Ascent Korea, a consumer insights firm leveraging search data, has secured KRW 4 billion($2.86M) in Pre-Series B funding from NH Investment & Securities – NH Venture Investment and Shinhan Venture Investment.

Valued at KRW 35 billion pre-money, Ascent Korea will use this investment to expand its market presence in Japan, extend its global data networks, and establish a foundation for entering the U.S. market. This brings the total investment in Ascent Korea to KRW 10.5 billion($7.5M).

Founded in 2013, Ascent Korea developed and operates ListeningMind, a SaaS solution that utilizes search data to analyze consumer intent. This innovative service analyzes extensive search data to identify consumer behavior patterns, enabling companies to refine their marketing strategies. Recently, the integration of AI allows even marketers without a background in data analysis to easily extract insights from search data.

Currently, over 100 companies in Korea and Japan, including major Japanese firms like Dentsu, CyberAgent, and Accenture Japan, are using ListeningMind. Since its launch in Korea two years ago, the service has become indispensable in the advertising industry, with major agencies like Cheil Worldwide, HS Ad, and Innocean among its users.

Ascent Korea is planning to launch services in the U.S. by 2025 and aims to aggressively expand into the market from 2026. The company expects to generate over KRW 20 billion in additional revenue by the end of 2027 in the U.S. and globally by offering its consumer intent analysis services based on search data. Furthermore, Ascent Korea plans continuous service upgrades by expanding its reach to global search data from 60 countries, allowing businesses to efficiently gather and utilize consumer insights.

Ascent Korea also runs Intent Research, a service offering market and consumer research that uses unbiased and comprehensive search data analyzed through ListeningMind. This service has aided various enterprises, including Samsung Electronics Global, Kookmin Bank, Chanel Korea, KT, and HLI, in crafting more nuanced consumer analyses and marketing strategies.

Looking ahead, Ascent Korea is committed to becoming a global comprehensive data intelligence company that integrates and utilizes various essential data sources for businesses, enabling them to gain detailed insights and make data-driven decisions.

CEO Park Se-yong of Ascent Korea commented, “This investment enables us to provide competitive consumer insight analysis services globally. We aim to set a new standard in the marketing data industry by enhancing our AI-based data analysis technology.” This investment reflects strong confidence in Ascent Korea’s technical expertise and potential for market growth, bolstering expectations for the company’s future development.