Frustration to Innovation—A Survey-sational Founding Story

Shihab Muhammed and Subin Sebastian co-founded SurveySparrow in 2017. Shihab Muhammed, the CEO, brought years of experience in the tech industry. He worked at Zoho as a Systems Analyst and later joined Freshdesk (now Freshworks), where he held roles such as Director of Product Management and Co-Founder of Freshservice. His time at Freshdesk inspired him to venture into the world of startups. (Shihab Muhammed)

During a trip to the U.S., Shihab received repeated reminders to fill out a corporate survey. He realized that most people, including himself, found conventional surveys boring and disengaging. Inspired by the conversational format of platforms like WhatsApp, he envisioned a tool that would make surveys feel more like natural conversations.

Upon returning to India, Shihab discussed his idea with Subin Sebastian, a close friend and entrepreneur, who was just about to move to Australia. Excited by the vision, Subin decided to stay and co-found SurveySparrow with Shihab. The two rented a small 100 sq. ft. office in Kochi, Kerala, and began their journey. 

Their innovative approach led to the development of the world’s first chat-based survey platform. From humble beginnings, SurveySparrow quickly grew, transforming into a full-fledged omnichannel experience management platform.

The Survey Software Race—Who’s Leading the Feedback Frenzy?

Want to know where the data game is really heating up? Look no further than the online survey software market, which is booming and set to keep growing fast. By 2024, this market is expected to be worth around $4.01 billion, with projections showing it could reach nearly $8.95 billion by 2030, growing at an impressive CAGR of 14.3%. ​(Grand View Research)

This growth is being driven by businesses’ increasing reliance on real-time feedback to guide decisions. Industries from retail to healthcare are adopting online survey tools to stay in touch with customers and employees. And it’s not just large enterprises jumping on board—small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for a huge part of the market as well, especially as they digitize their operations and look for cost-effective ways to collect feedback​.

Technological advancements like AI and machine learning are also playing a crucial role in the rise of online surveys. Companies are using AI-driven platforms to streamline surveys, analyze responses faster, and gain deeper insights into customer and employee satisfaction​.The largest market share is currently held by North America, where companies leverage AI to improve data analysis and survey automation. However, Asia Pacific is not far behind, experiencing the fastest growth thanks to increasing internet penetration and a booming e-commerce industry.​ (Dataintelo)

About the Company: A Sparrow with a Big Vision

The platform transforms the often mundane survey process into something interactive and conversational, which has been shown to increase response rates by 40%.

Mission

SurveySparrow’s mission goes beyond data collection. Their goal is to create meaningful experiences by turning every survey into a conversation, helping businesses improve through actionable insights. They aim to “refine every experience” and turn feedback into a growth opportunity for organizations.

Vision

SurveySparrow envisions a world where feedback isn’t just collected but actively used to refine business strategies. They strive to help companies drive decisions that make a real difference, creating positive impacts for both businesses and their customers

Problems They Solve

The primary problem that SurveySparrow addresses is the low engagement and poor completion rates of traditional surveys. By turning surveys into a more conversational, mobile-first experience, they make it easier for respondents to engage and provide meaningful feedback. Additionally, SurveySparrow offers omnichannel solutions for businesses, allowing feedback collection across multiple platforms, including SMS, social media, and web links.

Business Model

SurveySparrow operates on a SaaS (Software as a Service) model, offering subscription-based pricing tiers. These range from basic packages for small businesses to more advanced solutions for enterprises. They cater to different customer segments by providing features like NPS surveys, employee pulse surveys, and customer feedback tools, with a heavy focus on automation, reporting, and integration with other business tools.

A Full Flock of Features: SurveySparrow’s Suite Of Features

Want to transform boring surveys into something fun? SurveySparrow has you covered with a wide range of features designed to make feedback collection a breeze. Here’s what you get with this innovative platform: (Survey Sparrow Portfolio)

Conversational Surveys

The crown jewel of SurveySparrow is its conversational surveys. These surveys mimic chat-like experiences, making feedback feel personal and boosting response rates by up to 40%. This feature is perfect for customer satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and employee pulse surveys, delivering a more interactive and user-friendly approach​.

Omnichannel Feedback Collection

SurveySparrow supports omnichannel feedback collection, enabling users to distribute surveys across various platforms like email, social media, SMS, and even QR codes. This versatility ensures businesses can reach respondents on any device, at any time​.

Integration with Other Tools

Survey Sparrow seamlessly integrates with over 1,500+ apps, including Slack, HubSpot, and Google Analytics. These integrations allow you to automate actions and push survey data directly to your existing CRM or helpdesk, streamlining feedback management​.

Advanced Reporting and Dashboards

Once responses roll in, users can leverage SurveySparrow’s real-time reports and executive dashboards. These tools offer rich data visualization, including bar charts, line graphs, and pie charts. The data is easily exportable, allowing businesses to dig deep into insights and track key performance indicators.

Ticket Management & Automations

SurveySparrow makes closing the feedback loop seamless with ticket management. It automatically converts survey responses into action items that can be assigned to relevant team members. Coupled with workflow automation, businesses can define rules and triggers, streamlining repetitive tasks like sending follow-up emails or escalating tickets based on survey answers.

White Label and Custom Branding

Maintaining brand identity is easy with white-label solutions. Companies can host surveys on their own domain, customize survey designs with CSS, and integrate branding elements to build trust with their audience.

Offline and Multilingual Surveys

SurveySparrow allows for offline data collection, making it ideal for environments with limited internet access. Additionally, the platform supports multilingual surveys, enabling businesses to cater to global audiences and improve engagement​.

360° Assessments and Performance Reviews

For internal operations, SurveySparrow offers 360-degree feedback tools. These assessments are crucial for employee development, providing a full-circle review from peers, subordinates, and managers. This helps organizations identify strengths and areas of improvement for their teams​.

Awards to Tweet About: SurveySparrow’s Global Impact 

Survey Sparrow has made waves in the world of customer experience management, achieving tremendous growth and recognition since its launch. The company hit a significant milestone in 2021, surpassing 100,000+ customers across 149 countries in 86+ languages. This rapid rise is a testament to the platform’s effectiveness in transforming the way businesses gather and act on customer feedback. (Survey Sparrow Success)

One of the most notable achievements is SurveySparrow’s hat-trick win of the G2 Fastest-Growing Product Award in 2022. Being recognized for three consecutive years highlights the company’s consistent innovation and ability to deliver value to its users. G2, a well-respected platform for software reviews, selected SurveySparrow based on its stellar user ratings and feature-rich solutions.​ (SurveySparrow)

Awards and Recognition

SurveySparrow has consistently been recognized for its innovation and growth. Some of its recent accolades include: (Survey Sparrow Newsroom)

• GetApp 2023 Category Leaders: Ranked for its user satisfaction and robust features.
• Momentum Leader Fall 2024: Highlighted by G2 for demonstrating high growth and exceptional user satisfaction.
• G2 High Performer in India, Fall 2024: Recognized for excelling in user satisfaction in the Indian market.
• Capterra Shortlist 2024: Named as a top performer based on user reviews and market presence.
• Software Advice Front Runners 2024: Awarded for consistently delivering value to its users.
• Mid-Market High Performer Asia, Spring 2024: Demonstrated strong performance in the Asian mid-market​.

Seed to Soar: How $1.4M Gave SurveySparrow Its Wings

SurveySparrow started its financial journey strong, raising $1.4 million in seed funding on November 26, 2018. The funding was led by Prime Venture Partners, a prominent venture capital firm. This injection of capital helped the company expand its product development, marketing, and sales efforts​. (Tracxn)

In terms of revenue, SurveySparrow has shown impressive growth. By FY 2022-23, the company generated ₹34.23 Crores in revenue, a massive leap from ₹15.20 Crores in FY 2021-22. The year-over-year growth highlights SurveySparrow’s success in scaling its customer base and enhancing its market presence.

Despite starting with a modest income of ₹1 lakh during its early days in 2018, SurveySparrow has successfully positioned itself as a leader in the customer experience and survey management industry. 

Soar with SurveySparrow : Inspire Your Next Big Flight

SurveySparrow has grown rapidly by reimagining the survey experience through its conversational approach. Founded in 2017, the platform quickly differentiated itself in a crowded market by making surveys feel more interactive and engaging. Its commitment to delivering an easy-to-use, omnichannel feedback tool has attracted over 100,000 clients across 149 countries, including some big names like Xerox, Toyota, and Marriott.

If you’re sitting on an idea that could change the game, don’t wait. Start building now! Take a page from SurveySparrow’s book and bring your concept to life. There’s no better time than now to work on your own venture.

Curious to learn more about inspiring companies like SurveySparrow? Check out other deep dives and profiles on Venture Kites—your go-to source for everything about innovative startups and industry disruptors.