Research Guides: Business: Private Company Research

Researching Private Companies: Strategy

Private companies are notoriously difficult to research. We recommend that you search these resources in this order:

Company website
Mergent
Big databases like ABI/Inform & Business Source Complete
Google Business News and the Regional Business News database
Government information
Business websites like Forbes or Inc.com often feature companies in lists or articles
Social media & LinkedIn

Forbes: America's largest private companies
Venture Beat Profiles
Primarily for internet startup companies. This site has a simplistic search function, so you must know the company's name.
Ranking: Inc.com
5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S.
Ranking: Red Herring Top 100
Ranking of top 100 "most exciting" private technology or life science startups.

MERGENT Online This link opens in a new window
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Try the "D&B 20 M Plus Private Company Search" tab and "D&B Private Company Database" under Basic Search.
ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
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Articles from scholarly and professional business journals worldwide, country- and industry-focused reports, and more
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
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Citations and full-text articles from scholarly and professional journals in business, management, and finance, plus SWOT analyses and company and industry reports

Regional Business News This link opens in a new window
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Full-text business news from rural and metropolitan sources across United States

Secretaries of State
Companies are required to file with the Secretary of State of the state in which they are established. The National Association of Secretaries of State website has an easy pull-down menu to find your state's web page.
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
These are sometimes the only public records available for new private companies in science and technology fields.
SEC Company Filing Search Tool
Private companies that raise capital are required to file a Form D with the SEC. These forms record a lot of important information about companies.
FormD.com
Private companies that raise capital are required to file a Form D with the SEC. These forms record a lot of important information about companies.