While studying finance and accounting at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Joey French realized there was a severe lack of quality, affordable data. Moreover, there was not an easy automated way to value the companies he was analyzing. Thus, Joey built the prototype for Valuation and began brainstorming a solution to the lack of available data.
At the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Joey was engrossed in the concept of knowledge management – and with this missing piece, the vision for Intrinio was born. Rachel Carpenter, a fellow finance and management student at UW – Madison, joined the team and together the pair set out to learn the development and technical skills needed to bring their financial solutions to market.
What is Intrinio?
Intrinio provides financial data about publicly traded companies to individual investors, students, and organizations. Using automation, Intrinio provides this data for a fraction of the price investors typically pay. Importantly, users can access data on PCs, Macs, smartphones, Google spreadsheets, Microsoft Excel, or through an API – a group of options unavailable anywhere else in the market.
In addition to being affordable and user friendly, Intrinio’s data has unmatched flexibility and transparency. It is easy to see where the data came from, creating honesty in the sometimes foggy world of investing. The flexibility comes from being able to report the data anyway the user wishes. P/E ratios next to earnings growth? No problem. Want to compare the return on capital of five companies? Sure. How the data can be displayed and viewed is only limited by the user’s imagination.
Intrinio’s founders, Joey French and Rachel Carpenter, also built an innovative online stock valuation engine that allows you to test the value of a company in different scenarios. Users can turn their valuations into Reports and post them on Exchange where they can acquire Reports on other users.
Intrinio is building an online community of investors centered on access to comprehensive, high quality, and affordable data and a collaborative community of peers. At its core, Intrinio is built around the idea that all of the problems with the financial data industry – cost, lack of transparency, inflexibility, restrictive data and use – can be eliminated through innovation.
What’s next?
In 2014, Intrinio relocated to St. Petersburg to begin development. Conor Farley was brought on board as Director of Business Development and the Intrinio concept was launched in February 2015. By the end of this summer, Intrinio will cover every single U.S. publicly traded company and begin expanding into international markets. In 2016, the Valuation platform will be enhanced to offer private company valuation.
Why St. Pete?
“The decision to move Intrinio from the Midwest to St. Petersburg was a strategic one. A FinTech startup needs three things: talent, affordable infrastructure, and a network of investors. Attracting talent is easy in St. Pete – why vacation here when you can live here? With universities, museums, affordable housing, beaches, breweries, and great music – programmers, engineers, and business minds are easier to attract.
The beauty of St. Pete is that all of those perks are relatively undiscovered, making rent for employees, office space, and the cost of living affordable. The flip side of that coin is that there are tons of investors, well-established institutions, and startups that allow companies like Intrinio to get the exposure they need to achieve funding.
The business environment is overwhelmingly welcoming, helpful, and supportive. The vibe is extremely inclusive and positive – something you won’t find in a larger, industrial city. It’s a very exciting time in St. Petersburg, and Intrinio is thrilled to be a part of it.”
Thank you to Rachel Carpenter for sharing Intrinio’s story.