Our startup funding data

Where the data comes from

• Every business day we read that day's new Form D and Form D/A filings from SEC EDGAR. Most appear on the site the same evening, the rest the next morning. Filings the SEC accepts after 5:30 pm count as the next business day's.
• Older filings come from the SEC's quarterly Form D data sets.
• Roles at public companies come from the SEC's insider data: Forms 3, 4 and 5 since 2006.
• For the startups we research, we also read the company's website, its press releases, its investors' websites, its LinkedIn page, its people's LinkedIn profiles and other official records. Each of those facts links to its source.

Which filings we count as startup funding

Startups are US operating companies that filed a Form D before they listed on a stock exchange. A company counts when it meets one of these:

• a corporation incorporated within the last five years, in any industry, including finance;
• an older corporation that raised money, unless the industry it chose on the Form D is banking, insurance or financial services (most of these are banks and insurers);
• an LLC in technology, biotech, pharma, restaurants or retail that raised money and is not run as a fund, a project or a practice.

The site keeps startup pages whose latest Form D or Form D/A was filed on or after January 1, 2023. For each retained company, its page includes its complete Form D history.

We judge each filing on its own, so a company that raised as a startup years ago keeps its page. The rules let in a few companies that are not startups; we take those out by hand.

We leave out:

• Public companies. A Form D does not say whether a company is listed, so we find the listing date in the company's SEC record and its first Form 3, 4 or 5. Filings made after the listing are left off the company's page.
• Foreign companies. Their Form D usually covers only the part of a round sold to US investors.
• Mergers, spin-offs and share exchanges. They are not fundraising.
• Investment funds, real estate offerings and other investment vehicles. They are not counted as startup funding and get no company page.

Offerings and amendments

A new Form D starts an offering. Amendments (Form D/A) update it, usually because more money came in. We show the latest amounts and keep the earlier figures as the offering's history. Totals count each offering once.

Figures that contradict each other

The SEC does not review Form D, so a field is sometimes mistyped. We flag a filing when its own figures cannot all be true:

• more sold than offered;
• money sold with no investors;
• money sold while the first sale is marked as not yet made;
• a minimum investment larger than the offering;
• a first sale after the filing date.

We publish a flagged filing as filed, and the company page says which figures disagree. We do not change the numbers. A large amount from a single investor is not treated as an error.

Names and places

We show a company's name the way the company writes it, and keep the name on the filing in the page's facts. Many startups give a registered agent's address in Delaware or Wyoming; we do not count those as the company's location. We do not publish the home addresses some filings contain.

People

A Form D lists the company's executive officers, directors and promoters. Each person gets one page per company. We join pages from different companies only when something more than the name shows they are the same person:

• two or more of the same people appear on both companies' filings;
• both match the same person on SEC insider filings (see public company roles below);
• a startup director has the same name as a person on an investment firm's own fund filings. Partners of investment firms often sit on startup boards, so we count them as one person;
• an official source ties them, such as a company team page, a press release, an SEC filing or the career the person lists on their own LinkedIn profile.

A name alone, or a name and a city, is not enough. When two pages turn out to be the same person, we join them, and the old address redirects to the joined page.

Public company roles

When a person files Forms 3, 4 or 5 as a director, officer or major shareholder of a public company, those roles appear on their page. We match those filings to a person only when the name is the same and either the person's Form D company is that public company, or at least two of their startup colleagues also file for it. The years shown are the first and last of those filings.

Companies we research

Every startup gets basic research: its website, LinkedIn page, industry and a one-line description, and the LinkedIn pages of its people. We are working through all startups since 2023, newest first. A startup that files a new Form D gets full research, usually the same evening, as listed below. Pages we have not researched yet show the filings only.

• The company. We confirm its website, then write what it sells and to whom. We list the rounds announced by the company, its lead investor or reputable media, and recent news. We also write a short summary of why investors backed it.
• Its people. For each person on its latest Form D, we add their role, a short bio, earlier jobs and board seats, and news that names them. Years appear where a source gives them. A photo is used only when an official page shows it with the person's name.
• Sources. Facts come only from official sources: the company's and its investors' websites, press releases, SEC filings and government records. We also use the company's LinkedIn page and its people's own LinkedIn profiles: to find the website, to tell people with the same name apart, and to list the roles a person shows on their profile. Other directories and social media are not sources of facts. News articles appear only in the news list.
• Announced rounds are kept apart. They are shown next to the Form D figures.
• “Why investors backed” summaries restate what the company and its investors have said in public. We do not check the company's own figures, and the summary is not investment advice.

Something wrong? See Corrections.