What Kolabtree does

Kolabtree is a web-based freelance marketplace that connects businesses, researchers, and organizations with a global network of 20,000+ vetted, PhD-qualified scientists and industry experts across 175+ countries. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in London at 15-19 Bloomsbury Way, Holborn, Kolabtree operates as a subsidiary of Cactus Communications Limited, a UK private limited company. The platform is positioned as the world's largest freelance marketplace for scientists and emphasizes verified credentials, a 4.7 average freelancer rating, and a secure collaboration workspace with NDAs, SSL/SHA256 TLS encryption, and GDPR-compliant data handling hosted on Microsoft Azure across multiple regions. Customers include marquee enterprises such as Moderna, Biogen, and NASA (the latter as a Vendor Partner on the $175M NOIS vehicle contract), alongside 3,200+ businesses and academic institutions that have collectively posted more than 20,000 projects.

The product surface extends beyond a pure two-sided marketplace into a portfolio of specialized service offerings: Data Science & Analytics, Scientific Consulting, Medical Writing, Clinical Research Consulting, Scientific Writing, Statistical Analysis, Food Science & Technology, Literature Search and Secondary Research, Scientific Editing, and a premium Concierge Services tier for end-to-end managed projects. Verticals served include biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices (with EU MDR and Clinical Evaluation Report support), healthcare, food and beverage, cosmetics, and education/publishing. Experts set their own hourly rates, typically ranging from USD 20 to USD 500 per hour depending on qualifications, and clients can engage on a fixed-fee or hourly basis with milestone-based pre-payment and approval.

The business model is a marketplace commission and transaction-fee structure: Kolabtree facilitates payments and retains a percentage on each engagement, supplemented by Concierge and managed-service fees. Distribution is primarily self-service through kolabtree.com, with category pages indexed for SEO across expert types (writers, data analysts, consultants, product developers, researchers), supported by content marketing, a research blog, whitepapers, and social channels (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). The company operates with 11–50 employees and has not disclosed external funding rounds or revenue figures in the available material.

Name

Kolabtree

Legal name

Cactus Communications Limited

Website

https://kolabtree.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kolabtree is a London-based freelance marketplace connecting businesses with 20,000+ PhD-qualified scientists and experts across 175+ countries for on-demand scientific consulting, research, medical writing, and regulatory services, operating as a subsidiary of Cactus Communications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Freelance Scientific Consulting Marketplace

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Clinical Data Management, Biostatistics & Statistical Programming CROs (HLAGAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Clinical Trial Informatics (EDC/CTMS/eCOA/eTMF) (HLAGAJAM)

Keywords

• Freelance marketplace platform
• Scientific consulting marketplace
• Expert matching platform
• Freelance scientist network
• Research consulting services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commission on Freelance Transactions: Kolabtree charges a commission/fee on transactions between clients and freelance experts. Experts set their own hourly rates (e.g., USD 50-200/hr) and clients pay through the platform.
2. Fixed Project Fees: Clients can choose to pay either a fixed fee or hourly rate based on project scope. Pre-payment required for milestones.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kolabtree operates an online freelance marketplace that connects businesses, researchers, and organizations with a global network of PhD-qualified scientists, consultants, and industry experts for project-based work. The platform facilitates engagements across data analysis, medical writing, clinical research, regulatory affairs, scientific consulting, statistical analysis, food science, and literature search services, with experts offering hourly or fixed-price project work.

Product overview

Kolabtree is a freelance marketplace platform that connects businesses, researchers, and organizations with a global network of 20,000+ freelance scientists, experts, and consultants. The platform operates as a portfolio of services including a core Freelance Expert Marketplace, complemented by specialized service offerings: Data Science & Analytics Services, Scientific Consulting, Medical Writing, Clinical Research Consulting, Scientific Writing, Statistical Analysis Services, Food Science & Technology Services, Literature Search & Secondary Research, Scientific Editing, and Concierge Services. The platform also provides a Project Collaboration Workspace for secure communication and file management. Users can post projects and receive quotes from verified experts, with services spanning industries such as biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare, food science, and academic research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Freelance Expert Marketplace An online marketplace platform that connects businesses and organizations with a global network of 20,000+ vetted PhD-qualified freelance scientists, consultants, and industry experts for project-based engagements.
• Concierge Services A premium managed service offering where Kolabtree's team handles the end-to-end process of matching clients with suitable experts, scoping the project, and managing delivery for complex scientific engagements.
• Data Science and Analytics Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance data analysts and data scientists for data analysis, modeling, and analytics projects.
• Medical Writing Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance medical writers for regulatory documents, clinical study reports, and other medical communications.
• Scientific Consulting Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance scientific consultants for expert advisory, project guidance, and technical consulting engagements.
• Clinical Research Consulting Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance clinical research experts for trial design, clinical evaluation, and related research consulting engagements.
• EU MDR Consulting Services A specialized service category connecting clients with regulatory experts for European Union Medical Device Regulation (EU MDR) compliance consulting engagements.
• Clinical Evaluation Report Services A specialized service category for sourcing experts to author Clinical Evaluation Reports (CERs) for medical device manufacturers.
• Food Science and Technology Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance food scientists and technologists for product development, safety, and formulation projects.
• Statistical Analysis Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance statisticians for statistical analysis, study design, and biostatistics projects.
• Scientific Writing Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance scientific writers for manuscripts, grant proposals, and scientific publications.
• Literature Search and Secondary Research Services A specialized service category connecting clients with researchers for systematic literature searches, reviews, and secondary research projects.
• Scientific Editing Services A specialized service category connecting clients with freelance editors for proofreading and editing of scientific manuscripts and documents.

Quantifiable outcome

• NASA $175 million Open Innovation Multi-Contract win
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• NASAflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKolabtree won NASA's $175 million Open Innovation Multi-Contract as a Vendor Partner. This is a major contract win establishing credibility in the scientific freelance marketplace space. The partnership involves providing scientists and experts for NASA's NOIS vehicle project.
• ModernacoreOthersTrusted by Moderna as a freelance scientific expert provider. Kolabtree's network of scientists supports biotech companies like Moderna with research, analytical, and writing support.
• BiogencoreOthersTrusted by Biogen as a freelance scientific expert provider. Kolabtree provides access to biotech consultants and researchers for Biogen's projects.
• Cactus CommunicationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKolabtree Ltd. is a subsidiary of Cactus Communications Limited (CACTUS). Cactus Communications is a global scientific communications company that provides editorial services and solutions. Kolabtree operates as part of the Cactus family, with shared resources and brand association.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Science Exchange: Operates a marketplace connecting researchers with CROs and scientific service providers, with similar contract research, biostatistics, and lab services offerings. Closest direct competitor in the scientific services marketplace category.
• Scientist.com: Marketplace for outsourced research services, including preclinical, clinical, and manufacturing categories. Highly comparable in connecting pharma/biotech buyers with scientific suppliers, with an enterprise procurement focus.

Broad incumbents

• GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group): Largest expert network for paid consultations with scientists, physicians, and industry specialists. Overlaps with Kolabtree's on-demand expert consultation use case, though GLG focuses on hourly expert calls rather than project-based deliverables.
• Guidepoint: Expert network serving consulting, investment, and corporate clients with on-demand expert consultations. Comparable in the expert intermediation business model, though it targets advisors and investors rather than biotech R&D buyers.
• Catalant: Marketplace connecting enterprises with independent consultants and experts for project-based engagements. Comparable business model and project-matching technology, though Catalant focuses more broadly on management consulting rather than science-only.
• Toptal: Elite freelance marketplace with a vetted talent pool across software, design, finance, and increasingly science/consulting. Comparable in two-sided marketplace model with rigorous vetting, though Kolabtree's specialization in PhD-level scientific talent is differentiated.
• Upwork: Largest generalist freelance marketplace, with thousands of scientific consultants including biostatisticians, medical writers, and researchers. Comparable marketplace model and transaction-based revenue, though Kolabtree outperforms on scientific vertical depth and credential verification.

Emerging players

• Clora: On-demand marketplace for life sciences consulting talent, with a curated network of biotech and pharma consultants. Closely comparable in vertical focus and consultant-on-demand model, sold primarily to biotech and pharma enterprise buyers.
• Aithnet: AI-enabled marketplace for scientific and engineering consultants, with overlap on project-based scientific engagement. Emerging competitor pushing deeper into AI-augmented matching for technical talent.

Others

• Cactus Communications (CACTUS): Kolabtree's parent company and a global scientific communications provider offering editing, publication support, and research solutions. Adjacent rather than a direct competitor, but its resources and customer base are partly shared with Kolabtree.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kolabtree
• Facebookfacebook.com/kolabtree
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kolabtree

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kolabtree