StoryConnect
StoryConnect is a Leiden-based Dutch consultancy that helps government, healthcare, and social-sector organizations capture and act on personal stories through its proprietary Vertelpunt platform, StoryDashboard, and Participatory Narrative Inquiry methodology.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersLeiden, Netherlands
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What StoryConnect does
StoryConnect is a private Dutch narrative-research consultancy founded in 2020 and headquartered in Leiden, Netherlands. The firm helps organizations — primarily in Dutch government, healthcare, and the social domain — move beyond satisfaction surveys and KPIs by systematically collecting, interpreting, and applying personal stories through a structured methodology called Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI) / the StoryCycle.
The core technology stack centers on the proprietary Vertelpunt (StoryPoint) platform, a secure online environment where participants share stories anonymously and self-interpret them via targeted 'duidingsvragen' (interpretation questions). A live StoryDashboard visualizes patterns emerging from those interpretation answers in real time, supporting monitoring and sensemaking. A privacy-by-design architecture keeps personal, functional, and narrative data layers separate, and SSL-secured infrastructure supports regulated public-sector deployment. Specialized configurations include the Dutch ID Monitor (DID), built for RvIG's continuous chain-dialogue on identity documents. An AI PNI-Research Assistant is under development — compliant with European Commission AI guidelines — for NLP-based anonymization and pseudonymization of stories.
StoryConnect operates a project-based professional services model: a full StoryCycle for organizations up to 500 employees is priced comparably to a large external satisfaction survey, with a modular component model, multi-year discounts, and optional knowledge-transfer training (StoryConnect Academy, StoryStart, StoryWorks). Go-to-market is consultative, driven by content marketing, the annual Stories2Connect community event, referrals, and direct exploratory conversations. The team is small (~9 named professionals) and the customer base includes RvIG, Stichting Kind en Ziekenhuis, FoodValley Jeugdhulp & Onderwijs, QuaRijn, Gemeente Enschede, Wijkteams Enschede, Buurtteam Amsterdam, Defensie (Mariniers), Ieder(in), and Amphia Ziekenhuis. Documented outcomes include sick-leave reductions from 11% to 7% (≈€300,600 saved annually) and a 3% turnover reduction yielding ≈€690,000 in annual savings at separate client organizations.
StoryConnect firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- StoryConnect
- Legal name
- StoryConnect
- Website
- https://storyconnect.nl
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- StoryConnect is a Leiden-based Dutch consultancy that helps government, healthcare, and social-sector organizations capture and act on personal stories through its proprietary Vertelpunt platform, StoryDashboard, and Participatory Narrative Inquiry methodology.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
StoryConnect industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Qualitative Research Consulting
- akta.pro primary industry
- Creative Nonfiction & Memoir Workshops (EDAMAMAC)
Keywords
Where StoryConnect is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Leiden
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
StoryConnect business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Professional Services — Project-based narrative consulting: StoryConnect delivers end-to-end narrative projects: story collection via the Vertelpunt platform, analysis, sensemaking sessions, reporting, and process facilitation. Projects typically span 14 weeks (a full StoryCycle) for organizations up to 500 employees. Pricing is comparable to a large external satisfaction survey, with a modular pricing model allowing clients to select components. Multi-year contracts receive discounts. The organization also offers training programs (StoryConnect Academy, StoryStart, StoryWorks) for clients who want to internalize the methodology.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Full StoryCycle for organizations up to 500 employees |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
StoryConnect product offering
Product offeringCore offering
StoryConnect is a Dutch consultancy founded in 2020 that specializes in participatory narrative inquiry (PNI). It delivers the Vertelpunt digital platform for collecting anonymous stories, the StoryDashboard for real-time visualization, the StoryConnect Traject (StoryCycle) project methodology, and the StoryConnect Academy training program to government, healthcare, and social-sector organizations in the Netherlands.
Product overview
StoryConnect offers a narrative methodology platform combining three core components: the Vertelpunt (online story-sharing platform) for collecting personal experience stories anonymously, the StoryDashboard for visualizing patterns in story data, and the StoryConnect Traject following the StoryCycle methodology. Additional services include the StoryConnect Academy for training organizations to independently facilitate story sessions. The company also develops AI-powered tools including an AI chatbot for interviews and an AI PNI-Research Assistant for anonymizing and pseudonymizing shared stories.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Vertelpunt
Quantifiable outcome
- Sick leave reduction from 11% to 7% at a 150.3 FTE organization, saving €300,600 annually, through a story-based StoryCycle approach including buddy systems, team dialogues on workload, and revised conversation cycles.
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use StoryConnect
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
StoryConnect technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature7 records
StoryConnect partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Wageningen University & Research (WUR)coreWUR invited StoryConnect to co-design a new project proposal within the ZonMw pandemic preparedness program. This led to a co-design series with multiple partners and ultimately the VERTEL project (VERTEL/LALk/TALK), a national-scale PNI-driven approach for pandemic preparedness. StoryConnect provides the platform, working forms, and feedback procedures for this project. The partnership began in summer 2025 and received a ZonMw subsidy at the end of 2025.
- Mijn Data Onze Gezondheid (MD|OG)corePartner in the co-design trajectory and the VERTEL project for citizen science in pandemic preparedness. MD|OG represents the citizen/patient perspective and contributes to the participatory design of the narrative approach.
- RIVMcorePartner in the co-design trajectory and VERTEL project for pandemic preparedness, contributing public health expertise and institutional reach.
- NLZVE (Nederland Zorgt Voor Elkaar)minorPartner in the VERTEL project representing the informal care/primary care perspective in the co-design of narrative infrastructure for pandemic preparedness.
- Universiteit Twente (DesignLab)minorPartner in the VERTEL project contributing design expertise and research capabilities from the DesignLab.
- Academische Werkplaats DefensiecoreThe Academische Werkplaats Defensie provides the framework for StoryConnect's work on micro-narratives and post-deployment recovery in military teams. This academic-practical partnership was initiated by Defensie itself to address the need for better debriefing and learning after action in operational settings.
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)coreThe VU supervises PhD research by Bahar Heinis on restorative responding and trust within operational Marine teams, with StoryConnect as the methodological partner for the narrative component of the research.
- AI and Design partner (unnamed)coreIn 2025 StoryConnect formed a new partnership with an innovative partner specialized in AI and design to seamlessly integrate advanced technology into their narrative approach. This partnership supports the development of AI tools for story analysis and the AI PNI research assistant.
- Healthcare network for value-based care (unnamed)minorConnected with a broad healthcare network striving for value-based care, ensuring that the stories collected directly contribute to better, human-centered healthcare.
- Academic research group in health policy and management (unnamed)corePartnership with an academic research group in health policy and management to scientifically test methods and develop new knowledge, with the shared ambition of rigorously validating narrative approaches.
- GlobalEyesminorFilm production partner for the StoryConnect film about the Buurtteam Amsterdam project. Mike Rekers and Joost van Loon of GlobalEyes produced the film documenting how narrative approaches work in practice.
- NIVELminorNIVEL (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research) recognizes Participatory Narrative Inquiry as suitable for broad health research, lending academic legitimacy to StoryConnect's methodology.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
StoryConnect competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Humu: Humu is a people-analytics startup founded by former Google HR chief Laszlo Bock that uses behavioral science and AI to drive workforce engagement. It targets a similar buyer (HR leaders at large employers) as StoryConnect's training and engagement use cases, but approaches improvement via nudges rather than narrative collection.
- Civilla: Civilla is a US nonprofit design firm working with government and human-services agencies to surface resident and front-line worker experience. It overlaps with StoryConnect's government and social-domain listening work and shares a similar qualitative-listening approach to public-service improvement.
Direct peers
- Anecdote: Anecdote (Shawn Callahan) is an Australian-headquartered consultancy that trains enterprises and government bodies in business storytelling and narrative techniques. Like StoryConnect, it sells a methodology-plus-training offering and runs workshops that turn lived stories into organizational change. Direct competition for narrative-methodology consulting engagements.
- The World Café: The World Café is a globally adopted methodology for large-group dialogue built around structured conversation across multiple tables. It mirrors StoryConnect's StoryCycle / PNI approach in being a participatory dialogue framework used to surface insights from many stakeholders — a direct methodological analogue rather than a SaaS competitor.
- Reos Partners: Reos Partners is an international facilitation and systemic change consultancy founded by Adam Kahane, specializing in multi-stakeholder dialogue for complex social issues. Like StoryConnect it combines a structured methodology with facilitated sessions aimed at co-creating solutions, often with government and civil-society clients.
Broad incumbents
- Gallup: Gallup is the dominant global employee engagement and survey research firm, with Q12 and associated consulting. It competes with StoryConnect for the same enterprise and public-sector engagement budgets, but relies on standardized quantitative instruments versus StoryConnect's narrative PNI approach.
- Qualtrics: Qualtrics (part of SAP) is the leading experience management platform across employee, customer, and product experience. It is the broadest SaaS incumbent in the same buyer-budget space as Vertelpunt / StoryDashboard, but operates as a platform vendor rather than a facilitated methodology provider.
- Ipsos: Ipsos is a top global market-research and public-opinion firm. Its employee-listening, public-sector and healthcare research practices compete with StoryConnect for the same Dutch and EU project budgets, especially in government and healthcare qualitative research, but at much larger scale and using traditional research methods.
- Medallia: Medallia is a leading enterprise experience management platform spanning customer, employee, and citizen experience. It is a broad incumbent competing for the same organizational-listening budgets StoryConnect targets in healthcare, government and social services, but with closed-loop software rather than narrative methodology.
Regional players
- Effectory: Effectory is a Netherlands-headquartered employee-listening vendor running large-scale (often 500k+ employee) surveys and dialogue programs for Dutch and European employers. It competes with StoryConnect for the same Dutch organizational-listening budget but with a survey-centric rather than narrative methodology.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
StoryConnect social profiles
Digital presenceStoryConnect financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
StoryConnect leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
StoryConnect funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
StoryConnect M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about StoryConnect
What does StoryConnect do?
StoryConnect is a Dutch consultancy founded in 2020 that specializes in participatory narrative inquiry (PNI). It delivers the Vertelpunt digital platform for collecting anonymous stories, the StoryDashboard for real-time visualization, the StoryConnect Traject (StoryCycle) project methodology, and the StoryConnect Academy training program to government, healthcare, and social-sector organizations in the Netherlands.
Is StoryConnect a public or private company?
StoryConnect is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was StoryConnect founded?
StoryConnect was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is StoryConnect based?
StoryConnect is headquartered in Leiden, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does StoryConnect make money?
One revenue line is on record: professional Services — Project-based narrative consulting.
Who are StoryConnect's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Humu and Civilla. Direct peers are Anecdote, The World Café and Reos Partners. Broad incumbents are Gallup, Qualtrics, Ipsos and Medallia. Effectory is listed as a regional player.
Does StoryConnect have an API?
No public API is recorded for StoryConnect.
What industry is StoryConnect in?
StoryConnect's product category is Qualitative Research Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMAMAC, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir Workshops.