Virtual Lab, LLC provides a research platform that enables academic institutions and nonprofit organizations to design, recruit participants for, and run behavioral studies across messaging and social media channels. The service acts as a data processor for participant information, allowing researchers to collect survey responses, consent records, and interaction metadata while managing data retention and compliance with GDPR. Researchers can connect external platforms like Facebook Messenger or SMS to automate study workflows.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Researchers at academic institutions and nonprofits often lack a streamlined way to design, recruit participants for, and conduct behavioral surveys using popular messaging channels such as Facebook Messenger and SMS. Coordinating messaging APIs, handling consent, and storing response data securely can be technically complex and time‑consuming.
Solution
Virtual Lab offers a cloud‑based research platform that lets authorized researchers create study protocols, define survey content, and configure recruitment parameters through a web dashboard or API. The service connects directly to external messaging and advertising platforms, automating message delivery, consent capture, and response collection. Participant data—including platform‑assigned identifiers, survey answers, and message metadata—is stored in encrypted databases and made available to the researcher’s institution for analysis. Built‑in role‑based access controls and integration with authentication providers ensure that only authorized users can view or manage study data. The platform also supports non‑promotional follow‑up communications, enabling multi‑wave study designs while respecting participant opt‑ins and platform policies.
Target Audience
Primary customers are research teams at universities, colleges, and nonprofit organizations that need to conduct behavioral studies using chat‑based or SMS survey delivery.
Features
- Web dashboard and REST API for configuring surveys, targeting criteria, message templates, and recruitment budgets
- Native integrations with messaging channels (e.g., Facebook Messenger, SMS) and advertising platforms for automated participant outreach
- Secure handling of participant identifiers, consent records, and response data with encryption at rest and in transit
- Role‑based access control and single‑sign‑on via Auth0 to manage researcher accounts and permissions
- Automated collection of message metadata (timestamps, delivery status, chatbot state) for detailed study analytics
- Support for special‑category data processing under researcher‑provided consent and ethics approvals
- Export of study results and metadata to researcher‑controlled storage or analysis tools via API