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UNGUESS provides a crowdsourcing platform for digital product validation and improvement. Services span user experience, software quality, cybersecurity, accessibility testing, and AI model evaluation. Leveraging a global community and AI-driven analysis, it combines human insights with end-to-end testing, delivering actionable feedback throughout the product lifecycle.
Co-founded by Luca Manara in 2015, UNGUESS (formerly AppQuality) arose from the insight that direct user involvement is vital for successful digital products. Manara sought a systematic way to integrate authentic user perspectives, believing real-world quality fundamentally drives market acceptance. This led to the creation of a platform connecting companies with a diverse community of testers and researchers.
UNGUESS serves organizations creating engaging digital products. It equips clients with evidence-based insights from actual user engagement, facilitating informed decision-making. The company’s vision empowers businesses to develop products users genuinely appreciate, fostering continuous improvement and ensuring robust, user-centric solutions.
UNGUESS (formerly AppQuality) has raised $15.0M across 2 funding rounds.
UNGUESS (formerly AppQuality) has raised $15.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
UNGUESS (formerly AppQuality) has raised $15.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $11.0M Series B in January 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2023 | $11M Series B | — | P101 | Announced |
| May 1, 2020 | $4M Series A | — | P101 | Announced |
UNGUESS (formerly AppQuality) has raised $15.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
UNGUESS (formerly AppQuality)'s investors include P101.
UNGUESS (formerly AppQuality) is an Italian technology company specializing in crowdtesting platforms that optimize the quality, user experience (UX), and security of digital products and services for enterprises.[1][2][3] It builds a B2B platform connecting product teams to a global community of hundreds of thousands of testers, ethical hackers, and users, enabling parallel testing campaigns for apps, websites, eCommerce, and more across three core areas: UNGUESS Quality (defect detection on real devices), UNGUESS Experience (UX co-design with real users), and UNGUESS Security (cybersecurity via certified ethical hackers).[2][5] Serving over 300 enterprise clients like Enel, Sky Italia, Prénatal, and Bending Spoons—primarily in Italy but expanding internationally—the platform solves the challenge of scaling high-quality digital product validation beyond traditional QA methods, reducing bugs, enhancing user-centric design, and ensuring security before launch.[1][3][8] With strong growth momentum, UNGUESS has scaled from 80 employees in 2023 to around 100 by 2025, raised over €10 million in funding (led by Fondo Italiano d'Investimento with P101, Italian Angels for Growth, and Azimut Group funds), rebranded in 2022, launched a cybersecurity division, and expanded into France while celebrating 10 years with revenue growth and over 250 unique clients in 2024 alone.[3][6][8]
UNGUESS originated in 2015 as AppQuality, founded by three former Politecnico di Milano students—Edoardo Vannutelli, Filippo Maria Renga, and Luca Manara (current CEO)—within the university's "Mobile Lab" research center at the Cremona campus.[1][2][3][6] Luca Manara, who holds a degree in Informatics Engineering Robotics/Automation from Politecnico di Milano and prior marketing experience at Piaggio in Italy and London, co-developed the crowdtesting idea to address the need for quality mobile software amid advancing technologies.[1][2] The concept emerged from lab research on mobile development, pioneering crowdtesting in Italy by leveraging communities for rapid, real-user defect detection—initially focused on apps and websites.[1][5] Early traction came via investments from Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), CDI, and P101 (starting with advice in 2015 and formal backing by 2019), key hires, business model refinements, and first enterprise clients, leading to team tripling and service expansion.[1][5] Pivotal moments included the 2022 rebrand to UNGUESS amid broader offerings and a €10M Series A in 2023 for scaling.[3][6]
UNGUESS rides the wave of user-centric digital transformation, where enterprises prioritize defect-free, secure, and intuitive apps/websites amid rising eCommerce, mobile-first strategies, and cyber threats—trends amplified by AI-driven development and remote work.[2][6] Timing is ideal post-2022 rebrand, as companies demand scalable QA beyond in-house teams, especially with global tester pools enabling cost-effective, real-world validation during accelerated product cycles.[1][3][5] Market forces like Italy's tech startup ecosystem growth (bolstered by funds like P101 and IAG), EU digital regulations (e.g., cybersecurity mandates), and demand for UX optimization in competitive sectors favor UNGUESS's model, influencing the ecosystem by democratizing elite testing for SMEs and enterprises alike—setting a crowdsourcing standard in Europe.[5][6][8]
UNGUESS is poised for pan-European dominance in crowdtesting, leveraging its €10M war chest for French expansion, platform AI enhancements, and cybersecurity growth amid surging digital security needs.[3][6][8] Trends like AI-augmented QA, zero-trust security, and hyper-personalized UX will propel demand, potentially doubling clients and community scale by 2027. Its influence may evolve from Italian pioneer to global B2B staple, empowering user-first products that outpace competitors—cementing its role as the ultimate digital quality optimizer born from academic innovation.[2][8]
