Bolt Insight

Bolt Insight is a London-based AI-native market research company that enables global brands to conduct qualitative and quantitative consumer research at speed and scale. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Southwark, the company operates across more than 90 markets and has conducted over five million consumer interviews through its flagship platform, BoltChatAI.

The company was built to address a fundamental gap in how businesses access consumer insight. Traditional market research methods — agency briefs, focus groups, lengthy turnaround times — were too slow and expensive to support the pace of modern decision-making. Bolt Insight set out to create a direct, always-on line between brands and consumers, enabling teams to test ideas, validate concepts, and gather in-depth feedback within 24 hours rather than weeks.

BoltChatAI is an AI-moderated qualitative research platform that conducts natural-language consumer interviews at scale. Unlike generic AI tools, the platform was trained on real human-moderated interviews, combining automated efficiency with the depth of genuine qualitative methodology. The system finds participants, runs the interviews, and delivers synthesised, actionable reports — all within a day. It is now trusted by 11 of the world's top 15 consumer packaged goods companies, including Unilever, Danone, and Reckitt, and has a 90% client renewal rate across more than 150 brands in 20-plus countries.

In December 2025, Bolt Insight raised £7 million in a round led by Pembroke VCT, with co-investment from 212, Active Partners, Velocity, and TIBAS Ventures. The capital is funding the development of an AI Chief Insights Officer product — a real-time intelligence layer that draws on accumulated research data to answer business questions autonomously, commissioning fresh consumer interviews where needed. With North America accounting for roughly 52% of global research spend, international expansion remains the company's primary commercial priority.