- methinks — the company behind a popular video-based research platform — announced new milestones including $7 million in Series A
methinks — the creators of a global video-based research platform founded by Philip (JeongSeob) Yun and Wilson Li — announced a few milestones recently. For example, methinks announced its entry into the self-serve qualitative research market and its vision to transform how customer insights are injected into business decision-making.
And methinks also closed $7 million in Series A funding led by Sema Translink. KB Investment and Hyundai Investment also joined the round. The funding will enable methink’s global expansion and product development as it helps companies gather insights to better serve their customers and grow their business around the world.
“We invested in methinks for two main reasons: everyone understands the pain and cost of gathering invaluable customer insights, and Philip Yun and Wilson Li are experts at creating winning technologies,” said Bumsoo Kim — Managing Partner of Sema Translink. “The combination of developing a solution to a long-time business problem and finding founders with this kind of credibility is key to building winning solutions now and tomorrow. We believe methinks can make a big impact on the multi-trillion-dollar R&D industry.”
methinks launched in 2016 and it provides customers access to a pool of 350,000 “Thinkers” who are ready to share insights and opinions with methinks customers. Among the many high-profile companies using methinks are researchers and product managers from Samsung, LG, Verizon, Machine Zone, and Hyundai
“We like to think of methinks as the research industry’s best kept secret. It’s time everyone knows who we are,” explained Li — who is also the Head of Systems Development of methinks.
Essentially, methinks helps any company target, find, and interview customers and prospects via face-to-face video calls. This captured qualitative research helps businesses learn from customers through efficient, cost-effective, face-to-face conversations that are moderated, recorded, transcribed, annotated and easily edited and shared for rapid, organizational learning.
And the SaaS-based platform allows researchers to conduct live interviews, qualitative surveys and longitudinal studies, enabling insights ranging from basic product usability to a nuanced understanding of personal product usage only discoverable through longer-term research efforts.
methinks had found early success servicing global business conglomerates, bringing US consumers to international giants in consumer electronics, auto, games, software and media. And more recently, methinks has been repeatedly engaged by US-focused businesses, particularly those in early stages of R&D.
Any methinks user can schedule and record interviews instantly, take notes, bookmark consumer insights, etc. And all the videos are time-stamped and stored in the cloud for easy access, editing, and sharing.
“From brand-new start-ups to hundred-year old enterprises, understanding what customers want and need is paramount to success. methinks dramatically changes the timelines and cost structure of research,” explained Yun — who is also the Chief Product Officer of methinks. “Our goal is to connect you with your target customers so you can ask important questions and learn. We have created a very simple, and elegant solution to a very challenging problem of creating a robust platform, an easy-to-use application and a vibrant marketplace of Thinkers.”
There are 350,000 pre-screened “Thinkers” on methinks primarily in the United States. And customer insights are available on-demand, ready to provide valuable opinions and reactions. methinks provides filters to help researchers identify their target demographic, triggering instant responses from a pool of appropriate candidates sharing availability for interviews.
And the Thinker Marketplace also provides an opportunity for consumers of all ages and backgrounds to get paid for their thoughts on businesses, products, concepts, and ideas.
methinks is available now and it starts at $89 per interview. methinks offers a pay-as-you-go model, so researchers have the ability to pivot or expand as their research needs may shift.
Researchers are able to provide their own Thinkers and further reduce their associated costs by paying a low platform fee. Customers in large enterprises – or customers who need project-based research — can tap into methink’s suite of research capabilities including professional moderation, analysis and presentation development.
