timbuk2.ai gamifies the mapping of emerging markets, turning local knowledge into market intelligence for brands. Through its Pikaboo game and FOONA field network, the company collects verified, on-the-ground data on informal retail, out-of-home audiences, and field execution. It offers solutions for precision marketing, field-force routing, and retail activation, with every transaction proven against a named SKU.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Billions of people shop in informal markets—spaza shops, kiosks, and stalls—where 40–90% of everyday goods move through channels that are invisible to formal datasets. Brands lack reliable evidence about where to expand, what to stock, and who to reach in these low-data environments, leaving significant market potential untapped.
Solution
timbuk2.ai gamifies the mapping of emerging markets by turning local knowledge into actionable market intelligence. The company's Pikaboo game lets people play and answer questions about physical markets, while its FOONA field network verifies observations with photo, GPS, and structured checks. This evidence is fused with movement data and informal-economy mapping to produce ranked, confidence-scored recommendations for brands. The platform supports three core solutions: precision marketing for out-of-home audience measurement, field execution routing based on daytime movement, and retail activation with verified sales against named SKUs.
Target Audience
Primary customers are brands, FMCG companies, retail media networks, media owners, agencies, advertisers, and distribution or financial-services leaders who need defensible evidence for expansion, routing, and activation decisions in emerging markets.
Features
- Pikaboo gamified data collection that turns market questions into playable missions with accepted evidence quality-checked for place, time, and proof
- FOONA field network of trained local people who verify ground truth with photo, GPS, and structured checks, catching duplicates and sending uncertainty to human review
- Independent out-of-home audience measurement reporting reach, VAC, and average frequency from anonymised mobile movement, scaled to census population and updated daily
- Worksite and corridor routing based on daytime movement rather than residential data, with 25–50 prioritised places and confidence bands on every recommendation
- Verified sales and redemptions captured against a named SKU, with test-vs-control attribution logic to isolate what activity actually caused a sale
- Published measurement methodology aligned with ESOMAR and World Out of Home Organisation definitions, open to audit