Recap

Founded in 2015 by a team of childhood friends, Behavio works on disrupting the methodological and technological aspects of ad research. The startup is de facto a laboratory that tests the performance of ads (at any stage of their development) and provides actionable advice on improving it. Behavio’s research employs the most recent findings in marketing and behavioral science, and the implicit association test allows the researchers to peek into the audiences’ subconscious as the robust 500+ respondent sample delivers accurate and valuable insights.

For the well-known Czech VC firm Presto Ventures, Behavio was among the first investments from its second fund.

‘We placed our bets on the savvy founders and their know-how and experience. They’re experts in the field of behavioral science and the impact of advertising on the subconscious. At the time, the software product was but a vision in the minds of the founders – today, the largest companies in the region are racing to deploy it in their advertising campaigns,’ Presto Ventures’ founder and managing partner Přemysl Rubeš.

Behavio was awarded one of the winning spots of Vestbee’s CEE Startup Challenge 2023. ‘Securing third place among such strong competition was incredibly exciting for us. It was a great moment that significantly boosted our visibility and credibility. This recognition played a key role in our current round of investment, attracting additional interest, confidence, and meetings with potential investors, including Airbridge Equity Partners, who have ultimately decided to back our endeavors,’ the startup’s co-founder and sales and operations director Marek Nebesář shares.

Upselling, Expansions, and Other Ambitions Fulfilling

At the time, the co-founder mentioned that the Seed round was among Behavio’s plans for 2024. Behavio’s other ambitions included laying the foundations for a US team, exploring upsell and cross-sell opportunities, and amping up sales.

Mr Nebesář admits that expanding to America is a challenging endeavor. The managing team  has a list of potential candidates for sales and marketing positions. But It’s necessary to pick the perfect time to get boots on the ground: the costs are high and that doesn’t offer a lot of space for failure. As of now, Behavio feels comfortable seizing the potential in Europe. The company’s current lean approach allows it to execute the GTM strategy with people mostly based in the EU and flying to the States.

‘The upselling is going great, our subscribers are renewing their plans and we see a very low churn, mainly from them not being the right ICP for our products. As they renew, our strategic approach, nudges, and communication help us to either excite them about a higher plan or increase the usage quota of the subscription,’ Mr Nebesář tells ITKeyMedia.

On top of that, Behavio observes a favorable trend with brand tracking that validates the product’s topicality. Brands that operate on multiple markets and try out brand tracking on one of them represent an almost instant upsell to other markets as well because it provides comparable data throughout the entire group.

‘Cross-sell is still somewhat slow which was expected due to different ICPs for two products that will converge in time. With just a few exceptions, the mid-sized companies we target mainly with brand tracking have not yet reached the ATL marketing stage, meaning the phase where we can help them with ad testing the most. The ad testing customers usually have robust enterprise brand tracking solutions with which we can’t compete – yet. But again, we can see the first rays of dawn,’ Mr Nebesář continues.

Investors Share the Vision and the Strategy

Behavio is actively hiring new talent and ramping up marketing efforts. According to the co-founder, having a clear hiring and business plan was crucial for Airbridge’s decision to invest:  apart from the marketing platform, the investors were interested in seeing the team’s strategic approach and commitment to efficient growth.

Airbridge Equity Partners’ Investment Director Robin Rensen tells ITKeyMedia that his fund invested in Behavio because of their high-quality and innovative IT platform, experienced management, highly competitive pricing, and the direction ideally suited to disrupt the somewhat traditional market research space.

For Airbridge’s co-founder and partner Rick van Boekel, the investment in Behavio isn’t just a financial decision but a declaration of his team’s firm belief in the company’s vision to reshape the advertising landscape by making it more effective and actionable.

‘We’re excited to support Behavio as they expand their innovative services and continue to provide exceptional value to brands worldwide. We’ve heard from many customers that they love Behavio for being accurate, fast, easy to integrate, and providing really actionable insight, all at a very appealing price point,’ Mr van Boekel says.

Upcoming AI Features

In view of the new investment, Behavio’s co-founder and CEO Jiri Boudal announces plans to implement artificial intelligence to provide more accurate data on how and where people focus their attention when they watch an ad. Additionally, the team is developing an AI chatbot that will highlight the most important conclusions and insights from the data collected.

‘The main idea is for the chatbot to provide users with key insights on their brand performance and campaign test results, effectively acting as a tiny digital researcher in your dashboard. One that you don’t have to onboard every time but it already knows everything about your brand, position on markets, campaigns, competitors, and so on,’ Mr Nebesář explains.