Novus

What Novus does

Novus Group International AB is a privately-held Swedish knowledge and research company headquartered in Stockholm, founded in 2006 by Alf Sjöström and majority-owned by Gallup Nordic, a member of the Gallup International network. The company is operationally a professional services firm specializing in survey-based opinion and market research, conducting approximately 800 surveys and roughly 1,000 projects per year for several hundred clients in over 50 countries. Novus is also listed on Sweden's Spotlight Stock Market and led by CEO Torbjörn Sjöström (transitioning to Chairman in 2026 in favor of Ana Serafimovska) under Chairman Jan Scherman, with research and quality leadership anchored by Mikael Ohlsson and opinion expertise from Hjalmar Strid.

The firm's core technology asset is the proprietary Novus Sverigepanel - a randomly recruited, representative panel of approximately 60,000 Swedish citizens supporting around 850,000 interviews annually, which underpins both quantitative (questionnaire, statistical analysis) and qualitative (in-depth interviews, focus groups) methodologies. Novus monetizes this asset through project-based consulting engagements with corporate clients, government agencies, unions, and media organizations, plus a slate of own-published flagship products that drive brand authority and inbound demand: the monthly Väljarbarometern (voter barometer), the annual Demokratirapporten and Klimat- och Energirapport, recurring series like Novus Coronastatus and NATO opinion surveys, and branded brand/PR tools (Brand Leak, Brand Shuttle, Effektintyg, Buzzcheck). Distribution is dominated by long-standing media partnerships with SVT, TV4, Dagens Nyheter, and Göteborgs-Posten, supported by owned channels including the Sanity Check podcast and multiple newsletters (Politik, Varumärkesbrev, Medlemsinsikt), and visibility at Almedalsveckan.

Novus's go-to-market is enterprise-direct field sales with a horizontal segmentation across brand and communication, member and organizational development, customer insight, PR and public affairs, politics and opinion, climate and sustainability, and society/public sector. The company serves recognizable customers across these segments - including Saco, TCO, LO, Skandia, Peab, SPP Pension, Internetstiftelsen, and Mäklarsamfundet - alongside its media publishing partners. According to Retriever tracking for 2024 and 2025, Novus holds the highest share of survey-driven media coverage in Sweden, generating 3,400 articles (29% of total survey coverage) in 2025, which it leverages as a top-of-funnel marketing channel. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed, and there are no external funding rounds in the dataset given the Gallup Nordic parent's majority position.

Name

Novus

Legal name

Novus Group International AB

Website

https://novus.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Novus is a Stockholm-based survey research and analysis firm that conducts approximately 800 surveys annually through its 60,000-person Novus Sverigepanel, serving corporate, government, media, and political clients across brand, opinion, member, and societal research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

akta.pro primary industry

Quantitative Research & Survey Analytics (Survey Design, Sampling, Statistical Modeling) (MPAAALAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ), Syndicated Market Research (Panels, Omnibus, Tracker Studies) (MPAAALAB)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Survey research analysis
• Opinion polling
• Brand research
• Voter barometer

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Survey Research Services: Novus conducts custom survey research and analysis for corporate clients, government agencies, political parties, and media organizations. Services include voter polls, brand surveys, customer/member insight studies, and societal research. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements and ongoing research partnerships.
2. Own Published Research: Novus conducts and publishes its own surveys on Swedish public opinion, democracy, climate, and societal issues. This includes the monthly voter barometer (Väljarbarometer), Demokratirapporten, Klimat- och Energirapport, and NATO opinion surveys. These build brand authority and drive client acquisition.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Novus is a Swedish market research and knowledge company that designs and conducts custom survey research and analysis using its proprietary Novus Sverigepanel of ~60,000 panelists. It sells quantitative and qualitative research services — including voter polls, brand and communication studies, customer insight, member/organizational analyses, PR/public affairs research, and societal studies — to corporate clients, government agencies, political parties, and media organizations.

Product overview

Novus is a knowledge and research company offering a portfolio of survey-based products and services centered on its proprietary randomly recruited Novus Sverigepanel. The core offering spans quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, including monthly voter barometers (Väljarbarometern), annual flagship reports (Demokratirapporten, Klimat- och Energirapport), and recurring opinion tracking series such as Coronastatus and NATO-opinionen. Supporting the core research platform, Novus provides a suite of brand and communications tools including Brand Leak, Brand Shuttle, Buzzcheck, and Effektintyg. The company also distributes its insights through owned media channels such as the Novus Sanity Check podcast and subject-specific newsletters (Nyhetsbrev Politik, Varumärkesbrev). Novus operates as a Gallup Nordic company and is noted as the most-cited research institute in Swedish media.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Novus Sverigepanel: A randomly recruited representative panel for societal and opinion studies in Sweden
• Novus Brand Leak
• Novus Buzzcheck
• Demokratirapporten
• Sanity Check

Products and services

• Novus Sverigepanel A randomly recruited representative panel for society and opinion studies in Sweden, used as the foundation for Novus's quantitative and qualitative survey research across clients.
• Brand Leak An insight model that identifies where and why a brand loses its core strength, explaining why brand performance falls short of market potential. Used by brand and communication teams at Swedish enterprises.
• Brand Shuttle Brand tracking solution offered within Novus's brand and communication services portfolio.
• Novus Effektintyg An effect certificate product providing validated evidence of marketing or communication impact.
• Novus Buzzcheck A PR and communications tracking service that monitors and evaluates earned media coverage and campaign reach.
• Väljarbarometern Novus's monthly voter barometer tracking Swedish public opinion on party support, party-leader trust, and electoral preferences; published with SVT, TV4, DN, and GP.
• Demokratirapporten Annual report tracking how Swedish citizens view democracy, trust in institutions, and citizen–politician gaps, conducted in partnership with organizations such as Saco, TCO, LO, Skandia, and Peab.
• Novus Klimat- och Energirapport Annual climate and energy report mapping Swedish attitudes toward climate change, sustainability, and the country's energy transition.
• Novus Eftervalsundersökning Post-election survey analyzing how voters reasoned and the choices they made in connection with the Swedish parliamentary election.
• Lokal väljarbarometer Local voter barometer surveys conducted in collaboration with regional media outlets, enabling municipalities and local actors to understand and communicate the local political landscape.
• Novus Coronastatus Recurring survey series monitoring Swedish public sentiment regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, conducted from March 2020 through at least late 2023.

Quantifiable outcome

• 29% of Swedish survey media coverage in 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• SacoflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026Saco (Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations) is a partner in Demokratirapporten 2026, Novus's annual democracy report. The partnership brings together major Swedish labor market organizations.
• TCOflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026TCO (Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees) is a partner in Demokratirapporten 2026, contributing to annual research on democracy and public trust in Sweden.
• LOflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026LO (Swedish Trade Union Confederation) is a partner in Demokratirapporten 2026, participating in annual democracy research alongside other major Swedish unions.
• SkandiaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026Skandia (financial services company) is a partner in Demokratirapporten 2026, contributing to annual democracy and society research.
• PeabflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026Peab (construction and civil engineering company) is a partner in Demokratirapporten 2026, participating in annual democracy research.
• Gallup NordiccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGallup Nordic is the majority owner of Novus. This partnership provides Novus with international research network access and methodological standards aligned with Gallup International.
• Gallup InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNovus is a member of Gallup International, the global network of independent survey research companies. This enables Novus to participate in international research projects and share methodologies.
• SVTflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerSVT (Sveriges Television) is the primary media partner for Novus's monthly voter barometer (Väljarbarometer). This long-standing partnership provides wide distribution of Novus polling data.
• TV4flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerTV4 is a media partner for Novus's monthly voter barometer, providing distribution channel for polling results.
• Göteborgs-Posten (GP)flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerGP is a regional media partner for Novus's monthly voter barometer, publishing polling data for western Sweden.
• Dagens Nyheter (DN)flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerDN (Dagens Nyheter) follows Novus's editorial quality policies for publishing survey results, indicating high standards for research methodology.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Ipsos: Global market research firm with strong operations in Sweden and the Nordics, directly competing with Novus across quantitative research, brand tracking, and public opinion polling for similar enterprise and media clients.
• Sifo: Swedish survey and opinion research firm owned by Kantar; one of Novus's closest domestic competitors, especially in voter polling, brand research, and media-partnered syndicated studies.
• Demoskop: Swedish survey research firm serving media, public sector, and enterprise clients with a similar quantitative + qualitative offering, directly overlapping with Novus's core services in the Swedish market.
• YouGov: Global online panel-based research and public opinion polling firm; competes with Novus in panel-driven methodology and syndicated voter/consumer studies, including in the Nordic region.
• Norstat: Nordic-headquartered market research and data collection firm with proprietary panels, offering comparable survey, panel, and consumer insight services across the Nordics — direct competitor for multi-country Nordic projects.

Broad incumbents

• Kantar: Large global insights and brand research firm and parent of Sifo; overlaps with Novus across brand tracking, consumer insights, and PR evaluation, but competes as part of a much broader portfolio.
• GfK (NIM Group): Major global market research firm with consumer and brand research offerings; competes with Novus's Brand Leak/Brand Shuttle services at the high end of enterprise engagements, but as part of a much broader portfolio.

Others

• Gallup: Global research network and parent-adjacent partner of Novus via Gallup Nordic and Gallup International; not a direct competitor in Sweden but provides the methodological and international framework Novus operates within.

Regional players

• Skop (Skopservice): Norwegian survey and opinion research firm using comparable methodology (panels, voter polling, social research) in a neighboring Nordic market; relevant comparable but primarily Norway-focused.

Emerging players

• Cint: Sweden-based survey panel exchange and programmatic research technology provider; not a direct research competitor, but enables and supplies panel infrastructure that overlaps with the panel-based model Novus uses.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NovusSverige
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvYHo-tJxhXbNfFYW8yeoBg
• Facebookfacebook.com/novusse
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/novus_3

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Novus