Rep Data Acquires Research Defender

Forms One-Stop-Shop for Research Sampling and Data Fraud Prevention

New Orleans, LA - 5 October 2023 - As a result of its tremendous growth and Series A funding, Rep Data, a full-service data collection firm for quantitative primary research, has announced today its acquisition of prominent research technology firm Research Defender. The acquisition combines the talents of both companies and will create a one-stop shop for research sampling and data fraud prevention technology for the research industry.

Rep Data has seen tremendous growth since its founding in 2020, with year-over-year revenue growth of 140 percent, growing its team to 60 people and serving more than 400 clients globally. The company most recently secured $6.5 million in Series A funding in November 2022, accelerating the company’s core vision of improving respondent data quality and furthering its vision of making the market research process more efficient, accurate, and reliable.

“Our acquisition of Research Defender is happening at a time when our industry is struggling with research data quality,” said Patrick Stokes, Rep Data’s Founder & CEO. “As AI and other threats continue to infiltrate research, our goal will always be to stay ahead of it, react quickly, and safeguard primary research data from current and future threats. We’ve been partnering with Research Defender to do exactly this since 2020. Our shared cultures, vision, and dedication to delivering the highest quality data make this acquisition the perfect next step along our growth journey.”

As the only independent technology provider that is actively building APIs to benefit both sample buyers and sellers, Research Defender has developed a suite of products that prevent sample fraud and duplication, exclude professional survey respondents, analyze open-ended responses in real-time for various negative attributes, and prevent known bad actors from joining panels.

“Through a long history of intersecting careers and relationships, it was clear our teams had similar visions for where our industry needed to go,” said Vignesh Krishnan, formerly Research Defender’s Founder & CEO. “We are excited for the future of data quality as we combine our resources, thinking, and capabilities with the Rep Data team.”

As a result of the acquisition, Krishnan will now serve as Rep Data’s Chief Technology Officer. Matt Gershner, previously Research Defender’s Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, will transition to Rep Data’s Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer. Dan Fletcher, formerly Research Defender’s Vice President of Operations, will transition to Rep Data’s Vice President of Client Success.

In the transaction, Jones Walker LLP served as legal counsel to Research Defender and Ajubita, Leftwich and Salzer, LLC served as legal counsel to Rep Data.

About Research Defender

With a goal to help the sample and market research industry create a clean, healthy, and efficient ecosystem, Research Defender has created a secure platform to help our clients take control of their traffic and the quality of their product. Research Defender facilitates high-quality and efficient transactions across the online research ecosystem for both buyers and sellers of sample.

About Rep Data

Rep Data provides full-service data collection solutions for primary researchers, helping expedite data collection for primary quantitative research studies, with a hyper-focus on data quality and consistent execution. The company’s mission is to be a reliable, repeatable data collection partner for approximately 500 clients, including market research agencies, management consultancies, Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies, brand strategy consultancies, universities, communications agencies, public relations firms, and more.

For Further information:

Matt Gershner
mgershner@researchdefender.com
917-923-1078