DataFox Brings Private Company Analysis And One-Pagers To Mobile

DataFox, the online research platform that allows anyone to track information about private tech companies, has now brought its service to mobile in the form of a new iOS application. The free app provides DataFox subscribers with access to over 500,000 company one-pager’s, private and public lists, and an events stream detailing recent news on companies tracked, like new hires, turnover, acquisitions, IPOs, new product releases, and more.

As you may recall, DataFox first launched its “intelligence platform as a service” at TechCrunch Disrupt 2014, promising to put the capabilities of professional analysts into the hands of anyone interested in the same sort of information, research and insights. Except, unlike analysts who manually dig for information then enter it into spreadsheets and databases for further analysis, DataFox collects information automatically and in real-time using data-mining and machine learning technologies. It pulls in data from the web, RSS feeds, YouTube and other API partners like CrunchBase, AngelList, LinkedIn, Alexa and more.

It also creates its own data in order to surface new information other providers might not have, like who a firm’s top competitors are, for example.

One mobile, the new app offers many of the same features as the DataFox website, though it doesn’t load up the deeper insights, data tables and graphs on the web client.

Instead, co-founder Bastiaan Janmaat describes the app as something akin to a “Refresh for companies.” If you’re not familiar with Refresh, it’s that handy app that pings you with information and insights about the people you’re meeting with just ahead of your meeting time, allowing you to quickly catch up on what’s been going on with them and their business, while also potentially offering you common ground to connect over – like having mutual friends, for instance.

Similarly, DataFox’s company “one-pagers” can also quickly catch you up on the specifics of a company as a whole, detailing recent news, M&A activities, funding rounds, and more.

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You can also track your own lists of companies in the app, or those public lists you follow. To date, users, including DataFox team members, have created 16,000 lists, but users’ lists are private by default. There are, however, some 760 public lists that can help you get started, including selections like “The Billion-Dollar Club,” “Sharing Economy,” “E-commerce,” “Internet of Things,” “FinTech,” and more.

On DataFox, an investor may be tracking potential investments or their portfolio, as an example, while a large company may be tracking its Silicon Valley-based startup competition.

“One thing I’ve been happily surprised to see is that every large company in America has a team who are focused on the Valley, and the high-growth tech companies coming out the Valley,” says Janmaat. “The innovation is occurring at such a high speed, it’s really hard for these people who don’t have an office on Sand Hill Road or in SoMa to keep tabs on the companies that are up-and-coming, to prospect for interesting businesses, or to do research on them.”

Janmaat declined to say how many total customers DataFox has signed up since its launch, but he did say that it now has over 30 paying corporate customers ranging from single seat to 50-seat deals. He’s not allowed to disclose the name of those customers, either, but characterizes them as large corporations, including large tech companies, banks and investment firms.

The company also offers individual accounts for $50/month or professional accounts for $400/month. Those customers find the company on their own and sign up, while the corporate clients interact with DataFox’s sales team who also sell additional services and customizations.

Now that the app is live, DataFox is focusing on growing its sales team and working to deliver customers’ other big request: in a future release, DataFox will begin integrating with customers’ CRM systems, like Salesforce.

The new DataFox app is a free download (account required) here. While Android is on the roadmap, it has not been in high demand. Android customers can use a mobile website instead.