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§ Private Profile · London, United Kingdom
realeyes is a technology company.
Realeyes develops Vision AI solutions for robust human verification. Its core offering provides secure, frictionless identity and age checks, alongside deepfake detection, by analyzing facial cues without requiring documents. The technology offers a scalable and privacy-safe alternative to traditional multi-factor authentication methods like SMS, delivering rapid user experiences while ensuring stringent compliance.
The company originated at Oxford University in 2007, founded by Mihkel Jäätma and Elnar Hajiyev. Their initial insight led to pioneering the large-scale measurement of user behavior via webcams across the internet. This foundational work in computer vision and data privacy has evolved into their current focus on enterprise-grade human verification.
Realeyes serves demanding enterprises and consumer applications globally, assisting them with complex technical and legal requirements for user authentication. The company's overarching vision is to establish itself as the global standard for human verification, aspiring to enable a trillion additional genuinely human digital interactions annually in the coming years.
realeyes has raised $28.2M across 2 funding rounds.
realeyes has raised $28.2M in total across 2 funding rounds.
# High-Level Overview
Realeyes is an AI-powered computer vision company that measures human attention and emotional responses to video content, primarily serving enterprise brands, media companies, and tech platforms in the advertising and marketing sectors[1][2]. The company uses front-facing cameras and advanced machine learning to analyze viewer reactions to digital content in real-time, then translates those emotional signals into actionable insights for marketers—including predictions about how ads will impact consumer purchasing behavior[1].
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in London (with roots in Tallinn, Estonia), Realeyes has grown into a trusted platform for over 200 customers across 90+ markets[2]. The company's core offering, PreView, combines human measurement with synthetic AI analysis to optimize ad effectiveness[2]. Major clients include Mars, Meta, Google, Coca-Cola, and Dentsu, reflecting its position as a critical tool in the modern attention economy[1][2].
# Origin Story
Realeyes was founded in 2007 by Mihkel Jäätma, who started the company while still a student at Oxford[1]. The founding emerged from a straightforward insight: as devices with cameras and microphones became ubiquitous, there was an untapped opportunity to use computer vision to understand human emotional responses at scale[1].
The company's early growth was remarkable. By 2018, revenues had grown 932 percent over four years, and the company had secured major enterprise customers including Coca-Cola, Mars, and Publicis[1]. This traction led to a Series A funding round of $16.2 million in 2018, which the company used to expand engineering and business development capabilities[1]. The founding team expanded to include Barry Coleman as COO (formerly at LootCrate) and Maja Pantic, a professor of affective and behavioral computing at Imperial College London, who moved from an advisory role into a more hands-on position[1].
# Core Differentiators
# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape
Realeyes sits at the intersection of three major tech trends: the rise of emotion AI, the attention economy, and the demand for privacy-compliant data infrastructure. As digital advertising becomes increasingly fragmented (with third-party cookies disappearing), brands need new ways to understand whether their creative actually resonates with audiences. Realeyes fills that gap by offering a privacy-preserving alternative to behavioral tracking.
The company also represents a broader shift toward human-centered AI—technology that measures and responds to human emotional and cognitive states rather than just optimizing for engagement metrics. This aligns with growing regulatory pressure (GDPR, emerging AI regulations) and consumer demand for more ethical data practices.
By positioning itself as a bridge between creative effectiveness and business outcomes, Realeyes influences how the advertising industry measures success, moving the conversation from impressions and clicks to actual emotional resonance and purchase intent.
# Quick Take & Future Outlook
Realeyes is well-positioned to capitalize on the structural shift away from third-party data toward first-party emotional and attention signals. As brands face pressure to justify marketing spend in an uncertain economy, tools that directly connect creative to business outcomes become increasingly valuable.
The company's expansion into adjacent use cases—user verification, device wellbeing, gaming engagement, and automotive safety—suggests a strategy to diversify beyond advertising[4]. This hedging is prudent, as the ad tech market remains competitive and cyclical.
The key question for Realeyes' future is whether it can maintain its technological edge as larger players (Meta, Google) integrate emotion AI capabilities into their own platforms. The company's answer appears to be deepening its dataset, expanding its platform ecosystem through partnerships, and moving upstream into creative production workflows. If successful, Realeyes could evolve from a measurement tool into an essential layer of the creative intelligence stack.
realeyes has raised $28.2M in total across 2 funding rounds.
realeyes's investors include Stuart Chapman, Takayuki Inagawa, Karma Ventures, Global Brain, The Entrepreneurs' Fund, Harbert European Growth Capital.
realeyes has raised $28.2M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $12.0M Series B in June 2019.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2019 | $12M Series B | Stuart Chapman, Takayuki Inagawa | Karma Ventures, Global Brain, The Entrepreneurs' Fund | Announced |
| May 22, 2018 | $16.2M Series A | Stuart Chapman | Harbert European Growth Capital, Karma Ventures | Announced |