Published in De Telegraaf, by Vian Schouten
March 8, 2025
Amsterdam - Analyzing companies in the private market is a time-consuming process, but Gain.pro has a solution. The Dutch fintech company offers investors access to data on four million companies worldwide.
“We do the work of analysts, but ten times faster and more efficiently,” says Nicola Ebmeyer, CEO of Gain.pro.
It all started for the German founder, who lives in the Netherlands, out of frustration with endless manual research. For publicly traded companies, financial figures and market analyses are easy to find. But in the private market, where companies are not necessarily required to publish their financials, it’s a different story. Since 2018, Gain.pro has been working to bridge this information gap by combining AI technology with human expertise. The start-up’s clients include investors of all types and sizes, who use the platform to identify deal opportunities faster and more intelligently.
Fraudulent Figures
“We have built a system that searches for millions of companies and collects relevant data, from ownership structures and financial performance to competitive insights and market developments,” explains the German entrepreneur, who resides in the Netherlands. “Our technology extracts public data from local registers and other reliable sources.”
Reliability is crucial.
“Gain.pro links every data point to a source so that users can immediately see where the information comes from. If a company publishes fraudulent figures, we can’t prevent that, but we always make it transparent where a number originates."
Analysts manually verify the quality of the information and supplement missing data. “In the past, teams would struggle for weeks, digging through company reports and complex fillings. Now, they get a complete overview with just one click.” The platform also uses artificial intelligence to predict whether a company is open to an acquisition based on trends and other data.
McKinsey
At 36, Ebmeyer had already built a stellar career at consulting giant McKinsey. Yet, something kept nagging at her. “I always knew I wanted to start something of my own. My mother was an entrepreneur, and from a young age, I saw how rewarding it is to build your own company.” Together with her co-founder Frister Haveman, she launched Gain.pro. Within six months, they had their first paying customers.
The first few years were tough. “I bothered a lot of friends with sales pitches,” Ebmeyer laughs. “At some point, some of them stopped answering my calls because they knew I wanted to sell them a subscription.” That phase is long over. Gain.pro is now one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Europe, and Ebmeyer notices that the tables have turned. “Now investors are calling me to ask if they can join in.”
Investors
So far, the company has financed its growth with capital from wealthy families. Interestingly, the most recent interest is coming primarily from abroad.
“International investors are lining up to invest in Gain.pro, but a serious Dutch party has yet to come forward,” says Ebmeyer.
Gain.pro operates in a competitive market where the American company PitchBook is the dominant player, generating €600 million in annual revenue. Yet, Ebmeyer sees plenty of room for Gain.pro to grow. “PitchBook is strong in the U.S., but we want to become the true global player,” she says. Gain.pro has a clear goal: to surpass €100 million in annual recurring revenue within a few years.
