Funds and International Expansion for The Data City

Leeds, UK-based real-time company data and classification system The Data City has received a £2m investment from Oxford Economics, valuing the company at around £19m.

The company helps clients in both public and private sectors to understand the economy in 'real time', including policymakers, economists, investors and analysts. Its RTIC classification system is a replacement for the SIC codes used to categorise British industry since the 1980s and beyond - the latter do not reflect changes in the economy and continue to group large numbers of very different firms in 'other' categories. The Data City counted some 5.3 million UK companies on its database last September, and more than 400 RTIC classifications.

In September, the company launched a new Quantum Technologies RTIC, built in collaboration with experts from The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Government Office for Science (GOS) and Innovate UK Business Connect. Version 5 of the Data City's platform was launched in February and uses AI technology to gather data from sources including open data sets and company financials.

The latest investment is the firm's largest since being established in 2017: in 2023, a funding round of £350k valued it at £10 million, indicating rapid growth since. In the last twelve months the business has created ten new senior roles across development, data science and management, increasing its headcount from 20 to 30; and in the financial year 2023-4 turnover grew 63% to £1.25m.

In addition to providing working capital to support this growth, the new funds will be used to enhance the company's global data infrastructure, expand its services for UK-based multinational clients, and fund initial market development for a US joint venture with global economic advisory firm Oxford Economics. The latter will integrate The Data City's platform with its global economic forecasting expertise, to drive innovation in sector analysis and investment decision-making - this represents the first time company data from outside the UK will be combined with The Data City's Classification AI and proprietary RTICs on one platform. The company will now look to expand primarily in North America.

CEO Alex Craven comments: 'Oxford Economics shares our vision and ambition of global strategic expansion, which enables us to strengthen our workforce, massively upscale our technological capabilities, and accelerate our global customer acquisition'. He adds: 'Central to our growth strategy is our innovative global data platform, which provides unparalleled access to insights from millions of companies across the United States and Europe. This extensive platform is underpinned by comprehensive global financial company information, offering our client users a robust foundation for informed decision-making and risk assessment in an increasingly interconnected business landscape'.

Adrian Cooper, CEO of Oxford Economics, says his firm's clients 'need access to data that reflects the economy as it is today, not how it was classified in 2007', adding: 'The Data City is redefining how businesses, investors, and policymakers understand industries. We're excited to support their next phase of growth'.

Web site: www.thedatacity.com .


Left to right: The Data City's Alex Craven, Paul Connell, Kelly Weston and Tom Forth