In an attempt to promote transparency and foster
trust in business relationships, Damian Kimmelman launched Duedil
last year, making information about companies available for
free.
0-5 seconds: Sum your business up in a
sentence
Duedil is the best way to look up business, accounting and
director information on companies registered in the UK and
Ireland, all for free.
5-10 seconds: What's the business
model?
We're focusing a lot on building a stellar product right now, so
we have not started generating revenue. Our core product is
Companies House data, which we give away for free as we believe
everyone should have access to this information. As the site
matures we will offer premium content, though everything that
is currently available will remain free.
10-15 seconds: Who are your
competitors?
Directly, Level Business, Company Check and several companies
like Bizzy. Indirectly we share similarities with companies from
business information provider D&B and Bloomberg to Salesforce.
However, we see all of these companies as potential partners and
many of them already are.
15-20 seconds: What's your
USP?
We're the largest source of free company financials, breaking
down the barriers to entry for information and features that would
normally cost thousands of pounds. Duedil is super easy to use. We
have exposed the relationships in the data, for instance we connect
you with the companies where your friends and contacts
work. Our corporate structure tool shows company
structures in seconds to reveal links that previously would
have taken days of research to uncover.
20-25 seconds: How have you funded it
so far?
An initial investment from me and a private investor, followed
by seed and angel rounds.
25-30 seconds: What were you doing
before?
I founded and ran digital design agency in London, WeAreVI, for
two and a half years before Duedil. Before that I co-founded an
online gaming site.
30-35 seconds: Where did the idea come
from?
I saw a need to create trust in business by making it more
transparent, thus safer and easier. There is a vast amount of data
on companies yet no one has bothered to properly aggregate this
information in an easy to use format. Transparency is the
foundation of trust and trust is the social capital of
business.
35-40 seconds: What's the smartest
thing you've
done so far?
Hiring people who are smarter than me.
40-45 seconds: What's the
stupidest?
Continue doing business with people I didn't trust.
45-50 seconds: If your business was a
biscuit, what would it be?
A flapjack. It's full of butter and amazingly rich.
50-55 seconds: Which idea are you a
bit jealous of?
Pinterest.
55-60 seconds: Where are you going to
be in
12 months' time?
The ambition is to become the one-stop shop for business
data, and the number one place for business information in the UK,
before taking Duedil abroad.
For more information about Duedil click here, www.duedil.com.