Founded in 2014 by Veronica Mayne and Peter Fairbrother, Faster Horses has 20 employees across offices in Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The company operates across sectors including energy, telco, travel and tourism, health and aged care, manufacturing, property and government.

Following the acquisition, the company will initially retain its name before moving under the YouGov Australia umbrella. Mayne and Fairbrother will stay with Faster Horses.

The company currently uses third-party panel providers but will migrate its research work to YouGov as part of the acquisition, and will also help to launch the cross-device tracker and data marketplace YouGov Safe into the Australian market.

Stephan Shakespeare, chief executive and co-founder, YouGov (pictured), said: “We are excited to bring Faster Horses into the YouGov fold as we continue to invest for growth in line with our strategy. Australia is an important and fast-growing market for us and this acquisition will increase our market presence. 

“With its belief in the power of online data and its tremendous success in recent years, Faster Horses is the perfect fit for us. Through this acquisition we can better serve clients both within Australia and around the world.” 

Veronica Mayne, co-founder, Faster Horses, added: “We share a strong cultural affinity with YouGov, which has long been a global leader in innovative online research and analytics. Our current and prospective clients will benefit greatly from YouGov’s quality proprietary panel both in Australia and across 59 markets globally.”