Octopus Group

What Octopus Group does

Octopus Group Enterprises is an Australian-owned proprietary limited company founded in October 2016 and headquartered in Mosman, New South Wales. It operates a consumer survey panel connecting individuals aged 15+ in Australia and New Zealand with companies commissioning market research, functioning as a two-sided intermediary: members earn cash rewards for completing surveys, while research clients pay for access to qualified, engaged respondents.

The core platform is delivered through a self-serve web portal (my.octopusgroup.com.au) and the Octopus Members Portal 2 mobile app on iOS and Android, which provides real-time push notifications so members can complete time-sensitive surveys before quotas fill. Supporting technology includes Australian Government Document Verification Service (DVS) integration with biometric face capture, digital fingerprinting and IP validation for fraud prevention, Google reCAPTCHA on registration, and SMS verification across multiple AU and NZ numbers. Members are paid in real cash (not points) at a guaranteed minimum rate of $0.28 per minute, with $20 minimum redemption via weekly bank transfer or e-Gift cards through GiftPay at a 4% discount.

The business monetizes primarily on the B2B side by fulfilling survey projects for market research clients on a transaction/managed services basis, with non-public pricing. On the B2C side it runs a product-led and community-led growth model, supported by a Tell-A-Friend referral program paying up to $25 per referred friend and a Monthly Boosters promotion with prizes up to $3,000 AUD. The company has scaled to over 650,000 Australian and 50,000 New Zealand members, has issued nearly $30 million in cumulative member incentives since 2016, holds ISO 20252:2019 certification, and operates with a lean team of 27 employees as a privately held, bootstrapped business with no disclosed institutional funding.

Name

Octopus Group

Legal name

Octopus Group Enterprises

Website

https://octopusgroup.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Octopus Group Enterprises operates an Australian-owned online survey panel connecting 700,000+ consumers in Australia and New Zealand with market research clients, paying cash rewards via mobile and web platforms on a transaction-fee B2B model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. B2B Market Research Services: Octopus Group connects companies conducting market research with their panel of engaged survey respondents. Companies pay for access to quality survey completions from the member base. The company serves as an intermediary between research clients and consumer panelists.
2. Survey Panel Management: Provides survey project fulfillment services to research companies, managing panel recruitment, engagement, and survey delivery to generate completed responses for clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Octopus Group operates an online survey panel platform that connects Australian and New Zealand consumers with companies conducting market research. Members register for free and earn cash rewards (paying $0.28/min minimum) for completing surveys via mobile app or web. On the B2B side, the company provides survey project fulfillment services to research clients, recruiting panelists, delivering completed responses, and managing panel engagement. The platform emphasizes real cash payouts rather than points, with rates claimed to be 80–400% higher than competitors.

Product overview

Octopus Group operates as a unified member rewards platform centered around its online survey panel for Australia and New Zealand. The core offering is the survey panel where members earn cash (not points) for completing market research surveys. This is supplemented by the Octopus Members Portal 2 mobile app for real-time notifications and on-the-go survey access. Additional value products include the Tell-A-Friend referral program (up to $25 per referral), cash redemption via direct bank transfer, e-Gift Cards at 4% discount, Monthly Boosters promotions, and monthly Prize Draws. The platform emphasizes cash-first rewards with rates 80-400% higher than competitors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 80-400% higher cash rewards compared to other survey panels
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Toluna: Global online survey panel community that rewards consumers for opinions. Offers panel management technology and commissioned research services that directly compete with Octopus Group.
• Prolific: Online research participant platform focused on academic and commercial survey panels. Competes for share of voice in the online survey panel market with verified participants and ethical pay model.
• Pureprofile: Australian headquartered reward-based survey panel. Operates a similar consumer survey panel connecting members with market research clients, with comparable paid-survey and rewards model in ANZ and beyond.
• Valued Opinions (Research Now SSI): Online survey panel offering paid consumer opinions and product testing. Operates reward-based survey panels with similar consumer engagement model in multiple geographies.

Broad incumbents

• YouGov: Global research data and analytics company operating one of the largest opt-in consumer panels worldwide. Overlaps in serving market research clients with consumer opinion data.
• Dynata: One of the world's largest first-party data and research panel companies. Operates a global survey panel used by brands and agencies for research, making it a broader incumbent in the same market research panel space.
• Ipsos: Global market research and consulting firm with significant panel operations and survey research capabilities. Competes for B2B research client spend alongside Octopus Group.
• Cint: Market research technology platform that aggregates consumer panels globally for B2B research clients. Operates a panel exchange that competes with proprietary survey panels like Octopus Group.

Emerging players

• Swagbucks (Prodege): US-based consumer rewards platform offering paid surveys, cashback, and gift cards. While geographically focused on US, it represents a comparable consumer-rewards-driven survey model.

Regional players

• Rakuten Insight: Asia-Pacific-focused online survey panel owned by Rakuten. Operates in many APAC markets (though not Australia/NZ primary), with comparable panel-based market research services with cash rewards.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OctopusGroupAU
• Facebookfacebook.com/OctopusGroupAustralia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/octopus-group-enterprises
• Instagraminstagram.com/OctopusGroupAU

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Octopus Group