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Executive Summary: How to Identify Market Trends in 2026?

1. Data-driven Trend Intelligence Platforms

Modern trend intelligence platforms aggregate data from patents, academic research, startups, investment flows, and social sentiment for detecting early signs of market change before they become widely recognized.

The global business intelligence software market is expected to reach USD 86.69 billion by 2030. It will grow at a compound annual rate of 13.7% from 2024 to 2030.

 

 

Moreover, AI-powered platforms monitor millions of entities across global markets to identify topics that show rapid growth and emerging relevance.

For instance, StartUs Insights Discovery Platform uses AI and Big Data to identify startups, technologies, and market trends. It maintains a real-time database of over 9 million startups, scaleups, and tech companies, along with 20 000 technologies and trends for tracking innovation across industries.

Further, the platform’s AI Innovation Research Assistant, FoxiAI, automates data collection. It links startups, trends, and more than 150 million news articles, patents, and market reports to give access to structured insights without manual research.

Meanwhile, CB Insights applies its Mosaic Score to assess private companies. This predictive rating system leverages machine learning to evaluate company health and growth potential and forecasts industry shifts, business trajectories, and investment patterns.

Mosaic Score‘s double-validation pipeline confirms data on teams, funding, partnerships, deals, earnings calls, investor activity, hiring, and patents to convert business activity into actionable insights.

With trend intelligence platforms, executives are able to prioritize validated opportunities and rely less on intuition or past performance.

2. Social Media Listening and Consumer Behavior Analysis

Social media platforms serve as key data sources for tracking shifts in consumer sentiment, lifestyle choices, and buying intent.

The global social media listening market is expected to reach USD 62.41 billion by 2035 at a CAGR of 11.50%.

 

Credit: Neil Patel

 

As per data, 89.4% of companies use social listening to study consumer behavior. Additionally, 89% of marketers say these insights shape their business decisions.

Executives are relying on advanced listening tools to monitor and measure behavioral signals in millions of conversations.

For instance, Brandwatch offers access to 1.7 trillion historical conversations and adds 501 million new ones daily. Meanwhile, Talkwalker scans content from over 150 million sources and applies image and video recognition to support sentiment analysis.

These platforms process millions of posts each day. This enables brands to refine their marketing strategies.

Sentiment analysis has evolved due to improvements in machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and access to large training datasets. These tools also track keyword growth, engagement speed, and sentiment polarity.

They allow distinguishing short-lived buzz from lasting behavioral shifts. Keyword growth, in particular, highlights how quickly specific terms gain traction across platforms to offer early signs of emerging trends.

Beyond brand tracking, companies use social listening for demand forecasting and product validation. They map how ideas spread through online communities to better predict interest.

Research shows that adding sentiment analysis to forecasting models improves accuracy by 42%. It is especially true for new products.

A Harvard Business School study found that using Facebook data reduced forecasting errors from 12% to between 7% and 9% when combined with neural networks and natural language processing.

AI tools also segment data by location, age, and profession. This allows companies to identify micro-trends, including shifts in dietary habits or interest in remote work technologies.

When organizations embed social listening into their strategy, they often spot consumer changes before they appear in sales reports or surveys. AI systems also detect emerging trends with 89.8% accuracy.

For example, Nike used Salesforce’s Einstein AI to track rising interest in retro sneaker unboxing videos. The company launched a targeted campaign six weeks before the trend peaked that increased sales by 37% in its chosen demographic.

 

Credit: Hootsuite

 

3. Competitive and Industry Market Monitoring

Tracking competitors and industry peers, one of the techniques for identifying market trends, allows executives to spot emerging trends and structural shifts. Such tools monitor acquisitions, product launches, partnerships, and pricing changes to understand how capital, talent, and innovation move across sectors.

 

Credit: Klue

 

The global market for competitive intelligence tools is predicted to reach USD 82 million by 2027, at a 10.3% CAGR.

These tools map industry ecosystems and highlight competitive intensity. Decision-makers use them to identify activity clusters around new technologies or business models.

For example, the electric vehicle (EV) sector illustrates how competitive intelligence reveals market shifts. The global EV sales reached 17 million units in 2024, which accounted for over 20% of new car sales, and the total electric fleet neared 58 million vehicles.

Automakers have responded with new partnerships. In September 2024, Hyundai and GM signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on vehicles, supply chains, and clean energy. Their agreement includes joint sourcing of battery materials and steel.

“GM and Hyundai have complementary strengths and talented teams. Our goal is to unlock the scale and creativity of both companies to deliver even more competitive vehicles to customers faster and more efficiently,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra.

Leaders anticipate growth cycles before they emerge by tracking how firms reallocate resources, such as increasing R&D budgets or forming cross-sector alliances.

Startups also signal disruption, especially in regulated or capital-intensive sectors. When venture capital flows into these areas, it often marks the beginning of long-term change. Early indicators include consolidation among top players and convergence of technologies like AI and Internet of Things (IoT).

However, research shows that 73% fail to detect disruptive patterns because annual assessments overlook innovation convergence. These patterns span technology domains, patent filings, startup funding, and shifts in customer behavior.

Organizations using AI-powered disruption intelligence with continuous monitoring spot these patterns months ahead of competitors to respond strategically and avoid being caught off guard.

4. Patent and Academic Research Tracking

Patent filings and academic publications offer early signals of technological direction and market potential. They show where intellectual property (IP), research efforts, and institutional focus are gathering, often well before commercial adoption.

Patent data reveal a technology’s life cycle ahead of product launches and often appear before sales or market indicators.

Global databases enable executives to locate innovation clusters, measure patent activity, and map ownership across technologies.

For example, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s PATENTSCOPE database includes over 99 million patent documents. It features more than 2.4 million patent cooperation treaty (PCT) applications and offers strong coverage in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In 2024, WIPO recorded about 273 900 international PCT applications, a slight increase of 0.5% from the previous year.

 

Credit: WIPO

 

The solid-state battery sector shows how patent tracking highlights investment priorities. Since 2015, patent filings in this area have grown by roughly 25% each year.

In Q1 2025 alone, over 1390 new applications were published. The leading applicants included LG Energy Solution, Samsung, Geely, Toyota, Nissan, Panasonic, Envision, CATL, SAIC, and Hyundai/Kia.

Academic research adds depth to patent analysis by identifying emerging scientific fields and collaboration networks. Tracking citation frequency, funding sources, and co-authorship patterns allows for locating active research hubs.

Technology transfer and collaborative research also play key roles in advancing innovation. These mechanisms support economic development and aid in building skilled workforces.

5. Venture Capital and Startup Funding Analysis

Venture capital activity offers forward-looking signals of where innovation and commercial potential align. Research shows that VC investment supports innovation by increasing patent generation and strengthening absorptive capacity.

Executives track funding volumes, investor concentration, and sector distribution to identify technologies and business models entering growth phases.

Many platforms, like the Discovery Platform, monitor global investment rounds. These tools allow organizations to follow capital flows and observe valuation trends over time.

In Q3 2025, global VC investment reached USD 120.7 billion across 7579 deals. This marked an increase from USD 112 billion in Q2, which had been influenced by OpenAI’s USD 40 billion funding round in Q1.

 

 

Funding data also reveal emerging hotspots, regions, or sectors attracting repeated investment from top-tier funds, corporate VCs, and sovereign wealth entities. These patterns often precede industry consolidation or public-market entry.

India gained attention in 2025, with investors focusing on fintech and mobility, which shows growing interest in scalable technologies.

Latin America saw 14% growth in VC funding both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, reaching USD 884 million. Fintech remained the dominant sector.

In contrast, Asia recorded a decline, with China’s VC investment falling to USD 4.7 billion in Q2, which is its lowest level in over a decade.

Executives use this data to benchmark innovation portfolios, identify acquisition targets, and time market entry before valuations peak.

Liquidity pressures may lead to more acquisitions in 2025, as price expectations between buyers and founders begin to align. Further, seed-stage funding rose by 17%, driven by increased interest in generative AI applications.

When tracked consistently, venture capital trends provide near-real-time insight into future market priorities, well ahead of traditional indicators.

6. Early Adopter and Influencer Identification

Early adopters and domain influencers aid in shaping market awareness, speeding up diffusion, and validating new technologies.

According to Everett Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory, early adopters make up 13.5% of the population. They often act as opinion leaders within their communities. While more selective than innovators, who represent 2.5%, they still embrace new ideas and often serve as role models due to their education and social standing.

Executives monitor content from industry creators, thought leaders, and niche moderators to identify practical use cases that suggest readiness for broader adoption.

The influencer marketing industry is expected to reach USD 32.55 billion globally by 2025. In India, it is expected to grow to INR 3375 crore by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18%. It is further driven by a user base where 65% live outside major cities.

 

 

Tracking platforms use network mapping to measure reach, engagement, and thematic authority.

For instance, Onalytica maintains a database of over 700 000 influencers. It scores them based on topical authority, reach, engagement, and relevance, and also offers network maps, word clouds, and dashboards.

Additionally, Upfluence provides a solution for influencer discovery that tracks performance metrics such as engagement, sales, and commissions across more than 120 countries. The platform includes personalized dashboards and uses tracking links to measure traffic and revenue generated by each influencer.

Companies add early adopter insights to forecasting models and are able to better estimate adoption curves. They also refine messaging and prioritize features that match user interest.

For instance, ChatGPT reached 1 million users within five days of its November 2022 launch. Within two months, it surpassed 100 million monthly active users, which shows a rapid adoption curve.

7. Trade Shows, Industry Events, and Professional Networks

Trade shows and industry conferences offer how to identify trends in the market. They give valuable insights into market direction, partnership trends, and innovation priorities.

Executives attending these events get to engage directly with prototypes, pilot projects, and investment announcements that indicate future industry shifts.

These gatherings also aid in collecting competitive intelligence. When competitors and industry leaders converge, pre-event research, live observations, and post-event analysis turn participation into a strategic advantage.

The global exhibitions market is predicted to reach USD 88.7 billion by 2035. Analysts expect a 7% CAGR from 2025 to 2035, which is supported by business networking, brand exposure, innovation uptake, and sector growth.

Events like Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Web Summit, Hannover Messe, and 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) highlight recurring themes such as automation, sustainability, and digital twins. These topics often shape corporate strategies over multiple years.

For instance, CES 2024 hosted 138 789 verified attendees, including over 80 000 industry professionals, with representatives from 302 Fortune 500 companies participating. Of the total, 69 294 were senior-level executives, and 40.6% came from 161 international locations.

 

Credit: CES 2024

 

Monitoring exhibitor lists, keynote sessions, and sponsorship trends enables tracking which technologies gain commercial momentum. Technology-focused exhibitions attract strong interest, especially when attendees are able to interact with emerging products and services.

Professional networks and executive forums also support ongoing peer exchange. Groups like the World Economic Forum, Tech Nation, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) provide access to early-stage developments and policy discussions.

IEEE, with over 430 000 members worldwide, promotes technological advancement through publications, conferences, standards, and educational programs.

Further, the IEEE Computer Society awarded more than USD 200 000 in Emerging Technology Grants in 2025-2026. These funds supported initiatives in AI, virtual reality, deep learning, and other computing innovations.

8. Niche Communities, Forums, and Customer Feedback

Identifying unmet needs and shifting market expectations is possible with niche digital communities and customer feedback channels. These micro-communities often reveal weak signals, specific pain points, product hacks, or workarounds that show innovation gaps before broader recognition.

Unlike mainstream data sources, niche platforms surface subtle shifts in consumer behavior or attitudes. These signals may not appear in headlines but offer useful clues about emerging trends.

Platforms like Reddit, Discord, Product Hunt, and specialized Slack groups host focused discussions among users engaged in specific technologies or practices. Social platforms such as TikTok also support micro-communities, which form around shared interests, values, or goals.

Consumers respond strongly to peer recommendations. In fact, 82% are likely to follow advice from micro-influencers, compared to 73% who act on suggestions from average users.

 

 

Product Hunt plays a key role in SaaS launches and attracts around 4 million monthly visitors. It offers visibility for new tools and fosters early user engagement.

Niche communities and subcultures gained traction as a social media trend in 2025. These groups form through hashtags, comment threads, Reddit posts, and Facebook groups. Subcultures connect people with similar backgrounds, lifestyles, or hobbies.

Customer feedback adds another layer of insight. Surveys, app reviews, and user analytics allow for quantifying sentiment and gauging readiness for adoption. Sentiment analysis utilizes data, AI, and natural language processing to assess emotions and opinions for replacing assumptions with measurable insights.

Executives who treat these insights as strategic data are also able to identify early inflection points. They guide product development and test messaging with credible user groups.

Turn Market Insights into Strategic Execution

With thousands of emerging technologies and startups, navigating the right investment and partnership opportunities that bring returns quickly is challenging.

With access to over 9 million emerging companies and 20K+ trends globally, our AI and Big Data-powered Discovery Platform equips you with the actionable insights you need to stay ahead of the curve in your market.

Leverage this powerful tool to spot the next big thing before it goes mainstream. Stay relevant, resilient, and ready for what is next.