Top brands and investors bet on [cafeteria] - The next gen insights platform raises new round at $22m valuation

Marquee Ventures, Listen Ventures, and Thayer Investment Partners join [cafeteria] investors Imaginary Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Bertelsmann and Guy Oseary. The company, which has experienced 2x growth in 2025, is investing in enterprise products and best-in-class AI capabilities.

NEW YORK, July 28, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- [cafeteria], the category-defining consumer insights platform that enables Gen Z and Alpha (aka "Generation Next") to earn for direct and private brand insights, today announced the close of a $3 million growth round, valuing the company at $22 million. The round adds participation from Marquee Ventures, Listen Ventures, and Thayer Investment Partners. The new funding further strengthens [cafeteria]'s strategic position as brands take notice of its innovative approach to delivering consumer sentiment, pre- trends, and brand insights in real time.

With the new capital, [cafeteria] is set to expand its unique SLM AI capabilities, scale data infrastructure to transform unstructured text and voice into actionable insights, and deepen offerings for enterprise clients who are increasingly looking to reach this influential demographic for zero-party insights.

Since January, [cafeteria] has more than doubled its userbase and tripled the volume of insights produced. Brands across fashion, beauty, and consumer goods are turning to [cafeteria]'s teen-to-brand operating system and enterprise software for authentic Gen Next intelligence. Brand partners include category leaders across Beauty, Retail and CPG.

Clients, such as TikTok favorite Roller Rabbit, are working with [cafeteria] to identify early trends, drive their social and influencer strategies and shape new product decisions. A pre-launch celebrity beauty brand credits [cafeteria] for saving them $100,000 and 6 months of R&D time to select the proper tooling for their packaging.

[cafeteria] previously raised a multimillion-dollar seed round in July 2024 led by Collaborative Fund and Imaginary Ventures, with additional participation from Bertelsmann and music mogul Guy Oseary. The company was valued at $12M last year. Collectively, [cafeteria] investors have backed companies like BILT, Whoop, Reddit, Glossier, Skims, Calm and Lyft.

Rishi Malhotra, CEO and co-founder of [cafeteria], says: "We are building [cafeteria] with exceptional long term investors, a world class team, and an empowered userbase across the country. We are reimagining the relationship between generation next and brands by delivering them a platform for work and private insights software for clients. Our text and voice data are compounding and we are investing in AI capabilities that are truly in-context of the generation."

"[cafeteria] has created an entirely new way to understand the behaviors, priorities, and interests of next gen consumers that will define the future of many sectors. By leveraging AI and authentic consumer connection, [cafeteria] is allowing brands across sports, media, and entertainment to see trends before they become trends. Marquee Ventures is excited to help the incredible team scale the next great culture defining platform." - Erik Hammer, Managing Partner at Marquee Ventures

"At Listen, we believe the best brands are built WITH consumers. The next generation wants a direct relationship, they want recognition and rewards for contributing to the brands they love. [cafeteria] has built the platform for engaging and understanding generation next and we are thrilled to partner with them on this journey." - Jeff Cantalupo, Founder & Managing Partner at Listen

"We're thrilled to back Rishi and the [cafeteria] team once again, following our successful partnership in their previous venture, Saavn. [cafeteria] being a real time AI-powered insights platform, is focusing on the underserved next generation of consumers- GenZ and Gen Alpha. Backing such disruptive platforms is core to our investment philosophy at BII and we are excited to see strong tech and growth development in record time in the company." - Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director at Bertelsmann

"Generational shifts have the power to disrupt entire industries, especially when businesses fail to track and adapt to emerging trends. [cafeteria]'s private approach to data aggregation is a breakthrough in reaching the most elusive and influential up-and-coming generation of consumers—engaging them authentically and turning their participation into rich, actionable, quality insights. This is the future of how brands will gain true access to the next wave of economic drivers and secure their relevance in an ever-evolving market." - Chelsea Salamone, Vice President at Thayer Investment Partners

How it works:

Driven by texts and voice notes, teens apply to the [cafeteria] app to match with brands they want to talk about, and are invited to a private set of questions (called "Tables"). They earn for their time and gain insights into the quality of their work.

For brands, insights are synthesized and editorialized into client software called "Albums" that are always on and asynchronous.

Right now, teens are talking about everything from how they would spend $100 on clothing, the next shoes they want, the first place they are driving after getting their license, how they use AI in their daily lives, and their morning skincare routines.

Malhotra continues: "Our users are producing deep insights on a daily basis with thousands of brands being talked about organically. This is shaping a brand genome and a private SLM on the platform, with real people driving the model. [cafeteria] is a rare combination of technology, culture and commerce. Our vision is to grow into an operating system between this generation and the brands they love. "

[cafeteria]'s interactive Next Gen Spenders Report, released twice per year, delivers surprising data points and insights, such as a trend of using Starbucks as a means of paying back friends (read: Starbucks is the new Venmo for Gen Alpha). And [cafeteria]'s spring report revealed that Levi's still reigns supreme for denim. The reports are curated from hundreds of thousands of insights.

About [cafeteria]

[cafeteria] was launched in 2024 to enable teens to shape the brands they love while earning for their insights. [cafeteria] is the first zero-party insights production platform for teens to contribute to a new and healthy creative economy.

[cafeteria] is co-founded by Leeann Sheely (Chief Design Officer), Mark Silverstein (Chief Business Officer) and Rishi Malhotra (CEO). Malhotra, named to Rolling Stone's Future 25, previously co-founded Saavn, which was acquired by Reliance Jio in a $1B transaction.

About Bertelsmann

Bertelsmann is a global media, services, and education company with over $20B in revenue and operations in 50+ countries. Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) is an early growth-stage VC fund backed by Bertelsmann and is an award winning top 5 VC fund in India backing Indian businesses and Indian entrepreneurs building global businesses.

About Marquee Ventures

Marquee Ventures is an early-stage VC anchored by the ownership group of the Chicago Cubs. It invests in companies that are transforming sports, media, entertainment, and commerce.

About Listen Ventures

Listen is a consumer-obsessed venture capital firm that partners with entrepreneurs to build disruptive brands at the tipping point of behavior change. Listen operates a concentrated, high-ownership strategy investing both capital and capability in each portfolio brand leveraging its team of investors, consumer-insight experts, and creatives. Their portfolio brands include Calm,Factor, Black Buffalo, Miss Grass, Go Brewing, Angels Envy, and more.

About Thayer Investment Partners

Thayer Investment Partners is the leading venture capital platform specifically focused on travel, hospitality, and real estate technologies. Founded in 2009, Thayer has built the preeminent venture platform for travel entrepreneurs to leverage unequaled counsel from our experienced team, strategic LPs, industry-leading advisors, and the entire Thayer portfolio ecosystem. Based in San Francisco, Thayer currently supports some of the world's leading travel technology companies, including Mews Systems, Canary Technologies, Super.com, Point.me, Cruisebound, and Beekeeper. Additional information is available on the company's website: www.thayerinvestmentpartners.com

Media Contact

Teresa Bigelow, Cafeteria, 1 6462230402, [email protected], https://www.teamcafeteria.com/ 

SOURCE Cafeteria