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The Past, Present & Future of Business Intelligence - Interview with Global Database's founders

Bianca Iulia Simion

The Past, Present & Future of Business Intelligence - Interview with Global Database's founders
"Data without insights is just information. You have to have the right tools to make the right decisions."

Global Database, an aggregator of data on public and private companies, was founded in 2015 by Nicolae Buldumac, a specialist with ten years of experience in sales and marketing in the UK and Vitalie Aremescu, a specialist with 13 years of experience in IT in the Republic of Moldova.

They aim to create the world's largest database on public and private companies, so that companies have the necessary information to attract customers, minimize risks, but also for analysis and decision-making.

Read on for interesting insights such as what sets the platform apart, which markets are next on the list, and what the founders think about exit scenarios.


What is happening in the Business Intelligence industry nowadays? What are the major trends and how has it changed over the years?

In the past, data was outside the digital world and much of the information was only available in print. Using this information required immense manual effort, was prone to human error, and quickly became outdated. Companies struggled to obtain relevant information that could be used to acquire and validate customers and partners.

With the widespread digitization of information, the way businesses use and trade data has changed drastically. The rise of data-driven solutions has brought business intelligence information into the spotlight. But it's not enough to simply have reams of information - businesses want to turn data into actionable insights and make informed decisions, rather than relying on their "gut" or estimates.

Following these trends, we founded Global Database to develop products that are tailored to the needs of specific individuals within companies to help them achieve their goals, be it market analysis, acquisition, brand building, supplier and customer validation, and much more.

What problem does Global Database solve?

For any business, finding new customers and validating them is a fundamental function that determines its success. Therefore, companies usually spend a lot of money on sales, marketing and due diligence.

Now more than ever, with increased globalization, companies are looking for a solution that gives them access to information on global companies to expand outside of their traditional markets. At the same time, doing business with these companies without proper due diligence can be risky and presents significant challenges:

  • global data is not accessible to everyone. The $28 billion data aggregation sector offers solutions that lack impact and sustainability.
  • data without insights is just information. Having access to a big data pool does not mean that data has value. You have to have the right tools to make the right decisions.
  • global trade is risky. Starting to trade with suppliers from multiple countries can bring a lot of uncertainty.

The Global Database solution unifies companies' sales, marketing and compliance processes and enables them to operate with confidence on a global scale by leveraging our worldwide data sets and sophisticated business intelligence tools.

How was Global Database founded and what motivates you?

We founded Global Database in 2015 with the same goal as today: to become the world's largest source of private and public business intelligence to help companies reach more customers, validate businesses, analyze markets, and make actionable data-driven decisions. As the marketplace becomes more aware of the importance of business intelligence data, we are pleased that our solution is the right tool to drive global business development.

What kind of technologies do you offer to your customers? What are the core competencies of your solution?

Global Database provides a unified platform that meets the needs and requirements of sales and marketing professionals as well as finance and compliance departments. This is achieved through an online portal that is accessible to all GDB customers and includes integrated tools for identifying, screening and monitoring potential customers, partners and suppliers.

  • Sales Platform: Available online and via API, it enables companies to understand their entire addressable market, target the right audience and increase sales across borders. Users can find information on over 150 million businesses and segment them using over 80 different filters.
  • Marketing Platform: available online, users can send emails, configure email sequences, create tasks, receive notifications and set up their outbound sales campaigns on autopilot.
  • Compliance & Due Diligence Solution: through the online platform and API, we provide detailed company information so companies know who they are dealing with. Users can review over 400 million registered companies worldwide and request a new investigation report from on-the-ground sources. Each company report includes information on credit risk and limits, group structure, financial history, directors' data and more

With your company, you are trying to reach a global audience: In which markets are you currently active?

We have customers on every continent except Antarctica. As we have developed our product to appeal to a global audience, we are not currently focusing on any particular market, although we are seeing a large influx of clients from the US, UK, Italy, Mexico and Singapore.

How do you plan to enter new markets? Are you using your own solution to generate new customer leads and eventually revenue?

As we already have customers around the world, we enter new markets with a good understanding of who we are targeting and how to approach them. We use a mix of direct company targeting, email marketing and content marketing to drive our lead generation.

We market our solutions in 14 countries, which accounts for 80% of our total revenue. Our plan is to take this strategy to more than 40 new territories, which will increase our sales.

We have used a variety of solutions and approaches to acquire new customers, both organically and through paid advertising, and have found that our proprietary data and sales automation platform is the most cost effective solution. Our sales reps are able to quickly assess their target audience, identify when it's the right time to reach out, and gain access to the direct contact information of relevant companies.

What makes Global Database so special? Why you in particular?

While every company in the Data Intelligence industry is a little different, our product vision has helped us differentiate ourselves in a crowded market and find the right approach to become unique. Right now we have:

  • integrated data from 195 countries, gathering information from government institutions, publicly available sources, local data providers and through our own software
  • built an in-house data aggregation platform that collects, validates, structures and updates billions of data points from over 150 million companies worldwide
  • have unique data sets for multiple countries around the world that are unmatched by our competitors
  • demonstrate profitability with stable organic growth YOY with no funding received to date
  • are ranked in the top Google search results and have half a million monthly visitors
  • are developing a scalable business model - our solution is offered in over 195 countries worldwide without the need for local representation or an office

What possible exit scenario do you have in mind?

We have already attracted interest from 3 global brands interested in acquiring majority stakes in Global Database, 2 of which are publicly traded companies. We believe the potential is too great to sell at this early stage. We are targeting a new round of funding in 2022 at a 3x valuation.

How will Global Database evolve? What are the main plans and projects for the future?

Global Database aims to become the world's first truly global solution that aggregates private and public company information for more than 450 million companies, with the goal of exploring business opportunities and mitigating risks anywhere in the world.

Our goal is to provide businesses with not just data, but a solution through a state-of-the-art platform that transforms outdated "data" into actionable insights and analytics. We strive to solve the core issue of modern business growth - finding new business opportunities and managing risk - by providing companies with timely updates, a complete business view, and the right tools to make data-driven decisions.

We have big plans to improve the existing solution, which has been developed based on customer feedback and market analysis. Over the next 2 years, we plan to do the following:

  • Enter into new data partnerships that will increase the number of listed companies from 100 million to 450 million.
  • Launch new products as part of the Sales & Marketing and Compliance platforms to increase customer engagement rates
  • Improving our proprietary AI and ML mapping tools to make our products more competitive and require less manual input from our team

Global Database is currently running a crowdinvesting campaign through SeedBlink. The company is seeking €1.4 million in funding to further develop its service and has already secured 83% of the round (€1.165.000). Explore this investment opportunity. ****

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