The Mannheim-based startup helps students and researchers achieve large sample sizes and was the first platform to rely on mutual support instead of paid panels. What began as an idea during university studies has grown into the largest international community for recruiting survey participants.

Reliable data is the foundation of scientific research. Yet many survey-based studies face the same challenge: a lack of participants. Professional online panels can provide a solution, but they are often too expensive for students and researchers with limited budgets.

Jonas Johé faced this challenge himself while working on his master’s thesis: He needed hundreds of participants for his online experiment – and nearly failed because of it. This experience inspired the idea of a specialized online community where researchers could support each other in finding participants. In August 2016, Johé founded SurveyCircle – the research platform he wished he had had for his own master’s thesis.

What began as an idea during university studies now helps people around the world: More than 180,000 research projects have found participants for their studies through SurveyCircle. In total, several million study participations have been facilitated through the platform.

Students and researchers use SurveyCircle.com for empirical bachelor’s theses, master’s theses, and doctoral dissertations. Founders and startups use the platform for market research surveys, concept testing, and product validation. SurveyCircle is currently available in six languages and is used at more than 10,000 universities in over 100 countries. Surveys in the fields of business and psychology are particularly well represented.

Founder Jonas Johé explains the concept: “The more you help others on SurveyCircle, the more support you receive for your own research.” Those looking for participants for their survey first take part in other people’s surveys. In return, they receive participants for their own survey. The proprietary SmartRank® system, which operates in the background of the platform, ensures that this community-based concept works in a fair and efficient way.

Ten years after its founding, SurveyCircle demonstrates that achieving large sample sizes does not always require a large budget. Jonas Johé sums it up: “As a member of the SurveyCircle community, anyone willing to help others can find plenty of survey participants. That was true ten years ago, and it is still true today.”