Open data can provide the transparency that both founders and funders need for successful partnerships. So says Hockeystick, a Toronto-based startup that uses open data to reduce obstacles to the private market.

Hockeystick provides data tools for companies, investors and governments to leverage data to drive greater performance and better returns in the private sector. Combining open data with proprietary data sets, Hockeystick is the only platform where data is owned and controlled by users. Founded in 2014, Hockeystick serves hundreds of funds and over 12,000 companies worldwide.

This month, Hockeystick doubled down on startup transparency by launching its own free, open database about founders and funders.

Watch the Data Hub Session, presented by Raymond Luk on "Lessons Learned Through Developing Hockeystick."



Using information from government sources, company press releases, websites for companies and funders, and data contributed by startups and investors who saw the need for less friction in startup investment, Hockeystick has built a database that encompasses 8,600 companies, 160 venture capital firms, 47 angel investor groups, 214 accelerators and incubators, and 553 government programs. And those numbers rise every week.

In announcing the new database, Hockeystick CEO and Founder Raymond Luk said, “We believe in the power of data to make better companies, investors and markets. The lack of accurate, standardized data has hurt the performance of the entire private market. We see a future where high-quality data is available to everyone, whether you’re an entrepreneur looking for funding or an investor seeking the next unicorn. Data has the power to produce meaningful insights, including predictive ones, and to drive better returns.”


Hockeystick has invited founders and funders to help build the open data archive, to make the best collaborations possible.

Senior Marketing Manager Laura Curk explained that some data organizations collect similar information, but put up a paywall, so users have to pay to access their own information.

“Creating a database shouldn’t mean that businesses can put up a paywall and sell customer data back to them or to others. Entities should own their own data, control how it’s used, and have clear incentives to share it if they choose to. Hockeystick is the only data company that approaches data rights and ownership this way.”


Is Hockeystick a warrior for open data?

“We’ve definitely taken on that mantle, that’s for sure,” Curk says.

But Curk notes that Hockeystick is not alone in this effort: “The open database is really a call to action to the ecosystem,” she says. “If you don’t see your fund, program or company here, take action to get it there.”

“We will continue to add entities to the open database and we have a roadmap of new functionality, including APIs, enhanced fundraising searches and more.”

Hockeystick is thinking beyond Canada’s borders: “We’ve already signed an agreement to access data from the Angel Capital Organization, the U.S. body that connects 300 angel groups and 93,000 companies. We intend to build the same kind of database in the U.S., and are already talking with investors in Europe about documenting the ecosystem there.”

This could mean some expansion of the 20-member team. Curk explains, “we’re always on the hunt for top talent.”