VISASQ/Coleman Research
VISASQ/COLEMAN traces back to two separate companies, each with its own history before merging:
VisasQ launched in 2012 as Walkntalk Inc., rebranding to VisasQ in 2015. It went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's growth market on March 10, 2020, making it the only publicly traded company in the expert network industry.
Coleman Research was founded in 2003 in New York, with a founder background at Multex, a financial information service launched during the 1999 dot-com wave - a background shared with the founder of Ridgetop Research.
In August 2021, VisasQ acquired Coleman Research for $102 million. At the time, Coleman had more than twice VisasQ's revenues, giving the combined entity a strong presence in both Japan and the US. As the global expert network industry faced headwinds in 2022–2023, VisasQ - as a public company - disclosed writing off the entire $95 million of goodwill from the Coleman acquisition in its FY2023 annual report.
The combined company operates under the brand name VISASQ/COLEMAN. As of a November 2024 filing, the combined entity had a database of more than 650,000 experts globally (175,000 of them in Japan), supporting more than 1,000 clients from 600+ employees across nine office locations.
VISASQ/COLEMAN says roughly 20% of experts on any given project are custom-sourced specifically for that engagement, rather than drawn from the existing database.
VISASQ/COLEMAN service offering
The combined company operates across several service lines, drawing on both legacy businesses:
Expert calls - regular 1-on-1 phone interviews, meetings, conferences, and placements (VisasQ's "VisasQ Interview")
Surveys - regular B2B survey work (VisasQ's "VisasQ Survey")
Rapid-turnaround polls - a quick poll to a small panel of experts, aiming to deliver 5+ experts within 24 hours (VisasQ's "VisasQ Now/Lite")
Written research reports - smaller consulting projects combining expert calls and surveys into a full written deliverable (VisasQ's "VisasQ Report")
Longer engagements - site visits and extended projects, sometimes called "breakout engagements" at other networks (VisasQ's "VisasQ Partner")
Hosted Events - 35+ weekly webinars and roundtables featuring senior experts, hosted by Coleman analysts (a Coleman-originated product line)
Coleman previously also offered a licensable "Expert Relationship Management" (ERM) platform for other firms to run their own expert networks — this was discontinued after the VisasQ acquisition, as the combined company chose to focus on its own expert network services rather than software licensing. Similarly, Inex One offers an EMS (Expert Management System) that research businesses, consulting firms, and panel providers can license to run their own branded expert network.
FAQ
What does VISASQ/COLEMAN specialize in? VISASQ/COLEMAN specializes in expert calls, surveys, rapid-turnaround expert polls, written research reports, and hosted events, serving buy-side firms, strategy consulting firms, and corporations globally, with particular depth in Japan and the US.
What's the relationship between VisasQ and Coleman Research? VisasQ, a publicly traded Japanese expert network, acquired Coleman Research, a New York-based expert network, in August 2021 for $102 million. The combined company now operates as VISASQ/COLEMAN. For the fuller pre-merger history of each company individually, see their original entries: VisasQ and Coleman Research.
Does Inex One offer a white-label expert management platform? Yes. Inex One offers an EMS (Expert Management System) that research businesses, consulting firms, and panel providers can license to run their own branded expert network.
Is VISASQ/COLEMAN available on Inex One? Yes - VISASQ/COLEMAN is a partner on the Inex One marketplace, available for both expert calls and surveys.
Click here to start working with VISASQ/COLEMAN on Inex One.
