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SurveyMonkey
American technology company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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SurveyMonkey Inc. (formerly Momentive Global Inc. from 2021 to 2023) is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that provides online survey and forms tools.[5][6][7]
Along with its San Mateo, California headquarters in leased space at Franklin Templeton Investments headquarters,[8] SurveyMonkey also has offices in Portland, Ottawa, Dublin, Amsterdam, London, Sydney, Padua, Bengaluru, and Heredia.[9][10] As of 2022[update], SurveyMonkey employed around 1,400 people.[4]
On June 9, 2021, SurveyMonkey announced its rebrand to Momentive with the intent to better represent their business-to-business product suite. SurveyMonkey continued to operate as a subsidiary survey platform.[11] The Momentive Inc. product portfolio included Momentive, GetFeedback, Techvalidate, and SurveyMonkey.[12]
In June 2023, the company rebranded itself back to SurveyMonkey after being acquired by an investor group led by Symphony Technology Group.[3][13]
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Founding and early growth (1999-2009)
SurveyMonkey was founded in 1999 by Ryan Finley, who later brought on his brother, Chris Finley.[14][15] Seeking a simple way to collect customer feedback and finding no suitable tools available, he developed his own solution—SurveyMonkey.[16] In 2005, Finley relocated the company to Portland, Oregon, where he and his brother Chris transported the company’s servers themselves. By 2008, SurveyMonkey had experienced significant growth in both users and revenue.
Private equity investment and expansion (2009-2015)
In 2009, Spectrum Equity and Bain Capital acquired a majority stake in the company.[17] During this time, Dave Goldberg, a former Yahoo executive, served as CEO and led the company through a period of rapid growth.[18][15] This included growing from 12 employees to over 450, and helping the company achieve an almost $2 billion valuation.[19]
In early 2013, SurveyMonkey relocated its headquarters from Portland to Palo Alto, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.[20] In 2017, the company moved again, establishing a new, larger headquarters in San Mateo at One Curiosity Way.[21]
In 2010, the company received $100 million in debt financing from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.[22] By 2013, SurveyMonkey raised $800 million in debt and equity valuing the company at $1.35 billion.[23] In September 2013, the company announced HIPAA-compliant features for premium subscription holders.[24]
In 2014, the company raised $250 million in equity financing from Google Capital (now CapitalG), Tiger Global Management, Baillie Gifford, T. Rowe Price and Morgan Stanley.[25]
Goldberg died in 2015.[19]
Product growth & diversification (2015-2020)
Following Goldberg’s death, in May 2015, Zander Lurie was named CEO,[26][27] and the company expanded into new lines of business, acquiring several startups, including Usabilla, a website and app survey company, and GetFeedback, a customer experience company.[28][29]
On August 3, 2015, Bill Veghte replaced Goldberg as SurveyMonkey CEO. Veghte held top posts at HP and Microsoft.[30] Veghte left the role after fewer than 6 months due to strategic differences with investors and was replaced by Zander Lurie in January 2016.[31]
In February 2016, SurveyMonkey began polling public opinion using the SurveyMonkey platform.[32] Poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight gives the poll a 'C' rating.[32]
In 2017, the company rolled out "SurveyMonkey Genius" which estimates survey performance and makes actionable suggestions to increase survey effectiveness.[33] In August, the company launched "SurveyMonkey CX" which assists organizations in managing their customer experience programs.[34]
IPO and Rebrand to Momentive (2018-2023)
SurveyMonkey went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker SVMK in September 2018.[35] At the time, board members included Serena Williams, Brad Smith, David Ebersman, and Sheryl Sandberg.[36][37]
Emory University Goizueta Business School dean Erika James joined the SurveyMonkey board of directors in 2018, creating Gender Parity on the company's board.[38][39]
After the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, SurveyMonkey used its own survey product to determine its employees' preferences as to their working arrangements. 84% voted for a flexible work policy, 81% wanted to work from home up to three days per week, and only 5% preferred to be back in the office all the time.[8]
In 2021, SurveyMonkey’s parent company rebranded as Momentive, keeping SurveyMonkey as the name of the core product.[11][40] The decision to rebrand was made to reflect a broader focus on experience management and enterprise applications.[40][11][12]
On October 28, 2021, Zendesk announced that it had agreed to acquire MomentiveAI for about $4.1 billion, in an all-stock deal.[41] Chief executive Mikkel Svane of Zendesk said of the acquisition, "We have a big overlap in customers. It's incredibly powerful. And we believe that it will create a whole new, richer picture of your customers," according to Reuters.[42] Although shareholders of Momentive Global Inc. approved the deal, Zendesk's shareholders voted against the acquisition.[43] Subsequently the deal was terminated.[43]
Acquisition and Return to SurveyMonkey Brand (2023-present)
In March 2023, STG acquired Momentive in a $1.5 billion all-cash transaction.[44][45] Following the acquisition, the company returned to the SurveyMonkey brand to unify the company's portfolio under a single brand, and Eric Johnson was named CEO.[46][47]
As of 2025, the company has physical locations in San Mateo, California, United States; Portland, Oregon, United States; Ottawa, Canada; Dublin, Ireland; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Padua, Italy; and Bengaluru, India; and Heredia, Costa Rica.[8][48][6][49][50]
Acquisitions
The company has acquired three other survey tools: Precision Polling, Wufoo, and Zoomerang, as well as a 49.9 percent stake in the UK-based Clicktools.[51]
In August 2014, SurveyMonkey acquired Canadian company Fluidware, based in Ottawa, the creator of FluidSurveys.com and FluidReview.com.[52]
SurveyMonkey acquired TechValidate, a Canadian marketing content automation company in August 2015.[53]
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References
External links
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