The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout has been difficult on many U.S. companies. But for firms sourcing private businesses as investment targets, the growing use of alternative data-driven solutions presents wide-ranging and valuable opportunities. In conversation with our solutions engineer Aubrey Gassbarre during a recent webinar, PrivCo CEO Basil Hamadeh discussed the vast resources available to investment professionals and outlined how his company is leading the way in business and financial research.
Sourcing for add-ons, pathways to public, debt financings, or simple company fundamentals? There’s data for that.
Hamadeh explained that alongside data deep-dives into specific companies, it is important for investors to ascertain underlying market conditions, and both historical and forward-looking trends. The pandemic has shaken up both the public and private landscape, but through its database, PrivCo is able to answer key questions on investors’ minds – including which startups were hardest hit by the ongoing pandemic, and which sector recognized the most funding growth throughout this same time period.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, PrivCo data shows that startups in transportation were worst off, followed by other capital-intensive sectors concurrently forced into shutdown, such as travel, retail, food, and consumer products. The data also shows biotechnology in the lead, up nine percent over the course of 2019.
Looking into the next decade, data trends indicate that capital will pour into the technology sector, specifically for tech firms focused on cybersecurity, AI, and solutions oriented towards healthcare and consumer durables. These types of insights allow users to find new companies on the upswing or in need of capital infusions, with intentions ranging from add-on acquisitions, pathways to take a company public, debt financings, or simply understanding a company’s fundamentals better.
DealCloud’s DataCortex powered by Privco
How has PrivCo established itself as a leading alternative database platform? Two words: timeliness and comprehensiveness. Data is refreshed in real-time to reflect the current market, and PrivCo offers the widest view into private companies. Hamadeh estimates that around 80 percent of private companies aren’t included in competing databases, or they offer only limited data. “It’s important to have a full picture of investment opportunities to avoid wrong assumptions,” he noted.
This is one of the reasons DealCloud partnered with PrivCo – to include all of its private company data directly into DealCloud’s financial data management solution, DataCortex. As Gasbarre explained, the core elements of DataCortex are to allow DealCloud users to source opportunities, manage their pipeline, and execute on deals. Powered by the alternative data solutions within PrivCo, this cloud-based SaaS product has become a must-have for investors who want to remain competitive in the capital markets.
How to leverage the PrivCo advantage
Gasbarre provided a live demonstration of the DataCortex platform, showing its ability to transform PrivCo’s data sets – company data, deal data, people data, and news data – into tailored and easy-to-use sourcing strategies. The process is simple, intuitive, and Gasbarre noted that the advanced search capabilities give users control of the information that matters to them: “You can search companies by almost any breakdown, whether its financials, KPIs, transaction details, funding rounds, types of deals, sponsored or unsponsored companies, as well as geography and revenue amounts.”
“You can search companies by almost any breakdown, whether its financials, KPIs, transaction details, funding rounds, types of deals, sponsored or unsponsored companies, as well as geography and revenue amounts.” – Aubrey Gasbarre
With a click of a button, users can produce landing pages with custom data sets, and can hone in on the companies they want to include in their sourcing efforts. These filtered pages show companies by type, sector, geography, funding, revenue, employee growth, and other key metrics. A corresponding dashboard tracks which team member owns existing relationships, already-conducted outreach, documentation of conversations and meetings, and how opportunities have evolved. Each time the dashboard is pulled up, it is auto refreshed with the real-time company updates from PrivCo’s database, with current company information, key metrics, news, and comparable firms.
From the platform to your devices
Information is only valuable if it can be applied, and in the fast-paced world of deal making, this means having it readily available wherever you are. Gasbarre finished her demonstration by showing the integration of DataCortex with Microsoft Office Suite, and how with one more click of a button, all relevant material is transformed into both a report and a company tear sheet. This stylized report can be sent wherever it’s needed: A firm’s internal portal, relevant email addresses, or even mobile apps for users on the go.
What is the end result? Users have the best information, with the right context, formatted in a digestible format to drive forward their acquisition strategy – all within a matter of minutes.
To learn the top five ways to leverage private company data in your CRM, click here >
Click here to access the webinar recording >