AidData

What AidData does

AidData is an international development research lab embedded within the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, that produces and disseminates granular, project-level data on global development finance — most notably Chinese overseas lending, collateralized debt, and grants — alongside policy briefs, flagship surveys, and impact evaluations. Its primary audience comprises policymakers in donor and recipient governments, multilateral institutions (World Bank, IMF, UNDP), bilateral aid agencies (USAID, FCDO, BMZ), and academic researchers studying international development, foreign policy, and global finance. The organization was established in 2000 (per company history) and operates a team of approximately 30 program evaluators, policy analysts, and communications professionals.

Core products include interactive dashboards and geospatial tools (GeoQuery covering 165 countries; China's Global Development Footprint tracking $2.2T across 200 countries; China's Seaport Financing; China Contracts Search; China Public Diplomacy Dashboard), flagship survey programs (Listening to Leaders canvassing 100,000+ Global South policymakers), and downloadable datasets on Chinese development finance. Underlying technology combines geospatial analysis, machine learning for project classification (notably coding 2.7 million ODA projects to Sustainable Development Goals), satellite imagery analysis, and proprietary methodologies such as the Tracking Under-Reported Financial Flows (TUFF) approach. Training programs are delivered through William & Mary's Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation in a hybrid online/in-person format.

AidData is structured as a non-commercial research lab embedded in a public university and does not generate revenue through traditional product sales. Funding flows from research grants and philanthropic awards (Hewlett, Gates, Ford, Oak, Humanity United, Tides), bilateral government donors (USAID, FCDO, Denmark MFA, Germany's DEval, PEPFAR), and multilateral institutions (World Bank, IDB, IMF, UNDP). Training programs delivered through William & Mary's Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation generate ancillary revenue. Nearly all datasets are placed in the public domain free of charge, with academic citations, media coverage (The Economist, NYT, Reuters, Nature), and direct policy engagement (Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony) functioning as the primary flywheel for attracting subsequent grant funding.

Name

AidData

Legal name

AidData at William & Mary

Website

https://aiddata.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AidData is a William & Mary research lab producing granular, project-level data and analysis on international development finance — particularly Chinese overseas lending — for governments, multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, and academic researchers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development Research and Data

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Development Cooperation & Foreign Aid Administration (BPAIAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Official Development Assistance (ODA) Program Management (BPADAOAC), Economic Growth, Trade & Private Sector Development Programs (BPADABAF)

Keywords

• Development finance research
• Geospatial data analytics
• Foreign aid tracking
• Sustainable development data
• International development research

Headquarters

HQ city

Williamsburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Foundation Funding: AidData receives substantial funding from private philanthropies including the Ford Foundation, Gates Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and others. This supports their core research operations and data collection efforts.
2. Government and Multilateral Funding: Funding from bilateral and multilateral donors including U.S. Department of State, USAID, World Bank, IMF, UNDP, Inter-American Development Bank, UK's FCDO, and Germany's DEval.
3. Training and Professional Education Services: AidData offers hybrid training programs combining foundational online courses with in-person workshops and policy dialogues for professional development.
4. Public Domain Data and Research Publications: Nearly all data produced by AidData is put into the public domain for free, informing policy-relevant and scholarly research. This establishes thought leadership that attracts funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AidData is an international development research lab at William & Mary that produces rigorous datasets, interactive dashboards, and policy-relevant research on global development finance. It specializes in tracking official development financing flows (particularly China's overseas lending), SDG financing, and surveying Global South leaders on development priorities. The organization publishes nearly all data into the public domain and offers professional training programs in data-driven development methods.

Product overview

AidData is an international development research lab at William & Mary that operates as both a collector and producer of development data. The organization offers a portfolio of specialized research programs focused on China's global development activities, sustainable development goals, agriculture and climate, migration, and foreign policy influence. Its core product suite includes interactive dashboards and geospatial tools (GeoQuery, China's Global Development Footprint, China's Seaport Financing, China Contracts Search, China Public Diplomacy Dashboard), flagship survey programs (Listening to Leaders), and professional training services. AidData also publishes numerous datasets including the Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset, How China Collateralizes Dataset, and Financing the 2030 Agenda Dataset, nearly all of which are made publicly available for free.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GeoQuery A geospatial data platform providing access to over 70 spatial datasets mapped to appropriate geographic boundaries for 165 countries worldwide, enabling researchers and policymakers to analyze and visualize development data geographically.

Quantifiable outcome

• Dataset of 20,985 Chinese development projects including 1,383 climate-related initiatives totaling $421 billion
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• International Growth CentremajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 February 2026Produced the 'From Cash to Capital' report on Yemen remittances in partnership, combining IGC's growth research with AidData's financial flow analysis.
• William & MarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAidData operates as a research lab within the College of William & Mary, a public university in Virginia. This institutional relationship provides academic credibility, access to talent, and infrastructure support.
• William & Mary's Studio for Teaching & Learning InnovationcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAidData's training programs leverage the Studio's platform and expertise for delivering hybrid online and in-person professional education courses.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN agency partnering on development data initiatives and SDG tracking.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultilateral partner on sovereign debt and debt restructuring research.
• Rwanda National Institute of StatisticscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating on piloting methodology to link the global SDG framework with Rwanda's national development plans, mapping national priorities alongside SDG indicators.
• Brookings InstitutionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published 'Toward data-driven education systems' report and co-hosted panel discussion on education data and decision-making.
• Paris21coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on data systems and statistical capacity building in developing countries.
• OpenDataWatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on development data transparency and statistical systems.
• Data2XcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner focused on gender data and statistics in development.
• Global Partnership for Sustainable Development DatacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in multi-stakeholder initiative for better data to achieve SDGs.
• Ministry of Health of Côte d'IvoirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on health data systems, including Open Data Center for Health to improve HIV program coverage.
• National AIDS Council of ZambiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on HIV/AIDS data and program monitoring in Zambia.
• Government of UgandacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner government on development data and statistical initiatives.
• JSI Research & Training InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth and development research partner on data systems and program evaluation.
• Development GatewaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on development data and information systems.
• DREAMS PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic-private partnership on adolescent HIV prevention supporting data-driven approaches.
• CEPEIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on international development data and policy initiatives.
• DIIS - Direction de l'Informatique et de l'Information SanitairecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth statistics and informatics institute partner on data systems.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Rhodium Group: Independent research provider producing proprietary datasets on Chinese outbound investment and climate finance — overlapping thematic focus but with a commercial-analytics business model that contrasts with AidData's grant-funded approach.
• Publish What You Fund: Aid-transparency NGO producing the Aid Transparency Index — a comparable niche player in ODA transparency and donor-performance benchmarking that competes for the same funder dollars.

Direct peers

• Development Initiatives: UK-based organization producing global data and analysis on development finance, ODA flows, and aid transparency — operates a comparable data-and-research model serving the same multilateral and bilateral funder ecosystem.
• Boston University Global Development Policy Center: University-based research center producing rigorous data on Chinese sovereign lending, debt sustainability, and climate finance — directly competes with AidData in the China-development finance research category.
• Center for Global Development: DC-based think tank producing rigorous research on development finance, aid effectiveness, and China overseas lending — the closest direct peer to AidData given overlapping research output, funder profile (Open Society, Gates), and policy-engagement model including Congressional testimony.
• Development Gateway: Nonprofit builder of data systems for international development, named as an AidData partner — directly comparable in mission scope around development data platforms and analytics.
• China Africa Research Initiative (CARI): Johns Hopkins SAIS research initiative producing datasets on Chinese engagement in Africa, directly comparable to AidData's Global Chinese Development Finance work in scope and methodology.

Broad incumbents

• Overseas Development Institute (ODI): Long-established UK development think tank with broader thematic scope, but directly comparable on research output, funder profile (FCDO), and policy-briefing distribution model.
• Brookings Institution: Larger policy-research institution; co-publishes with AidData on data-driven development topics and represents the broader think-tank 'peer set' AidData competes with for philanthropic and policy-briefing mindshare.
• Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): Bipartisan policy research organization with a major China and development-finance program — a broader-incumbent peer on great-power-competition research that consumes and cites AidData data.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aiddata
• Facebookfacebook.com/aiddata
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aiddata

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about AidData