Set up by Andrew Reid, who also founded Vision Critical, Rival Technologies’ Chat Lab uses chat, voice and video technologies, such as Facebook Messenger, SMS and Instagram, for research and insight communities.

The company said the aim of the platform was to move away from an over-reliance on emailed surveys and close the gap between the way people live their digital lives and how market research is conducted.

Andrew Reid, founder and CEO of Rival Technologies, said: “To get an accurate read of consumer attitudes and opinions, companies need to engage with people where they are. Chat Lab is designed to help companies do this by facilitating ongoing conversations in mobile apps and messaging platforms that today’s consumers use.”