Orchidea Hires Two in US, Launches New Survey Platform

Gurgaon, India-based MR agency Orchidea Research has appointed two execs in Chicago: Navneet Singh Virk as Director Survey Solutions and Nitin Sharma as Global Director Survey Solutions. The firm has also launched a new survey platform.

Founded in 1989, Orchidea initially worked on 'pen and paper' projects on behalf of the Indian government before closing down in 2001. Last October, the company was re-opened as a digital research specialist by former Toluna/Paradigm Sample Project Manager Vaibhav Kushwaha and Harry Singh, who is a relative of the firm's original founder Swaran Singh.

The company currently has online panels in the US, Canada, UK, India, China, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Spain, France and Germany, and says its new survey platform will improve the survey-taking experience for panelists, while offering checks to ensure all data gathered is authentic.

Singh Virk joins from MR technology and operations specialist Annik, where he served as a Project Manager, prior to which he worked at Paradigm Sample, Aptara and Toluna. Sharma was most recently Director Sales North America at Paneland Market Research; earlier he held a panel management role at Paradigm Sample, was a Bidding Consultant at United Sample, and a Project Manager at Toluna.

Kushwaha comments: 'We believe Orchidea will be a prominent player in the data collection industry in North America. With the launch of our new survey platform, as well as the appointment of Navneet Singh Virk and Nitin Sharma, I am confident in the growth of Orchidea Research and I look forward to expanding the company further.'

Web site: www.orchidearesearch.com .