Research Guides: Company Research: Private Company Info

Private Company and Directory Information

Current Olin students, faculty and staff have access to restricted library internet resources. View Remote Access for more information.

Research Tip: It is difficult to find much of any information on private companies and almost impossible to obtain detailed financial information. For most private companies, the best you can hope for is to get total sales for the company, numbers of employees and when it was founded. In some cases, a local business publication (e.g. St. Louis Business Journal) has written an article on the company.

CB Insights
CB Insights is an information services firm tracking private companies and their investors (venture capital, angel investors, private equity, etc) as well as private company M&A activity. CB Insights data covers multiple sectors including technology (internet, mobile, software, hardware, semiconductors, etc), green tech / clean tech and life sciences (medical devices, healthcare IT, biotech, etc). NOTE: Users will first need to create a free account using their WUSTL key.
Data Axle Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA)
A database of over 60 million businesses and more than 302 million consumers. Business listings include such data as company names, phone numbers, complete addresses, key executive names, SIC Codes, employee size, sales volume, geo-codes for mapping, contact details, franchise and brand information, news, liens, judgments and bankruptcies, and credit rating scores. Residential information is compiled from more than 5,200 White Page telephone directories and census data.

Access: Danforth Campus
Hoover’s Online Business Network (Access restricted to Kopolow Business Library & Business School)
This site contains in-depth company information including profiles, financials, officers, products, competitors and more. The database features the ability to build company and contact lists, browse news, research industries, and obtain market research and analyst reports. NOTE: Limited to Business School students/faculty/staff on proxy. Available to all students on-site at Kopolow Business Library.

Access: Business School
PitchBook
PitchBook provides comprehensive, detailed data on the Private and Public Markets – including companies, investors, funds, investments, exits, and people – to help global business and academic professionals discover and execute opportunities and research with confidence. Use the platform to track the flow of capital across the entire Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Merger & Acquisition landscapes while diving deep into the profiles of companies, investors, funds, and deals taking place.
Login Instructions: Click the "Log in" button at the top right of the homepage. On the "Log into the PitchBook Platform" screen, choose the "Log in with SSO" option under the gray "Log in" button. Type your Washington University email address into the "Email" field and click the orange "Log in" button. This will take you to the WashU WUSTL Key Login page. Enter your WUSTL key username and password and click "Login." If you are off campus, you may need to use the 2FA Duo authentication. After WUSTL key authentication you will be brought to the PitchBook platform dashboard.
Login Instructions: Type your Washington University email address into the "Email" field and click the "Log in" button. This will take you to the WashU WUSTL Key Login page. Enter your WUSTL key username and password and click "Login." If you are off campus, you may need to use the 2FA Duo authentication. After WUSTL key authentication you will be brought to the PitchBook platform dashboard.
Regional Business News
This database provides comprehensive full text coverage for regional business publications. Regional Business News incorporates coverage of 75 business journals, newspapers and newswires from all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States. This database is updated on a daily basis.

Access: Danforth Campus
Sorkins (Access restricted to Kopolow Business Library & Business School)
Company profiles and Business lists including multiple levels of executives and managers from all industries and professions throughout the Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City regions.

Access: Business School only

ThomasNet (Thomas Publishing)
Product information for about 157,000 North American manufacturing companies. Includes 135,000 trade names organized into 50,000 product classes. (Updated quarterly)

Access: Available to everyone

Uniworld (Access restricted to Kopolow Business Library & Business School)
Uniworld Online is the most trusted source for contact information of multinational companies. In 2015 Uniworld merged their two directories: American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries and Foreign Firms Operating in the United States. Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries is the authoritative source of information on American firms, which have branches, subsidiaries, or affiliates outside the United States. Directory of Foreign Firms Operating in the United States is the source for global contact information of Foreign-owned businesses (non-American) with a presence in the United States.

Access: Business Library only