Capital Markets & Trading | Toronto, ON | Founded: 2011 | Employees: 51 | www.quandl.com
PHONE: (647) 691-0656 | LINKEDIN PROFILE | BLOOMBERG PROFILE | WIKIPEDIA
Last updated January 31, 2019 | To download a PDF version, click here.
Company Overview
Quandl is a source for financial, economic, and alternative datasets, serving investment professionals. It provides essential financial and economic data alongside a suite of unique, alpha-generating alternative datasets. With a delivery system through API or analytic tools, such as R, Python, and Excel – Quandl is known for understanding and providing what professional analysts need. Some data sets are free while others require a subscription.
Senior Management
Tammer Kamel: Founder and CEO (2011-Present). Previously: Partner, The Iluka Consulting Group (2002-2011); Director of Risk Management, Simplex Asset Management (1997-2002); Senior Engineer, Citi (1997-1997); Analyst, Citi (1995-1996). Education: BSc Computer Engineering (1990-1996).
Abraham Thomas: Founder and Chief Data Officier (2011-Present). Previously: Angel Investor, Private (2011-2015); Principal, Abraham Thomas Capital (2011-2011); Partner, GrowX Ventures (2009-2011); Partner, The Iluka Consulting Group (2007-2011); Director, Head of US Trading, Simplex Asset Management (2003-2006). Education: B.Tech, Engineering Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (1994-1998).
Beth Adams: CFO (2012-Present). Previously: Managing Director/Executive Director, CIBC World Markets (2000-2004); Executive Director/Senior Manager, CIBC World Markets (1994-2000); Senior Manager/Accountant, KPMG (1985-1994). Education: B.A., The University of Western Ontario, Masters of Education, University of Toronto.
Carrie Shaw: CMO (2016-Present). Previously: Director of Marketing, OutRank (2012-2016); Head of Product and Marketing, Thoora (2010-2012); AVP, Blueprint Software Systems (2008-2010); Product Management Professional, Self-employed (2002-2008); VP, PM, BPS (2005-2007); Lead Program Manager, Microsoft (1995-2001). Education: B.A., English/Comp Sci, University of Waterloo; MSc, Computer Mediated Communication, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2002-2003).
History
Quandl, based in Toronto, was founded in 2012 by Tammer Kamel and Abraham Thomas in part because of their frustrations with the limited data and primitive delivery systems that were available to them. They believe that alternative data is going to be the significant driver of active investment performance over the next decade.[1] In July 2014, Quandl Joined NASDAQ Elite Index Partner Program to make index data more accessible and transparent.[2] In January 2016, Quandl announced it would be offering market data from Barchart, which allows customers to receive financial and economic data through an online platform.[3] In September 2016, Dale Richards, former CEO of Lakefront Data Ventures and FAME Information Services, was appointed to Quandl’s board of directors.[4] In Q1 2017, it was reported that Quandl had 200,000+ Users and 10 million daily downloads.[5]
[1] https://www.fxempire.com/education/article/alternative-data-is-going-mainstream-heres-why-investors-should-pay-attention-525789
[2] https://www.quandl.com/press/nasdaqomx
[3] https://www.quandl.com/press/barchart-european-futures-quandl
[4] https://www.quandl.com/press/dale-richards-joins-quandl-board-of-directors
[5] https://www.quandl.com/about
Funding
In September 2012, Quandl raised an undisclosed round of seed funding, followed by $5.45 million Series A from August Capital in October 2013.[6] In September 2016, Quandl announced a $12 million Series B financing round led by Nexus Venture Partner, and August Capital also participated, bringing its total funding to about $20 million.[7]
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quandl
[7] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160912005787/en
Key Corporate Developments
Press releases: https://www.quandl.com/press
November 13, 2014: Quandl Secures $5.4 Million In Series A Financing From August Capital
September 12, 2016:Alternative Data Platform Quandl Raises $12 Million in Series B Funding
April 26, 2018: Quandl Launches Exclusive Corporate Aviation Intelligence Platform
December 4, 2018: Nasdaq Acquires Quandl to Advance the Use of Alternative Data
Business Highlights
Strategy
Quandl leverages alternative data to target one line of business:
- Trading Strategies – Quandl leverages alternative data by sourcing, evaluating, and productizing undiscovered data, and then sells it to financial institutions, who access it to enhance their trading strategies as the data is not typically made available to Wall Street firms through traditional sources.
Products/Pricing
- Alternative Data: Quandl purchases data from a variety of providers to give investors an edge in the markets today. Examples of data providers include consumer insights from private software companies, anonymized insurance data, and vessel tracking for commodities transport. Quandl will turn company data assets into revenue and provide the technical infrastructure to deliver the data in front of buy-side professionals who use the platform. Different databases have different prices.
- Financial Data: Quandl provides publishers of commercial financial data the opportunity to generate revenue by selling to financial professionals on its platform. The data is entirely the company’s IP and choose the terms by which their Quandl customers access it. The companies also set their prices and Quandl takes a commission on sales.
- Corporate Aviation Intelligence: Analysts can confirm their hypotheses about M&A and other corporate activity by seeing in near real-time where company executives are traveling. This data provides material evidence to reinforce investment decisions, confirm rumours, and predict corporate activity.
Technology
Quandl leverages technology that enables it to source data from 350 publishers. All of Quandl’s data are accessible through an API and is possible through packages for multiple programming languages including R, Python, Matlab, Maple, and Stata. Quandl's sources are made up of “open data from providers such as the UN, Worldbank and central banks; core financial data from providers such as CLS Group, Zacks, and ICE; and alternative data from Dun & Bradstreet, along with numerous confidential sources.”[8]
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quandl
Distribution/Logistics
Quandl delivers financial data to over 400,000 users, including analysts from top hedge funds and investment banks. Quandl sources, cleans, and structures past unknown datasets for alpha-generating perceptions. Its platform then delivers the finished data product via API and other tools often used by the modern investor. Quandl serves nine of the ten largest hedge funds[9]. Quandl has an exclusive partnership with CLS Group in London and is the only source of commercial FX volume data.[10]
[9] https://ca.linkedin.com/company/quandl
[10] https://www.waterstechnology.com/inside-market-data/news/2465222/quandl-adds-cls-fx-trade-volume-data-to-online-platform
Marketing
Quandl provides technical infrastructure to companies so that end users can access data through its platform. The companies are responsible for marketing their data and building a credible brand, thus, Quandl’s operating costs are reduced from marketing.
Corporate Profile Created By: Arielle Luder, Ivey HBA