Edge Research

What Edge Research does

Edge Research is a woman-owned B2B market research consultancy founded in 1997 by Jon Kulok and Steve Hopkins, headquartered at 1530 Wilson Blvd., Suite 540, Arlington, Virginia. The firm delivers custom qualitative and quantitative research across five primary vertical sectors — Education, Financial Services, Healthcare, Philanthropy, and Professional/Trade Associations — to a client mix of large foundations, government agencies, associations, and corporations. Named engagements span the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (via HCM Strategists), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the TIAA Institute, Pearson, OneCause, Community Brands, and the Center for Democracy and Technology, among others.

The firm's service portfolio comprises seven interlocking offerings: Immersion Sessions (client kickoff), Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research with customized survey design, Trade-off Analysis using MaxDiff, conjoint, and chip allocation methods, real-time Data Dashboards, Consumer Segmentation, and "Point Sessions" ideation and strategy workshops. The technology backbone combines online survey platforms, statistical methodologies, and visualization tools that surface drill-down analytics for client decision-making. No proprietary AI/ML models are disclosed; core competitive differentiation rests on methodological depth and sector specialization rather than software product IP.

The business model is direct sales-led professional services, with engagements typically scoped through immersion sessions and priced custom by project scope and sample size. Demand generation is heavily content-driven: Edge Research publishes proprietary studies that consistently earn earned-media coverage in The Atlantic, Forbes, The Washington Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed, feeding inbound interest. The team is 11–50 employees, led by the founders alongside principals Lisa Dropkin and Pam Loeb (joined 2001); ownership is private and concentrated among principals with no disclosed venture, private equity, or parent-company backing. Multi-year partnerships (OneCause 5-year; recurring annual studies for Community Brands and Blackbaud Institute) suggest a mix of project work and structured retainer-style relationships.

Name

Edge Research

Legal name

Edge Research

Website

https://edgeresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Edge Research is a woman-owned B2B market research consultancy founded in 1997, delivering custom qualitative, quantitative, segmentation, and trade-off analytics to clients in education, financial services, healthcare, philanthropy, and professional/trade associations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Market Research & Consumer Insights (BPAHALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE), Qualitative Research (Focus Groups, IDIs, Ethnography) (MPAAALAE)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Qualitative research
• Quantitative research
• Consumer segmentation
• Survey research

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research Consulting Services: Edge Research generates revenue through custom research consulting engagements with diverse clients including corporations, non-profits, associations, and government agencies. Projects include qualitative and quantitative research, segmentation studies, and strategic workshops. The company was founded in 1997 and has maintained continuous operations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Edge Research is a woman-owned research consultancy that designs and executes custom marketing and opinion research engagements for organizations. Services span immersion sessions, qualitative and quantitative research, trade-off analysis (MaxDiff, conjoint, chip allocation), consumer segmentation, real-time data dashboards, and strategy workshops, delivered as project-based consulting engagements to corporations, non-profits, associations, and government agencies.

Product overview

Edge Research is a woman-owned small business research firm offering a portfolio of research services rather than a software product. The core offerings include Immersion Sessions for kickoff and understanding client objectives, Qualitative Research using traditional and innovative methods, Quantitative Research with customized survey design, Trade-off Analysis using MaxDiff and conjoint methodologies, Data Dashboards with real-time visualization, Consumer Segmentation for market opportunity access, and Point Sessions for ideation and strategy workshops. These services work together as a comprehensive research approach, starting with client immersion and progressing through qualitative/quantitative research, analysis, and strategic implementation support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Qualitative Research

Quantifiable outcome

• Reactive donors were twice as likely to be first-time donors, with majority giving to issues or organizations they had never financially supported before.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered significant and core.

• TIAA InstitutesignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 May 2026Edge Research designed matched pair methodology for TIAA Institute's Value of Financial Advice report, isolating the impact of advice while controlling for income and demographic factors. Research found professional guidance associated with improved financial behaviors and wealth accumulation.
• Center for Democracy and TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 October 2025Edge Research continued its partnership with the Center for Democracy and Technology to understand parent, teacher, and student perspectives regarding AI use in K-12 classrooms. The research explores potential pitfalls of classroom AI adoption including weakened academic skills, deteriorating student-teacher relationships, and students seeking AI for companionship.
• Voya Cares and EastersealssignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 April 2024Original research study looking beyond efforts to hire veterans to better understand what it means to support veterans with disabilities and their caregivers in civilian employment.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (via HCM Strategists)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 March 2024Edge Research collaborates with HCM Strategists on behalf of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study students' decision-making related to higher education. Research explores why waning trust in higher education comes from multiple sources and lack of supports along economic and education journeys.
• SeaChange StrategiessignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 March 2024Joint study of nearly 6,000 midlevel donors from 36 nonprofit organizations: The Missing Middle Part Four. Research explores donor motivations, engagement factors, and what might encourage increased support. Published in Chronicle of Philanthropy.
• Learning Heroes and Oak FoundationsignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 May 2023Edge Research contributed to a playbook for educators, service providers, and advocates helping parents of children with learning differences. Study (The Parent Journey) informed the communication playbook for navigating complex systems.
• OneCausesignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 July 2022Five-year partnership examining social donors who give through fundraising events, peer-to-peer fundraising, occasions/challenges, and giving days. The 2022 study captured evolving expectations, generosity motivators, giving patterns, and future intentions of over 1,000 social donors.
• Blackbaud InstitutesignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 November 2021Collaboration with Blackbaud Institute to understand how giving has changed over the last 18 months and what nonprofit organizations should do to improve supporter engagement. Research produced the Tipping Point study on donor expectations vs. experience.
• Community BrandssignificantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 September 2021Collaboration on annual study among professional association members and staff, spotlighting latest trends impacting associations including membership growth, diversity, and building the next normal.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pew Research Center: Pew Research Center conducts public opinion, demographic, and social-trend research and frequently partners with foundations and nonprofits. It is a direct peer given its custom public-interest research studies and methodology-driven approach to underserved audience insights.
• Abt Associates: Abt Associates delivers research, evaluation, and consulting across health, environment, social policy, and education. It is a direct peer as a large custom research firm serving overlapping nonprofit and government end markets with comparable qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Westat: Westat is a large employee-owned research firm providing survey design, statistical analysis, and evaluation services to government, foundations, and commercial clients in similar verticals such as education, health, and social policy. It is a direct peer given overlap in custom survey research, mixed-method engagements, and federal/nonprofit client base.
• Mathematica: Mathematica is a research and evaluation firm serving federal agencies, foundations, and nonprofits with rigorous survey design and program evaluation. It is a direct peer given its foundation-heavy client base and emphasis on education, health, and social-policy research.
• Hart Research Associates: Hart Research Associates is a custom survey and qualitative research firm serving nonprofits, foundations, advocacy groups, and corporate clients. It is a direct peer due to its similarly sized custom-research model and shared foundation/nonprofit clientele.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: NORC is an independent research organization conducting survey, qualitative, and evaluation work for government, foundations, and corporations. It is a direct peer given its custom research methodology and analogous foundation and federal clientele.
• Public Opinion Research / ASK Research (RABA Research): RABA Research is a custom survey and qualitative research firm serving political, nonprofit, association, and corporate clients. It is a direct peer similar in size and methodology, with comparable focus on foundation, association, and public-interest research.

Emerging players

• Morning Consult: Morning Consult is a technology-enabled research company offering custom survey research, brand tracking, and economic analysis via proprietary panels. It is an emerging player competing on speed and technology-driven research, intersecting with Edge's custom research and earned-media positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Ipsos is a global market research firm offering quantitative and qualitative research, segmentation, and trade-off analytics across industries. It is a broad incumbent that competes for the same marketing research work Edge Research pursues, but at significantly greater scale and geographic reach.
• The Gallup Organization: Gallup is a long-established research firm known for large-scale survey research and public opinion polling across corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping research methods, though its brand recognition and panel assets are much larger.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/edgeresearchdc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/edge-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

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 Edge Research