The Octalysis Group

What The Octalysis Group does

The Octalysis Group is a privately held behavioral design and gamification consultancy, founded in 2013–2014 and headquartered in the Netherlands, that commercializes the Octalysis Framework — a proprietary methodology developed by industry pioneer Yu-kai Chou identifying Eight Core Drives of human motivation, split between White Hat (empowering) and Black Hat (urgency-driven) techniques. The firm serves enterprise clients across five practice areas: Loyalty Programs, Employee Engagement, Digital Transformation, Health & Wellness, and Learning & Development. Its technology stack centers on the framework itself, codified into a methodology used for consulting engagements, plus OctalysisScan — a web-based behavioral product audit tool (launched 2020) with a patent-pending Octalysis AI Engagement Engine that scores digital products against the 8 Core Drives. Underlying infrastructure includes a freemium self-service delivery channel and AI-assisted scoring, but the core commercial asset is human design expertise rather than software.

The firm's go-to-market is enterprise consultative selling: quote-based, multi-year, custom project work delivered to Fortune 500 buyers (Microsoft, Pfizer, Porsche, Procter & Gamble, Caixa Econômica Federal, DBS Bank, Booking.com, LATAM Airlines, HTC), supplemented by direct bottom-of-funnel inbound via [email protected]. OctalysisScan introduces a PLG-style $79 one-time self-service tier, expanding reach to mid-market product teams. The team of 12+ members is distributed across the US, Netherlands, Brazil, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia, with regional Associate Partners and a Head of Finance. The firm reports 175+ cumulative clients and impact across 1.5 billion+ user experiences over its 10+ year operating history. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, the company is founder-owned without institutional investment, and its competitive position rests on the licensed Octalysis Framework IP, named individual expertise (Yu-kai Chou and Joris Beerda, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts), and a multi-vertical track record of measurable engagement outcomes.

Name

The Octalysis Group

Legal name

The Octalysis Group

Website

https://octalysisgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Octalysis Group is a behavioral design and gamification consultancy that applies its proprietary Octalysis Framework to design enterprise engagement solutions across loyalty, employee engagement, healthcare, learning, and digital transformation verticals for Fortune 500 clients, supplemented by a self-service AI-augmented audit product.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Behavioral Design and Gamification Consulting

NAICS

Marketing Consulting Services (541613)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Workplace Culture, Engagement & Wellbeing Training (EDABAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Product Operations & Lifecycle Management (Launch, GTM, Sunset) (EDABAHAI)

Keywords

• Gamification consulting
• Behavioral design
• Loyalty program design
• Employee engagement
• Behavioral product audit

Headquarters

HQ city

Fremont

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Behavioral Design Consulting Services: The Octalysis Group provides gamification and behavioral science consulting services to enterprise clients. Projects are custom-designed for each organization, addressing employee engagement, customer loyalty, health and wellness, and digital transformation challenges. The firm works with Fortune 500 companies and mid-sized organizations on bespoke engagement programs.
2. OctalysisScan Product: A self-service behavioral product audit tool offered at $0 (free tier with limited findings) and $79 one-time payment for full report. Provides Health Scores, detailed Core Drive breakdowns, and actionable implementation recommendations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Octalysis Group is a behavioral design and gamification consultancy that commercializes the Octalysis Framework—a proprietary methodology built around eight Core Drives of human motivation developed by Yu-kai Chou. It sells custom gamification consulting engagements (Loyalty Programs, Employee Engagement, Digital Transformation, Health & Wellness, Learning & Development) to enterprise clients, and offers OctalysisScan, a self-service AI-powered behavioral product audit tool for digital products.

Product overview

The Octalysis Group operates as a behavioral design and gamification consultancy rather than a software product company. The core offering is the Octalysis Framework, a proprietary gamification and behavioral science design system backed by research on eight Core Drives of human motivation. The primary tool-based product is OctalysisScan, a web-based behavioral product audit tool that analyzes digital products for motivation gaps. The company also offers professional services organized into five practice areas: Loyalty Program Gamification, Employee Engagement, Digital Transformation, Health and Wellness, and Learning and Development—all powered by the Octalysis Framework methodology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OctalysisScan: AI-powered behavioral product audit tool that analyzes products against the Octalysis Framework's 8 Core Drives, providing a Health Score and actionable insights in 60 seconds.

Products and services

• Behavioral Design and Gamification Consulting Services Custom gamification and behavioral science design engagements for enterprise clients across Loyalty Programs, Employee Engagement, Digital Transformation, Health & Wellness, and Learning & Development. Engagements are quote-based and tailored to each organization.
• OctalysisScan Self-service AI-powered behavioral product audit tool that analyzes digital products for motivation gaps, produces a Health Score out of 100, identifies Core Drive coverage across Discovery, Onboarding, and Scaffolding, and provides a prioritized implementation roadmap via free tier or $79 one-time full report.
• Loyalty Program Gamification Service Consulting and design services for creating gamified loyalty programs that increase customer retention, conversion, and engagement through behavioral science principles; outcome-proven with Caixa $1B revenue surge and Porsche 90% DAU.
• Employee Engagement Gamification Service Gamification solutions designed to increase employee motivation, productivity, and retention using the Octalysis Framework and behavioral science design; case-validated with documented revenue and KPI uplifts (e.g., P&G +28.6% revenue, 99.5% adoption).
• Digital Transformation Gamification Service
• Health & Wellness Gamification Service
• Learning & Development Gamification Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 400% increase in course completions (BitDegree)
• +10 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Yu-kai ChoucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYu-kai Chou is the Industry Pioneer & Founding Partner of The Octalysis Group and the creator of the Octalysis Framework. He is the author of '10,000 Hours of Play: Personal Mastery Through Gamification' and a world-renowned thought leader in gamification and behavioral science.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• BI WORLDWIDE: BI WORLDWIDE is a large, established loyalty and incentive solutions provider. It competes with Octalysis's Loyalty Programs practice but offers a broader portfolio including merchandise, travel rewards, and full program operations.
• Maritz: Maritz is an established incentive, loyalty, and engagement solutions incumbent serving global enterprises. It competes with Octalysis's loyalty and employee engagement offerings as part of a much larger portfolio that includes events and rewards fulfillment.

Direct peers

• Hoopla: Hoopla is a sales gamification platform that drives competition and recognition inside enterprise sales teams. It overlaps with Octalysis's sales-gamification engagements (P&G, Caixa) and competes for similar incentive and performance programs.
• SweetRush: SweetRush is a learning and development agency that applies gamification and behavioral design to corporate training. It is directly comparable to Octalysis's Learning & Development practice and serves similar enterprise L&D buyers.
• Centrical: Centrical is an employee engagement and customer experience platform with gamification mechanics, serving mid-market and enterprise customers. It is directly comparable to Octalysis's Employee Engagement and Loyalty practice areas and competes for similar behavioral-engagement budget.
• Ambition: Ambition is a sales gamification and performance management platform for enterprises. It overlaps directly with Octalysis's sales-force gamification work (e.g., the P&G/Navo Orbico engagement) and targets similar Fortune 500 buyers seeking measurable KPI lifts.
• Mambo.io: Mambo.io is a boutique gamification strategy and design agency serving enterprise clients. It competes head-to-head with Octalysis's bespoke gamification design services, often in the same deals and verticals.
• Influitive: Influitive delivers gamified customer advocacy and community engagement programs for B2B enterprises. It mirrors Octalysis's Loyalty and Customer Engagement practice and competes for the same engagement-budget line items.
• Funifier: Funifier is a gamification-as-a-service platform used by enterprises to embed points, badges, and behavioral mechanics into products. It is a direct technology peer to OctalysisScan and to the broader gamification design services Octalysis sells.
• WorkJam: WorkJam is a frontline employee engagement and task-management platform with gamification elements. It overlaps with Octalysis's Employee Engagement and Digital Transformation practices for distributed workforces.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/octalysisgroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/octalysisgroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-octalysis-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/octalysisgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 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 The Octalysis Group