Planning for the future
Jinfo Blog

9th April 2009

By Penny Crossland

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Dow Jones’s announcement this week of the expansion of its VentureSource database (http://venturecapital.dowjones.com) to include data on European venture capital backed companies and their investors (http://digbig.com/4ypea) has been seen by some industry observers as ‘hope prevailing in the face of adversity’. However, there are others who believe the company’s acquisition earlier this year of the data assets of The Library House (http://www.libraryhouse.net - further background at http://www.vivavip.com/go/e15240) and the subsequent integration of its data sources to be a shrewd business decision. Whilst the venture capital industry may be in the doldrums now it has not disappeared completely, and it is companies with strong financial backing such as Dow Jones who will be in a position to exploit the market when the cycle turns. It is also heartening to see that premium business information is still believed to be of value. There are some who may say that information on private equity deals can be found for free on the web. VentureSource now claims to include details on 84,000 financing rounds, involving more than 39,000 companies and 13,000 investors worldwide. The database provides information on pre-venture opportunities and investment data on angel, government and university-backed companies in a variety of sectors. Already strong on European VC data on large, $5 million plus deals, the Library House data now provides VentureSource with information on small VC deals and on new companies in their early stages. Apart from deal data on projects in Israel, VentureSource also has data on emerging markets such as China and India. A strongly financed company such as Dow Jones is seen as the only type of information provider that is in a position to acquire and expand cyclical database products, since it can take the long-term view. Expect competitor Thomson Reuters to acquire similar ‘bargain basements’.

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