Factual is a platform where anyone can share and mash open data on any subject. For example, you might find a directory of US restaurants, a database of endocrinologists, or a list of video game cheat codes. We provide smart tools to help the community build and maintain a trusted source of structured data. And this data can be used through widgets and APIs to help application developers and content publishers be more innovative and productive. Often, data is difficult to find and access, inaccurate, and sometimes expensive. Information seekers are often overwhelmed with too many, often contradictory sources or frustrated by too few. Today, access to clean and reliable structured data is still a headache. Factual was founded to provide open access to better structured data. And that means developers can build more innovative apps, publishers can access high-quality content, and ultimately, everyone, can make better decisions. More specifically, we offer:
Factual was founded in 2007 by Gil Elbaz, co-founder of Applied Semantics (AdSense), which was acquired by Google in 2003. Gil has had a lifelong passion for organizing and structuring information, and building smart tools which can make better sense of data. Along with founding engineers, Tim Chklovski and Myron Ahn, he built Factual on the idea that it would be a better world if more decisions were data-driven. So we set out to develop an open data platform and community in an effort to maximize data accuracy, transparency, and availability. Other fellow data lovers who are helping to guide this ambitious project are Eva Ho, an ex-Googler and ASI-er and Bill Michels, former GM of Yahoo BOSS.
See full list of Factual people:
We are also very excited to have an extremely impressive group of early stage investors join us in our mission:
Internally we strive to build a company based on a culture of innovation, impact, and transparency, and we aim for our products to promote these ideals externally as well. If you want to join us to help with our ambitious goals, please see our Jobs page.
If you have any feedback as you use Factual, please submit it here.