About SAGO
SAGO is a market research company headquartered in New Jersey. It was founded as Schlesinger Group in 1966 by Sarah Schlesinger, who led the company for two decades before passing the baton to her son Steve Schlesinger in the late 1980's.
The last few years have seen a flurry of activity at SAGO: acquisitions, CEO changes, a rebranding, and a ballooning debt load.
In 2023, Schlesinger Group rebranded as SAGO, and Steve Schlesinger transitioned to the role as Executive Chairman, appointing the former Kantar Americas CEO Reed Cundiff as CEO.
SAGO does primarily B2C surveys, but is also strong in healthcare. Geographically, the firm is focused on Canada and the US, though it operates focus group facilities across 14 US cities, three in Germany, and one each in Spain and the UK, alongside offices in Toronto, Gurgaon (India), and Managua (Nicaragua). SAGO offers a broad range of managed and self-serve qualitative and quantitative solutions, including recruitment and project management for any methodology, online or in-person. It has some proprietary panels, but primarily taps into third-party samples.
SAGO milestones
- 2015
Acquired Medquery, a Chicago-based fieldwork firm focused on healthcare.
- 2019
Took an investment from Gauge Capital "to help fund acquisitions to grow our geographical scope and service capabilities. SAGO indeed went on an acquisition spree. Gauge Capital invested out of their $500m fund 2, which targeted companies with EBITDA of $5-30m. SAGO also raised $9m debt from Apollo at 7-8% interest. Acquired Focus Pointe Global, including its 1.6m double opt-in B2C and Healthcare panel.
- 2020
Acquired Market Cube and 20|20 Research, two tech firms for qual and quant research.
- 2021
Acquired Addison Research, a Toronto-based fieldwork and CATI research firm focused on APAC. Acquired Methodify, a B2C online survey company in Canada. Acquired Telmy, a Melbourne-based B2C research startup. Acquired Asking Canadians, a B2C online research community in Canada.
- 2022
Acquired Opinion Capital, a Canadian programmatic B2C sample provider.
- 2023
Schlesinger Group rebranded as SAGO, and Steve Schlesinger transitioned to the role of Executive Chairman, appointing the former Kantar Americas CEO Reed Cundiff as CEO.
- October 2024
On Oct 9, Steve Schlesinger returned as CEO with immediate effect.
All the while, SAGO's debt load has kept increasing. Here's what we found in SEC filings:
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We mentioned SAGO in our 2023 B2B and Healthcare market sizing, but excluded it from the actual calculations on the basis of being primarily B2C and/or 3rd-party sampling.
FAQ
SAGO offers full-service and self-serve qualitative and quantitative market research, primarily for B2C audiences, with a particular strength in healthcare. We draw on a global network of proprietary facilities, panels, and partnerships.
No - SAGO is not part of the Inex One marketplace.
