FreeCap
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What FreeCap does
FreeCap Financial, Inc. is a private ESG data provider founded in 2019 by Tanay Tatum-Edwards and headquartered in the United States. The company is the only known data vendor focused specifically on criminal justice investing criteria, addressing a gap in ESG analytics where investors lack visibility into corporate involvement with the prison industrial complex. FreeCap serves institutional asset managers, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), wealth managers, and Fortune 100-class banks seeking to integrate racial justice and criminal justice metrics into portfolio construction, screening, and shareholder engagement workflows. The company's stated influence footprint spans $10B+ in client assets, though paying customer counts are not disclosed.
FreeCap's core technology is a proprietary 7-metric criminal justice rating methodology covering two impact themes: fair chance hiring (formerly incarcerated worker hiring, non-discrimination, CSR toward incarcerated communities) and prison risk mitigation (exposure to prison industrial complex, supply chain prison labor assessment, supply chain prison labor limitation). The company operates two primary datasets: a Prison Vending Relationship dataset tracking revenue streams between 3,000+ companies and corrections departments across 42 states (covering over 80% of the US incarcerated population, with historical data from 2019), and a Criminal Justice Benchmarking dataset with complete S&P 500 coverage across 9 industries. In April 2024, FreeCap partnered with BITA to launch the FREE Index (FREEIN), the first publicly available decarceration index weighted by free-float market capitalization and refined by FreeCap's Criminal Justice Lenses score.
FreeCap monetizes through three streams: (1) annual data subscriptions priced on a sliding scale based on client Assets Under Management, delivered via CSV files or API; (2) custom benchmarking reports providing 10+ page deep-dive analyses with peer comparisons and research team consultations; and (3) index licensing fees from the FREEIN product distributed through BITA. The company is founder-controlled with non-dilutive funding from Echoing Green, Halcyon Incubator, Roddenberry Foundation, and Fulbright fellowships, plus the 2024 Dream.Org Justice Innovation Prize. Distribution relies on enterprise field sales, thought leadership at academic and industry conferences (SOCAP, Stanford, Yale, Georgetown, Tufts, Vassar), and earned media in financial and impact investing publications.
FreeCap firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- FreeCap
- Legal name
- FreeCap Financial, Inc.
- Website
- https://freecapfinancial.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where FreeCap is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
FreeCap business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Data Subscription: Annual subscription access to prison vending dataset (3,000+ companies) and criminal justice benchmarking dataset (500 companies). Pricing is on a sliding scale based on Assets Under Management (AUM). Dataset delivered as CSV files with API access option. Updated annually.
- Custom Benchmarking Reports: Deep-dive 10+ page reports analyzing individual company performance on 7 criminal justice metrics. Includes industry peer comparisons, revenue data from prison vending contracts, personalized recommendations, and two calls with the research team.
- Index Licensing (FREEIN): FreeCap's proprietary index methodology licensed for investment products. Partners with BITA for index calculation and administration. Enables institutional investors to create prison-free or decarceration-focused investment products.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Annual subscription with AUM-based sliding scale |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
FreeCap product offering
Product offeringCore offering
FreeCap Financial is a data and research provider that tracks and benchmarks companies on criminal justice criteria for institutional investors. Its offerings include a Criminal Justice Data Subscription covering vendor relationships for over 3,000 companies and benchmarking data on 500+ large US companies, the FREEIN Decarceration Index licensed through BITA, and Custom Benchmarking Reports analyzing companies on fair chance hiring and prison risk metrics.
Product overview
FreeCap Financial is an ESG data provider offering a portfolio of criminal justice investing products. The core offerings include the Criminal Justice Data Subscription (providing access to prison vending and benchmarking datasets), the FREEIN Decarceration Index (in partnership with BITA), Custom Benchmarking Reports, and the annual Criminal Justice Report series (2021, 2023, 2024). Together, these products enable investors to screen portfolios for prison risk exposure, benchmark companies on fair chance hiring practices, and align investments with racial equity values. The datasets track over 3,000 companies across 9 industries, with historical data from 2019 onward.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- FREEIN (FreeCap BITA Decarceration Index): The first criminal justice index aimed at ending mass incarceration, tracking companies leading in fair chance hiring and prison risk mitigation.
Products and services
- Criminal Justice Data Subscription Annual subscription providing access to FreeCap's prison vending dataset (3,000+ Russell 3000 companies with corrections department revenue streams since 2019) and criminal justice benchmarking dataset (S&P 500 fair chance hiring and prison risk metrics). Delivered via CSV files or API access; pricing is sliding-scale based on Assets Under Management.
- FREEIN (FreeCap BITA Decarceration Index) A publicly-available investment index that tracks companies leading in fair chance hiring and prison risk mitigation. Powered by FreeCap's proprietary ratings and BITA's indexation technology, weighted by free-float market capitalization and refined by FreeCap's Criminal Justice Lenses score; rebalanced quarterly.
- Custom Benchmarking Reports Deep-dive 10+ page reports analyzing a specific company's criminal justice footprint using FreeCap's 7-metric rating methodology. Includes industry peer comparisons, revenue data from prison vending contracts, personalized recommendations, and two calls with the research team.
- 2024 Criminal Justice Report Annual report analyzing the criminal justice footprints of the 105 largest US companies, identifying top performers in fair chance hiring and prison risk mitigation, and including insights from the Prison Vending Relationship dataset covering 3,000+ companies across 42 states.
- 2023 Criminal Justice Report Second annual report covering S&P 100 companies, analyzing programs and policies regarding fair chance hiring and prison risk mitigation. Introduced the Prison Vending Relationship dataset tracking over $8.6 billion in contracts between Russell 3000 companies and prisons.
- 2021 Criminal Justice Scorecard FreeCap's inaugural product providing the first corporate ratings based on criminal justice footprint, covering 105 companies across 9 industries including most of the S&P 100, with metrics on fair chance hiring and prison risk.
Quantifiable outcome
- FREEIN outperformed S&P 500 by 4.8 percentage points over 3 years (39.38% vs 34.58% as of October 2024)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use FreeCap
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
FreeCap technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
FreeCap partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- BITAcoreBITA partnered with FreeCap to launch The FREE Index (FREEIN), the first decarceration index. BITA provides indexation technology, calculation, and global distribution capabilities while FreeCap provides proprietary criminal justice data and ratings methodology. This partnership enables institutional investors to access prison-free and decarceration-focused investment products.
- The Last MileminorFreeCap CEO interviewed with The Last Mile (prison education program) to discuss impact investing and solutions to mass incarceration. Interview covered how capital markets can support criminal justice reform.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
FreeCap competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Sustainalytics (Morningstar): Major ESG ratings firm serving institutional investors with company-level ESG risk data. Comparable institutional customer base and subscription data model; much broader theme coverage.
- MSCI ESG Research: Dominant incumbent ESG data and ratings provider serving institutional investors with broad social, environmental, and governance metrics. Comparable buyer base (asset managers, RIAs) but covers far more themes than criminal justice alone.
- ISS ESG: Provider of ESG ratings, screening, and climate analytics to asset managers and asset owners. Comparable institutional distribution and subscription-based ESG data model.
- LSEG (Refinitiv) ESG: London Stock Exchange Group's ESG data and scores business (formerly Refinitiv) serving institutional investors. Comparable subscription-based ESG data distribution model.
- Bloomberg ESG Data: Embedded ESG data product within the Bloomberg Terminal used by buy-side investors for portfolio analytics. Comparable workflow integration for institutional investors.
- S&P Global ESG Scores: S&P Global's ESG scoring business offers company-level ESG data for institutional investors. Comparable in serving the same institutional investor data-buying workflow with overlapping content.
Emerging players
- RepRisk: ESG risk data provider that combines AI with human analysis to deliver near-real-time ESG risk signals (including human-rights and labor issues) to financial institutions. Comparable niche social-ESG risk data product for institutional investors, with a more frequent update cycle.
- CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project): Global nonprofit operating a corporate environmental disclosure system used by investors. Comparable niche-vertical non-financial data provider for institutional investors, though focused on climate/environmental themes.
Direct peers
- JUST Capital: Nonprofit that ranks America's largest companies on stakeholder behavior (workers, customers, communities, environment, shareholders) and licenses data to investors. Directly comparable mission of quantifying corporate justice for investment decisions.
- As You Sow: Shareholder-advocacy organization that produces corporate accountability research used by investors to file shareholder proposals. Comparable niche of investor-facing social-justice corporate data.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
FreeCap social profiles
Digital presenceFreeCap financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
FreeCap leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
FreeCap funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
FreeCap M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about FreeCap
What does FreeCap do?
FreeCap Financial is a data and research provider that tracks and benchmarks companies on criminal justice criteria for institutional investors. Its offerings include a Criminal Justice Data Subscription covering vendor relationships for over 3,000 companies and benchmarking data on 500+ large US companies, the FREEIN Decarceration Index licensed through BITA, and Custom Benchmarking Reports analyzing companies on fair chance hiring and prison risk metrics.
Is FreeCap a public or private company?
FreeCap is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was FreeCap founded?
FreeCap was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is FreeCap based?
FreeCap is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does FreeCap make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Data Subscription is the primary driver. The others are custom Benchmarking Reports and index Licensing (FREEIN).
Who are FreeCap's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Sustainalytics (Morningstar), MSCI ESG Research, ISS ESG, LSEG (Refinitiv) ESG, Bloomberg ESG Data and S&P Global ESG Scores. Emerging players are RepRisk and CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project). Direct peers are JUST Capital and As You Sow.
Does FreeCap have an API?
Yes. Dataset access is available via CSV files and API. The API enables programmatic access to FreeCap's criminal justice data, including prison vending datasets and benchmarking datasets, allowing investors and money managers to integrate data into their portfolio analysis, equity research, screening, or quantitative analysis workflows.