VentureXpert

VentureXpert is a venture capital database provided by Thomson Economics. Access to the data is currently available through the VentureXpert web-interface, the Thomson SDC Platinum client program (which appears to being phased out), or (unconfirmed) the Thomson ONE Investment Banking Platform. This page concerns VentureXpert as it is accessed through the SDC Platinum client, but the information is generally applicable.

Licensing

VentureXpert, SDC Platinum, ONE Investment Banking, and the underlying data are all (C) copyright Thomson Financial, and can only be used under license. Information on licenses, as well as product support, is available from the "Thomson client services hot-line" on 888 989 8373.

Coverage and Quality

VentureXpert provides details on (portfolio) companies, funds, firms, executives, (VC backed) IPOs and (VC) limited partners. Data Dictionaries are posted for the SDC interface - presumably much the same data is available through the other interfaces. The source availability notes, compiled in 2007, suggests coverage from 1969 to the present day, of approximately 7,000 funds (including private equity) into 23,000 portfolio companies.

Various papers have explored the data quality in VentureXpert, including: Gompers, Paul A., and Josh Lerner, 2004, The Venture Capital Cycle, 2nd edition, Cambridge: MIT Press.

Lerner et al. often advocate restricting attention to data on investments after 1975, as before this the data is clearly nowhere near comprehensive and suffers from a number of other issues; however, consensus in the academic community appears to advocate 1980 as a lower bound.

Extracting Data and Building Datasets

Users are cautioned that requesting a variable that, for whatever reason, no longer exists in the VentureXpert system will cause SDC to hang indefinately.

Data can be requested in tab-delimited string-quoted format for download. This is recommended: string quoting is necessary as the data will usually include in-column carriage returns. Data can be taken from the various "tables" and recombined into 3rd normal form tables suitable for use in a relational database system using the Normalizer.pl perl script. "Tables" in VentureXpert are more like perspectives on the data. That is there is a company perspective, a fund perspective and so forth. However, the company perspective contains fund variables, round variables and other variables from other perspectives. It is highly recommended that users attempt to download variables from their 'native' perspective to avoid processing problems. Summary variables are pervasive across all perspectives.

Custom Data Values

VentureXpert uses a number of custom classifications for stage, industry, etc. Some of these custom classifications are detailed below.

• Industry Classifications:
  • Company VE Internet Technology Group
  • Company VE Primary Industry Class
  • Company VE Primary Industry Major Group
  • Company VE Primary Industry Minor Group
  • Company VE Primary Industry Sub-Group 1
  • Company VE Primary Industry Sub-Group 2
  • Company VE Primary Industry Sub-Group 3

The values for these classifications are posted in the Porfolio Company - Attribute Code Explanations Data Dictionary File. However for fast reference Industry Minor Group contains the ten following values: Biotechnology, Communications and Media, Computer Hardware, Computer Software and Services, Consumer Related, Industrial/Energy, Internet Specific, Medical/Health, Other Products, Semiconductors/Other Elect.

• Stage Classifications:
  • Buyout/Acquisition
  • Early Stage
  • Expansion
  • Later Stage
  • Other
  • Startup/Seed

Buyout/Acquisition and Other are often excluded from analysis on venture capital investments, as they pertain predominantly to private equity.

Other classifications include:

• Fund Type (Short): ADV, CORPVEN, DEVEL, EGRN, ENDOW, FINCORP, GOVT, IBANK, INDIV, OTHER, PENSION, PRIV, SBIC, SECFOF, UNIV
• Fund Type (Long)
• State Codes

Lookup Tables

Lookup tables that convert VentureXpert attribute values to numeric codes are available for the following variables:

• VentureXpert Industry Minor Code: VE-LookupInduMinor.txt
• U.S. States: VE-LookupState.txt (Note that this is not a "standard" numeric code at present)
• Stage of Development: VE-LookupStage.txt