Motives runs consumer focus groups entirely with AI. It is a team of AI agents that conducts qualitative research for consumer brands by moderating and analyzing video interviews, delivering results in hours rather than the weeks traditional focus groups require. Traditional focus groups can cost $20k+ and take one to two months; Motives aims to compress that whole process into one to two days. The company was founded by Sean Conley (CEO), formerly in PM and growth roles at Google, Dataiku, and TrueLayer, and Sam Stoll (CTO), an ex-Palantir engineer, and was part of Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch.
Motives
ActiveConsumer focus groups run by AI
Total raised
$900K
2 rounds
Stage
Pre-Seed
Team
1-10
since 2025
Pricing
—
Founded
2025
London, United Kingdom
Agent-ready
—
Team of AI agents that run qualitative consumer focus groups
Moderated video interviews with participants
Automated analysis of interview responses
Results delivered in hours instead of weeks
Designed for consumer brand research
Compresses a multi-week process into days
End-to-end moderation and synthesis
Lower-cost alternative to traditional focus groups
12/100
Early
MCP server
Public API
Webhooks
OAuth 2.0
SDKs
No public agent surfaces detected yet.
Jan 2025 Seed $500K ● Y Combinator
— Pre-Seed $400K incl. Rebel Fund
Capital network
$900K raised ·2 backers·10 network links
- Backers2
- Shared portfoliocompanies these backers also fund
- Extended networkfunds that co-invest alongside them
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- What is Motives?
- Motives is a team of AI agents that runs and analyzes qualitative consumer focus groups through moderated video interviews, delivering results in hours instead of weeks.
- How is it faster than traditional research?
- Traditional focus groups can take one to two months; Motives aims to compress the moderation and analysis process into roughly one to two days.
- Who founded Motives?
- It was founded by Sean Conley (CEO), formerly in PM and growth roles at Google, Dataiku, and TrueLayer, and Sam Stoll (CTO), an ex-Palantir engineer, and was part of YC's Summer 2025 batch.
- What research does it support?
- Motives focuses on qualitative consumer research for brands, conducting and analyzing moderated video interviews.
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