Gathering data on users at scale can be tricky — even for statisticians. Scott Smith (a former marketing professor), faced this problem when conducting market research and came up with the idea to develop an online survey tool. That was the genesis for what would become Qualtrics, a software platform that simplifies and accelerates data collection and analytics. With a focus on providing “experience management” solutions, the company allows users to build the data sets they need and get powerful insights to inform business decisions and drive improvements. Enterprises worldwide rely on Qualtrics, including over 75 percent of the Fortune 100 and 99 of the top 100 U.S. business schools.

Qualtrics was founded in 2002 by brothers Ryan and Jared Smith alongside their father, Scott, in the basement of the family home in Provo, Utah. The business was bootstrapped until 2012, when Accel led the first outside investment. We led subsequent rounds of funding in 2014 and 2017 to fuel expansion. In 2019, on the eve of its IPO, the company was acquired by SAP. In 2023, Accel was part of the $12.5 billion acquisition of Qualtrics.