PrivCo - Proprietary Data on Private Companies
Jinfo Blog

By Graham Southorn

Abstract

PrivCo goes to great lengths to verify the accuracy of its information on private companies. But will it be enough to satisfy information managers? Find out more in our product review.

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When was the last time you tried to find information about a private company? Were you happy with the results? If you were one of the information managers questioned for our September 2015 survey on this subject, your answer may well be "no".

On the whole, our respondents felt they couldn't trust the information their searches turned up. It's perhaps not surprising, because private companies in many parts of the world aren't legally obliged to publish data about their businesses.

Attempting to solve this problem is PrivCo - the subject of our latest Product Review.

Keeping it Private

PrivCo is relatively new. It was launched in 2011 by PrivCo Media, which itself was only founded two years earlier. PrivCo provides financial and other data on privately held companies only, which might be a sticking point if you really want publicly traded companies in the same database.

At the time of writing, PrivCo holds data on 854,297 companies, of which 710,604 had confirmed revenue data. It's compiled from thousands of different sources, writes Jinfo's researcher, Andrew Lucas. "PrivCo says it does not use information from other databases such as Dun and Bradstreet. It employs proprietary technology-assisted data gathering and manual research conducted by its data team."

Secret Sources

The identity of these information sources is kept a closely-guarded secret for commercial reasons. That may jar with some purchasers who, in our survey, ranked the visibility of underlying sources as the most important factor when validating data accuracy.

There's variation, too, in the number of companies included from different countries although the scope is ramping up fast, including coverage of emerging economies. "There is no coverage from Russia, but PrivCo is always adding new countries when they have enough information," writes Andrew.

Find Out More, Read the Review

PrivCo is the new kid on the block, facing plenty of competition with other data suppliers. But, as Andrew writes, "Whilst other services may offer more data, PrivCo provides more depth. The ongoing development planned should lead to continuing improvements in the product offering."

For in-depth information on areas from PrivCo's pricing, to its usability, usefulness to investors and key advantages and value points, read the full Product Review of PrivCo.

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