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Ekaterina Damer

Co-founder (early CEO); current operational role unverified · Prolific

LinkedInPodcast: Getting Specific About Prolific (Feb 2022) ↗In the feed

Psychological scientist who co-founded Prolific after struggling to recruit participants for her own PhD studies. She was the company's early CEO. Current public materials name only Phelim Bradley as CEO/co-founder, and her present role is unclear.

low confidenceOxford, UKAt Prolific since 2014Updated 2026-09-19

Background

Did a PhD in experimental social psychology (University of Sheffield) and studied at Cambridge per Crunchbase. The idea came from her own research: she found no flexible, transparent online platform for recruiting participants, so she built one. An Oxford EnSpire profile describes her as co-founder and CEO, working on Prolific part-time while finishing her PhD.

What they run now

Unknown for 2026. Crunchbase lists her as co-founder and an angel investor (pre-seed in Besample, May 2025).

Career

  1. 2014Co-founder; early CEO, Prolific
  2. —University of Sheffield, PhD Experimental Social Psychology
  3. —University of Cambridge — per Crunchbase

On the record

Why Prolific exists

Researchers should get answers fast while participants earn fair cash rewards. Trustworthy research data was the founding goal. source

Recent posts

3 posts archived · most engaged first, then the latest

Ekaterina Damer, PhD
Behavioral Scientist, Founder & Angel Investor
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"Europe is exposed to the risks of powerful AI while much of the economic upside and power is ending up elsewhere. Even if AI 'goes well,' we don't want our defense, scientific progress and economic prosperity to depend on other countries' goodwill in granting Europe access to models and chips."
1
All 3 in the feed →

Interviews & talks

Connections

Investments and boards

  • Besample (pre-seed, May 2025, per Crunchbase)

Who they amplify

Accounts whose posts Ekaterina has reposted recently: Elena Brandt, Ph.D..

Why it matters here

Little direct relevance to AI-lab deals today. She is useful as a founder who understands participant-side research ethics and data quality, and she is a possible angel for a European human-data startup (speculation).

How to reach

Via LinkedIn or the Oxford founder network. Speculation: framed as founder-to-founder advice on participant quality and fair pay.

What we could not establish
  • Whether she still holds an operating or board role at Prolific in 2026.
  • When she stopped being CEO.
  • X handle not found.

Sources

  1. EnSpire Oxford: Ekaterina Damer, co-founder of Prolific
  2. Crunchbase: Ekaterina Damer
  3. LinkedIn: Ekaterina Damer
  4. More of a Comment Than a Question podcast: Getting Specific About Prolific (Feb 2022)
  5. Oxford University Innovation: Prolific profile
Also at Prolific
high confidence

Phelim Bradley

Co-founder & CEO

medium confidence

Enzo Blindow

VP of Data & AI

medium confidence

Sara Saab

VP Product