Going to IODC? Help us design the Global Beneficial Ownership Register

Grand corruption is a networked problem; to fight it we need a networked solution, and nowhere is this more true than who controls and benefits from companies. The Global Beneficial Ownership Register will tackle this, by collecting and linking together beneficial ownership datasets and self-disclosed corporate data. By doing this, it will enable investigators and … Continue reading Going to IODC? Help us design the Global Beneficial Ownership Register →

Towards a global lookup service for corporate ids

We've often stated that the goal of OpenCorporates is simple (but huge): to create an openly licensed database containing every corporate legal entity in the world, and provide open URI ids for them. We base this URI on the ID issued by the company register, as this brings multiple benefits: No Monopoly ID system Because we … Continue reading Towards a global lookup service for corporate ids →

3 reasons why the EU’s new Business Vocabulary is so important

This weekend, the EU published its public draft of its Business Vocabulary (along with Person and Location), to help make it easier for organisations within Europe, including governments themselves, to exchange information relating to companies. Now if I haven't already lost your attention, I think this is pretty important, and not just those who handle … Continue reading 3 reasons why the EU’s new Business Vocabulary is so important →

One year on: 10 times bigger, masses more data… and a new API

Was it just a year ago that we launched OpenCorporates, after just a couple months' coding? When we opened up over 3 million companies and allowed searching across multiple jurisdictions (admittedly there were just three of them to start off with)? Who would have thought that 12 months later we would have become 10 times … Continue reading One year on: 10 times bigger, masses more data… and a new API →

New features: add company data, log in with LinkedIn

One of the earliest requests for features on OpenCorporates was actually from company owners – the ability to add data about their company, especially websites and telephone numbers. Well, now at last you can do that, and not just company owners, but anyone who's logged in. The requirement to log in is pretty important, as … Continue reading New features: add company data, log in with LinkedIn →

Major milestone: now over 20 million companies

Well, that didn't take too long. It was barely 3 months ago that OpenCorporates hit 10 million companies, and in what seems like no time at all we've doubled that. In that time, we've: Added important countries such as Spain and, today, Ireland (we're still importing the Irish data, and reckon there's probably something under … Continue reading Major milestone: now over 20 million companies →

Introducing OpenCorporates: a new way of seeing business

Why OpenCorporates? Like most open data/open source projects, it was started (just a couple of months ago), because the founders, Chris Taggart & Rob McKinnon, needed such a resource to exist. Specifically we needed: an open data base of companies not just in the UK, or in another individual country, but in any country a … Continue reading Introducing OpenCorporates: a new way of seeing business →