ResearchGate acquired Scholarz.net; financial terms were undisclosed. Scholarz.net's service was scheduled to discontinue on January 10, 2013, with users directed to export files and move to ResearchGate.
SourcePublic company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Aug 2, 2026
ResearchGate GmbH is a Berlin-based, privately held professional network for researchers. Its mission is to connect the world of science and make research open to all; the platform lets scientists share, discover, discuss, and track research and build professional connections.
Primary product
ResearchGate: a free researcher social/professional network for sharing and discovering scientific publications, data, questions, projects, and profiles. Commercial products include scientific recruitment and publisher/brand marketing solutions such as Journal Home, sponsored content, native/display advertising, sponsored email, and event promotion.
Founded
2008
Headquarters
Berlin, Germany
Team size
200-300 (LinkedIn estimate); other directories report 251-500 or 349, so public estimates vary.
Work style
Remote
Industry
Software Development
Sub-industry
Professional social networking and scientific-research information services
Offices
Stage
Late-stage/private, commonly classified as Series D; no publicly verified equity round after the 2017 Series D. A 2020 grant is listed by some databases.
Total raised
$87.6M
Latest round
Series D · Feb 2017
Latest amount
$52.6M
Dec 2020
Dec 2020
Leadership
Co-Founder and CEO
Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
Co-Founder and CIO
Mathias Astell
VP of Commercial Product
Mark Howard-Banks
VP of Product
Michael Häusler
Mission-driven, collaborative, open, and empowered culture centered on accelerating science. The careers material emphasizes lifelong learning, mentorship, flexibility, professional growth, healthy work-life balance, and rapid engineering iteration.
Work style
Remote
Visa sponsorship
Limited
Compensation
No reliable public company-wide salary bands were found. External job-listing evidence indicates unspecified salary for at least one engineering role; LinkedIn directory ratings show relatively weak compensation sentiment (2.6/5), which is directional and not an audited measure.
Benefits
Pricing
Researcher access is free. Commercial pricing for recruitment, advertising, sponsored content, and publisher products is quote-based/custom B2B; public rate cards were not found.
Differentiators
Technology
Estimated revenue
EUR 1M-EUR 10M (third-party LinkedIn/company-directory estimate; LinkedIn also displays EUR5M). Not publicly audited.
Estimated monthly visits
73.7M
ResearchGate acquired Scholarz.net; financial terms were undisclosed. Scholarz.net's service was scheduled to discontinue on January 10, 2013, with users directed to export files and move to ResearchGate.
SourceSome commercial databases list a 2020 grant/prize-money round, but the amount and underlying program were not reliably verifiable from primary sources.
SourceSTM Publishing News · Jul 2026
New partnership covering Science China Press journals, including Chinese-language titles, to increase international visibility and engagement across ResearchGate's 25M+ researcher community.
Research Information · Jul 2026
ResearchGate announced a new Journal Home partnership with Science China Press to increase international visibility and engagement for the publisher’s journals, including Chinese-language titles.
STM Publishing News · Jul 2026
Journal Home partnership covering seven endocrinology and biomedical journals, focused on readership, authorship, journal visibility, and researcher engagement.
Research Information · Jul 2026
ResearchGate expanded Journal Home with Bioscientifica to boost visibility, readership, and authorship across endocrinology and biomedical journals.
5 jobs at ResearchGate
Business model
Feb 2017 · Wellcome Trust, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, and Four Rivers Group were announced as investors; lead status not clearly specified
Jun 2013 · Bill Gates and Tenaya Capital
Feb 2012 · Founders Fund and Benchmark Capital are reported among the investors; lead status not confirmed
Sep 2010 · Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital are reported among the investors; lead status not confirmed
Director of Engineering Architecture
Michael Reddington
Sales Director, ResearchGate Marketing Solutions
Paul McCloud
Head of Product Engineering
Investors
Customers
Competitors
STM Publishing News · Apr 2026
Partnership covering the publisher's complete biology-journal portfolio, including open-access agreement messaging and researcher targeting.