What Stears does

Stears Information Limited, founded in 2017 at the London School of Economics and headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria, is a data and intelligence company providing financial data, proprietary research, and advisory services exclusively focused on African markets. The company evolved from an initial media publication into a subscription-based B2B data platform serving global private equity and venture capital funds, asset managers, investment banks, multinational corporates, and development finance institutions that need structured access to African private market intelligence. Its product portfolio centres on the Stears Platform (a tiered enterprise subscription covering Transactions & Deals, Companies, Macro & Country Risk, and Industry Research modules), the proprietary Stears–Ventures Platform Liquidity Index (SVL Index) co-developed with Ventures Platform, and custom Advisory Services for due diligence, impact assessment, and policy work. A non-profit subsidiary, Stears Open Data, distributes free election and governance datasets to citizens and researchers.

The platform is built on proprietary datasets accumulated through on-the-ground research teams across Africa, including 181+ verified VC exit transactions spanning 2011-2026, a real-time election data platform that served over 2 million users during the 2023 Nigerian elections, and a 6,220-respondent polling base powering a proprietary estimation model that correctly predicted the 2023 presidential election and 6 of 7 key state results. Stears monetises primarily through annual enterprise licensing on a quote-based sales motion targeting fund managers, banks, and corporates, supplemented by premium advisory engagements and a self-serve consumer-facing Stears Premium subscription. Distribution is direct (enterprise sales with 'Request a Trial' and 'Request a Demo' CTAs) and partner-led (co-branded research with Ventures Platform and EAVCA), with mobile applications on iOS and Android extending self-serve reach. The company is venture-backed, having raised approximately $4.66M cumulatively across six rounds led by MaC Venture Capital (Oct 2022 seed), with additional capital from Cascador (June 2026), Google for Startups, Co-Creation Hub, Luminate Group, Serena Ventures, and Future Africa.

Name

Stears

Legal name

Stears Information Limited

Website

https://stears.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stears is a Nigeria-headquartered financial data and intelligence platform exclusively focused on Africa, providing subscription-based access to private market transactions, company intelligence, macroeconomic analysis, and proprietary research for global PE/VC funds, investment banks, and multinational corporates investing across the continent.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Africa Financial Data & Market Intelligence

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

ESG Data, Ratings & Research (Providers, Methodologies, Analytics) (FSAAALAJ)

Keywords

• Financial data platform
• Africa market intelligence
• Private market analytics
• Venture capital research
• Country risk analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Lagos

HQ country

Nigeria

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription Data Platform: Subscription-based access to Stears' financial data platform providing transactions, companies, investors, fund vehicles, and research data for African private markets. Tiered corporate licensing model.
2. Premium Research & Advisory: Custom intelligence services including market research, due diligence, impact assessment, and thought leadership for corporate clients.
3. Stears Premium: Flagship subscription product providing data insights and news around Nigeria's and Africa's economy and finance to financial institutions and fintech firms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Stears operates a subscription-based financial data and intelligence platform exclusively focused on Africa. It provides global funds, corporates, investment banks, and service providers with proprietary data on African private market transactions, companies, investors, fund vehicles, country risk, and industry research. The company also delivers custom advisory services (due diligence, market research, impact assessment) and publishes research reports such as the Africa VC Exit and Liquidity Report built on the proprietary SVL Index.

Product overview

Stears operates as a unified financial data and research platform focused exclusively on Africa, combining a core subscription-based data platform with proprietary indices, research reports, and advisory services. The portfolio includes the Stears Platform (primary subscription product), the Stears–Ventures Platform Liquidity Index (proprietary SVL Index), Stears Research (industry reports), Transactions & Deals Data, Companies Data, and Macro & Country Risk Analysis modules. Additionally, the company offers a non-profit Stears Open Data initiative providing free access to African election and democracy data, and a mobile application for on-the-go access. The company also publishes periodic reports including the Africa Venture Capital Exit and Liquidity Report and Private Capital Reports in partnership with organizations like Ventures Platform and EAVCA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stears Platform Subscription-based financial data and research platform providing global funds, corporates, and financial institutions with comprehensive data on African private markets, including transactions, companies, investors, fund vehicles, country risk, and industry research.
• Advisory Services Custom intelligence services including Market Research & Due Diligence, Impact Assessment, and Policy & Advocacy engagements delivered by Stears' analytical team for corporate and institutional clients.
• 2025 Africa Venture Capital Exit and Liquidity Report Standalone industry report providing the most comprehensive analysis of VC-backed exits on the African continent, offering fund managers, LPs, DFIs, and investors a structured view of capital return reliability through the SVL Index.
• Private Capital in Africa Activity Report: Q1 2025 Quarterly analysis of private capital activity across Africa, produced in partnership with EAVCA, providing transaction-level visibility and regional market analysis.
• Stears Mobile App Native mobile application providing users with on-the-go access to Stears' financial data, research, and insights on iOS and Android platforms.
• Stears Open Data Non-profit initiative providing free public access to data on African urbanisation, public goods, governance, elections, and democracy, building on Stears' decade-long data expertise.

Quantifiable outcome

• Accurately predicted the outcome of the 2023 Nigerian presidential elections
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Ventures PlatformflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-produced the 2025 Africa Venture Capital Exit and Liquidity Report with the proprietary Stears-Ventures Platform Liquidity Index (SVL Index). Strategic co-publishing partnership for industry research.
• East Africa Venture Capital Association (EAVCA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-produced the Stears Private Capital in Africa Activity Report: Q1 2025, providing East Africa insights and regional market analysis.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• PitchBook: PitchBook is a leading private markets data platform providing deal, fund, and company intelligence to PE/VC professionals globally. Stears competes in the same core category (private market data for investors) but is exclusively focused on Africa, while PitchBook is global with more limited Africa depth.
• Crunchbase: Crunchbase is a private company intelligence platform used by investors, corporates, and analysts to track funding, M&A, and company information. Stears overlaps directly in the company/deal data workflow, with Crunchbase's weakness being limited proprietary Africa coverage — precisely Stears' strength.
• Preqin: Preqin (now part of BlackRock) provides alternative assets data and research covering PE, VC, and infrastructure funds. It is a direct competitor for LP/GP data and benchmarking — Stears' SVL Index and Private Capital Reports are essentially Africa-localized equivalents of Preqin's global research output.
• CB Insights: CB Insights is a market intelligence platform serving corporates, funds, and strategy teams with proprietary data, predictive analytics, and research. Stears' predictive election modeling and proprietary index approach closely mirrors CB Insights' data-driven research model, though CB Insights is global rather than Africa-focused.
• Tracxn: Tracxn is a private company data and intelligence platform serving investors, corporates, and governments with deal, sector, and company tracking. Stears' Transactions & Deals and Companies modules compete head-to-head with Tracxn, with Tracxn's listed-company DNA contrasting Stears' on-the-ground African research depth.

Broad incumbents

• Bloomberg Intelligence: Bloomberg Intelligence is the research and analytics arm of the Bloomberg Terminal, providing data, ratings, and forecasts across asset classes. Stears explicitly positions itself as the African equivalent of Bloomberg's research layer, and any expansion by Bloomberg into deeper Africa coverage would be its most credible incumbent threat.
• S&P Capital IQ Pro: S&P Capital IQ Pro is a global financial data and analytics platform providing company, transaction, and market intelligence to enterprise customers. It competes for the same enterprise buyer budgets as Stears at large corporates, banks, and investment firms with a far broader but Africa-thinner dataset.

Emerging players

• Briter Bridges: Briter Bridges is an Africa-focused research and data platform covering the continent's tech, venture, and innovation ecosystem. It is the most directly comparable Africa-only competitor to Stears, with overlapping customer profiles (VC funds, DFIs, corporates) and a similar emerging-market data-research model.

Regional players

• Africa Intelligence: Africa Intelligence is a subscription intelligence service providing exclusive reporting and analysis on African business, politics, and deals. It serves a similar enterprise audience as Stears but with a journalist-led rather than data-platform model, making it a partial overlap rather than direct competitor.

Others

• African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA): AVCA is the industry association and data publisher for African private equity and venture capital, producing research, deal databases, and benchmarking reports. Stears is a member-partner and effectively a data-arms supplier to AVCA, making it more of a complementary ecosystem participant than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/StearsInsights
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stears
• Instagraminstagram.com/stearsco
• Facebookfacebook.com/StearsBusiness

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stears