Announcing FundingSleuth.com

About 10 years ago, I helped create a web service called Company Sleuth.  The basic premise was that as a company conducted its business activities, it would leave a "paper trail" online.  And Company Sleuth tried to find that trail by automatically searching a variety of public databases (such as the US patent database, trademark database, domain registrations, job listings, etc.) for "clues" about all US public companies activities.  Users would tell Company Sleuth the companies they cared about and receive a daily email containing a list of all new "clues" that were found.

The service found some interesting data.  For example, while in beta we saw that the domain name "daimlerchrysler.com" was registered by Skadden Arps (Daimler's law firm) days before the deal was announced.  And we also noticed that MCI Worldcom registered skytelworldcom.com just days before they announced their merger, causing their stock to jump 16% and  prompting an SEC investigation.   

Unfortunately, Company Sleuth is no longer around (although I found an old version of the site on archive.org).

Last month I blogged about the Reg D and stealth mode.  And after I wrote the post, I got to thinking:  Why not create a tool that checked the SEC database every night for changes on the companies I'm interested in?  While the SEC doesn't provide you the details on the financing (amount, investor, etc), at least I can know if financing activity took place.

So I went to Rentacoder.com, got connected with m4k3r (a developer in Australia).  A few days (and $200) later, I had a tool built that would check the SEC Database for me.  Rather than keep this to myself, I've decided to open up the site to anyone.  So today I'm announcing the launch of  FundingSleuth.com.

Read about an interesting new company on Techcrunch?  Want to see if your competitor raised money?  Add the company to your list at  FundingSleuth.com  and you'll receive an email whenever there is funding activity.

Let me know what you think...