Formula Insight, a startup backed by Y Combinator, is revolutionizing equity research with the launch of its innovative platform announced Thursday. Part of YC’s Summer 2024 cohort, Formula Insight is the brainchild of Will Tong, a former Citadel equity investor, and Stefan Raghavan, an aerospace engineer with experience at SpaceX. The platform integrates FactSet data to streamline the investment process.
Institutional investors, rely heavily on Excel financial models to manage billions in assets. However, critical insights are often lost when connecting these models to key research documents, such as SEC filings, management transcripts, and research papers. This disconnect can create inefficiencies in building the fact patterns essential for sound investment decisions.
Formula Insight aims to solve this problem by merging financial model analysis with document research into one seamless workflow. The startup essentially enables users to search millions of Excel cells and cross-reference key performance indicators (KPIs) against external documents like filings and transcripts. It even allows for plotting financial projections against consensus estimates, helping investors quickly identify critical insights.
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All findings are linked back to source documents, ensuring traceability and accuracy. The platform also places emphasis on keeping sensitive financial information protected within its secure environment.
One of the most notable aspects of Formula Insight is its conversational search capabilities. Users may search complex spreadsheets in plain English, making data retrieval more straightforward and user-friendly. This feature drastically minimizes the learning curve for new users while improving the overall user experience.
In their congratulatory post on LinkedIn, Y Combinator summarized the startup’s strengths by stating, “Formula Insight expedites the research process by analyzing these critical documents in minutes, helping investors gain an edge in the public markets.”
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Raghavan applies his aerospace engineering background to his current role as CTO at Formula Insight, having worked on cutting-edge technologies like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Starship engines.
Tong, CEO, has previously managed a healthcare equities portfolio at Citadel which earned him recognition as a top equity analyst in the firm’s Global Equities division.
Formula Insight provides a centralized repository for hedge funds’ most valuable Excel data, allowing investors to obtain an advantage in the public markets. The platform is poised to become an essential tool for those looking to optimize decision-making in a complex and competitive financial landscape.