Sotomo

What Sotomo does

Sotomo is a Zurich-based Swiss research institute founded in 2000 that conducts representative opinion research and spatial analyses for Swiss media organizations, insurance companies, banks, government agencies, and non-profits. The firm operates three core service lines: Meinungsforschung (opinion studies including electoral polling, strategic surveys, and flash surveys), Räumliche Analysen (territorial analyses using proprietary Sotomo Nachbarschaften neighborhood units and geo-indicators), and Politische Marktforschung (political market research for campaign targeting). Its analytical foundation is a proprietary address panel of over 100,000 individuals drawn from all regions and population groups of Switzerland, combined with small-scale spatial units and centrality indicators developed for neighborhood-level geo-analysis. Studies routinely achieve sample sizes from 1,866 to 34,441 respondents, exemplified by the SRG SSR Wahlbarometer election polls and recurring series for AXA, Helvetia, CSS, Zurich Insurance, and economiesuisse.

Sotomo operates a project-based professional services model with custom quotes per engagement, multi-year contracts with key clients, and a sales-led GTM delivered through direct relationships. The 17-person team is led by Managing Director Michael Hermann and is dominated by PhD-holding researchers from the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich, and OST across geography, political science, psychology, and epidemiology. The firm is privately held, independently owned, and active across German- and French-speaking Switzerland with no disclosed external funding, acquisitions, or M&A activity. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and the company does not offer a self-service software product, API, or AI/ML tooling.

Name

Sotomo

Legal name

Sotomo

Website

https://sotomo.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sotomo is a Zurich-based Swiss research institute founded in 2000 that conducts representative opinion polls and spatial analyses for Swiss media, insurance, banking, government, and non-profit clients, using a proprietary 100,000-person address panel and proprietary neighborhood-level geo-indicators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich, Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

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 Projects: Project-based fees for conducting representative surveys on behalf of clients including government agencies, media organizations, corporations, and non-profits. Projects range from election polls to policy studies and market research.
2. Spatial Analysis Services: Customized territorial analyses for communes, real estate developers, and government planning agencies, including municipal reports, geomarketing analyses, and housing market studies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Sotomo is a Swiss research institute that conducts opinion research, territorial analyses, and political market research for clients in politics, business, and society. Services include electoral polls, opinion surveys, strategic surveys, flash surveys, contextual surveys, municipal reports, geo-marketing analyses, and customized spatial analyses, all backed by a proprietary address panel of over 100,000 Swiss residents and proprietary neighborhood-level spatial units.

Product overview

Sotomo is a Swiss research institute specializing in data-driven opinion research and territorial analyses. The company operates three core service offerings: Meinungsforschung (Opinion Studies) for survey research including electoral polling, strategic surveys, and flash surveys; Räumliche Analysen (Territorial Analyses) for spatial analyses of regions, municipalities, and neighborhoods using proprietary geo-indicators and neighborhood units; and Politische Marktforschung (Political Market Research) for campaign testing and spatial potential analyses. Sotomo does not offer a software product platform but rather provides research services backed by a proprietary address panel of over 100,000 people and scientific methodologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Opinion Studies (Meinungsforschung / Études d'opinion) Survey research services offering opinion polling on a wide range of topics including votes, health, mobility, retirement planning, and custom themes. Includes electoral surveys, strategic surveys, flash surveys, and contextual surveys delivered to Swiss media, government, corporate, and non-profit clients.
• Territorial Analyses (Räumliche Analysen / Analyses territoriales) Spatial and geographic analysis services providing data-driven insights into regions, municipalities, and neighborhoods. Includes municipal reports, geo-marketing, housing market studies, and custom spatial analyses based on Sotomo's proprietary neighborhood units and geo-indicators.
• Political Market Research (Politische Marktforschung / Sondages et analyses politiques) Political marketing research services helping campaigns target messaging effectively. Includes campaign testing and spatial potential analyses to identify effective political messaging and optimal campaign resource deployment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Conducted representative surveys with sample sizes ranging from 1,866 to 34,441 respondents for major studies
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Kantar:
• Pew Research Center: Nonpartisan research organization conducting public opinion polling and demographic research. Methodology and audience-facing delivery are highly comparable to Sotomo's election polling franchise, though operating as a nonprofit in the US context.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research and public opinion firm with significant Swiss operations. Provides broader portfolio of consumer and public opinion research, but overlaps with Sotomo in Swiss election polling and corporate research work.
• Gallup: Global public opinion and polling firm with broad political and corporate research capabilities. Comparable in election polling methodology and corporate brand/reputation research, though operating at much larger scale than Sotomo.

Emerging players

• YouGov: Online-first consumer and opinion research firm using large proprietary panels for survey work. Represents the technology-driven, panel-based competitor model that pressures traditional firms like Sotomo on speed and cost.

Direct peers

• DemoSCOPE: Swiss market research firm offering consumer, public opinion, and media research with a long-standing panel across Swiss regions. Comparable to Sotomo in serving Swiss corporate and institutional clients with survey-based research services.
• Mis Trend: Swiss opinion and trend research firm conducting election polling and social research. Highly comparable niche positioning to Sotomo in the Swiss political polling and public opinion segment.
• GFS Bern: Leading Swiss market and opinion research institute based in Bern, conducting election polling and social research for Swiss media, government, and corporate clients. Direct competitor to Sotomo across political polling and public opinion studies in Switzerland.
• LINK Institut: Major Swiss market research institute providing consumer, media, and public opinion research with national coverage. Direct competitor for Swiss survey projects across both corporate and media clients.

Regional players

• BAK Economics: Swiss economic research and forecasting firm providing sectoral and regional economic analyses. Comparable to Sotomo's spatial and territorial analytics work for cantonal and municipal planning clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sotomo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 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 Sotomo