Autentic AI raises €1.5M pre-seed in Barcelona

Barcelona-based Autentic AI has closed a €1.5 million pre-seed round as it works to automate market research with an AI-native platform that interviews consumers and experts at the same time.

What does Autentic AI do?

Autentic AI says it uses artificial intelligence to speed up market research by running simultaneous interviews with verified consumers and experts, then turning those conversations into results within days. According to El Nacional, the platform can combine consumer research with expert interviews for strategy work, market analysis and commercial due-diligence-style projects.

The company says it is focused on four verticals: consumer goods, retail, pharmacy and cosmetics, and strategy consulting and private equity. El Nacional reported that the consumer-goods use case includes testing products, concepts, packaging or price, while the retail vertical is aimed at understanding customer behavior, perception, experience and needs. The pharmacy and cosmetics vertical covers studies with both consumers and sector professionals, and the consulting and private-equity line supports strategy projects, market analysis and commercial due diligence.

Co-founder Dani Diestre said traditional market research can take about 12 weeks and cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros. He said Autentic AI combines artificial intelligence with human expertise and keeps a research professional involved in every study.

Who backed the round?

The round included Baobab Ventures, Lanai Ventures, Acurio Ventures and Masia VC, according to Demócrata and Europa Press. Tech.eu’s Funding Explorer also lists the deal as a €1.5 million pre-seed transaction involving those four firms.

Europa Press reported that Baobab Ventures is the fund founded by Carles Reina, but the available reporting does not show that Baobab led the round or disclose how much each investor contributed. El Nacional identified Kate Cornell of Acurio Ventures as one of the new investors. Demócrata also said the company disclosed additional backers including Alfonso Núñez of EY-Parthenon, plus Otto Wüst and Marc Elena, co-founders of Adsmurai; David Zafra and Sergio Espeja, co-founders of HeyDiga and former executives at Tuenti and JobandTalent; Pablo Amade, founder of Morbo Brand Makers; Miquel Pousa, co-founder of The Matter and Form; and Marcos Valera, GTM at Elevenlabs.

Carles Reina, founder of Baobab Ventures, said systematically understanding market trends is fundamental for any organization, especially as markets change monthly, and that market research has historically been expensive enough to limit access mostly to large corporations.

How will Autentic AI use the money?

Autentic AI said the new capital will support growth, further automate the full study process and strengthen its participant-recruitment infrastructure. Demócrata described the financing as backing to accelerate growth and improve the startup’s AI-based study platform, while Europa Press said the company wants to automate studies from start to finish and strengthen its internal infrastructure for participant recruitment.

The participant-recruitment infrastructure is part of that model because the platform relies on interviews with verified consumers and experts. El Nacional reported the platform currently performs 1,000 interviews a day and that the company aims to reach 400,000 in the coming months.

Autentic AI says the platform was built as an alternative to incumbent market-research firms such as Kantar, Ipsos and NielsenIQ. The company says it aims to shorten market studies from weeks to days while keeping a research professional involved in each study.

Who is behind the company?

Europa Press reported that Autentic AI was founded by Dani Diestre, Aniol Carreras and Jacob Bamio. The outlet said their prior affiliations include Cafler and PayFit, Lifull Connect, and Factorial, respectively.

Founded in 2025 in Barcelona, Autentic AI is using the pre-seed funding to automate more of the research process and build participant-recruitment infrastructure. As reported by El Nacional, one of the claimed advantages is speed: studies that can finish in just a few days instead of the roughly 12 weeks Diestre says traditional research can require.

The company said it will use the capital to accelerate growth, further automate the end-to-end market-study process and strengthen its own participant-recruitment infrastructure.