Quandl

Quandl operates as a platform specializing in financial, economic, and alternative datasets, catering to a clientele that includes hedge funds, asset managers, and investment banks. Founded in Toronto in 2012 by Tammer Kamel and Abraham Thomas, the company originated from their frustration with the limited and difficult-to-use data available to financial professionals. Kamel, a computer engineer by training, spent over 15 years in finance, including roles at Citibank and Simplex Asset Management, where he focused on technology and quantitative investment strategies. Thomas also came from a quantitative finance background, having been a portfolio manager and trader at a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund after graduating from IIT Bombay.

The firm's primary offering is a vast repository of data sourced from over 350 providers, covering conventional financial metrics as well as alternative data. This alternative data includes non-traditional information sources like satellite imagery, shipping data, and even private jet flight information, which can provide predictive insights for investment strategies. The platform was designed to index and structure millions of datasets, making them accessible through a single API for use in various analytical tools like Python, R, and Excel. This approach aimed to solve the significant pain point of data discovery and preparation, allowing analysts to focus on analysis rather than data wrangling. Quandl's business model is tiered, offering a large collection of free, open-source data alongside premium datasets available via subscription. This allows the company to serve a broad spectrum of users, from students to eight of the top ten hedge funds and fourteen of the top fifteen largest banks.

A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by Nasdaq in December 2018. The acquisition was a strategic move by Nasdaq to enhance its Global Information Services and Analytics Hub by integrating Quandl's expertise in alternative data. Following the acquisition, Quandl continued to operate under its own brand, with its management team remaining in place to lead the alternative data division. The combination was intended to leverage Nasdaq's global reach and resources to accelerate the development and distribution of data products for the investment community. In September 2021, Nasdaq integrated Quandl's infrastructure to launch its new platform, Nasdaq Data Link, which serves as a unified access point for both core financial data and alternative datasets.

Keywords: alternative data, financial data, data marketplace, quantitative analysis, investment research, API, hedge funds, asset management, data analytics, Nasdaq Data Link