What to know
Gain in Excel lets you pull verified Gain company data straight into a spreadsheet using a single formula, =gain.company(...)
Once the add-in is installed, you can build live models, screens and benchmarking sheets on the private and public companies Gain tracks.
When Gain updates the underlying data, your formulas pick it up.
How does the Excel integration work?
Gain in Excel is an Office add-in that exposes Gain's private-markets dataset through one custom function.
Instead of opening a company in the Gain web app, finding a figure and typing it into a cell, you reference the company by its Gain ID and ask for the field you want:
=gain.company(425768, "revenue", "USD", "ltm", "any_value")The formula above returns Microsoft's last-twelve-months revenue in USD.
You can write formulas manually, but the add-in also includes:
- An Entity Lookup to help you find companies. Type in company names, and pull IDs
- A Formula Builder to help you lookup values. Type in an ID and a metric, and we'll show you what parameters it supports
Because the values are live formulas rather than static text, a sheet built this way stays current and is easy to extend.
What data can you pull?
Every field is requested through the same =gain.company(ID, "field_name", ...) pattern.
The dataset is grouped into domains; below is a representative sample of each.
Currently, you can pull the following data fields:
Company profile
- Names, aliases, websites, HQ, URLs and other associated data
Business activity
- Short and long descriptions, plus sectors, sub-sectors and tags
Financials
- Full income statement and balance sheet metrics
- These support a currency, a period and a policy - any value, verified sources only or reported financials only
Growth
- Pre-calculated revenue, EBITDA, EBIT, gross-margin and headcount growth
- Over various periods, from 3 months to 3 years
Valuation and return
- For public companies: share price, market cap, ev, return ratios and various multiples
- For private companies: Gain's predicted exit year, EBITDA, multiple and valuation
Ownership, deals and funding
- Majority and minority investors, stakes, platform / round deal dates and funding
Investment assessment and ESG
- Gain's proprietary investment scoring across 10 dimensions
- ESG-specific assessment on risk and outperformance vs industry-level standards
Leadership details
- CEO name, age and tenure
How to write formulas using the Gain syntax
Every Gain function is always read in the same order: "who", "what", "when", "how".
- Gain ID: every company has a unique ID. Use the "Add entity" panel to lookup relevant identifiers, or export from the Gain app - ID's are always included
- Field name: the metric you want, in quotes - e.g. "revenue", "ceo_name"
- Currency, period and policy: parameters for the metric. Not every field needs all three.
You can see more detail on each of these parameters below:
Currency
- A three letter code such as "USD", "EUR" or "GBP". The template includes a dropdown of most codes.
- Currencies are converted on a constant currency basis, updated monthly
Period
- Which timeframe. For example, "fy_2024" for the fiscal year ending 2024, or "ltm" for "last twelve months"
Policy
- How strict to be about data source. "reported_only" includes what the company reported, "not_ai_estimate" includes verified sources outside of filings, and "any_value" includes everything Gain holds, including our AI estimates
How to install the Add-In
- In Excel, go to the Home tab and select Add-ins (or Insert -> Get Add-ins)
- Search for Gain on the Microsoft App Store
- Select Add and follow the prompts
- The Gain tab appears in the Excel ribbon once installed
FAQs
Where do Company IDs come from?
- Your can look up Company IDs using the Add Entities panel and a company name, by referencing the ID field in a Gain download, or in the URL of any profile
Can I use currencies that aren't in the drop down?
- Yes. Our formula drop down is a convenience list of common currencies. Most are supported
Does the data update automatically?
- Yes - the formulas are live, so when Gain refreshes the underlying data, your sheet reflects it on recalculation
Is my data private?
- Yes. Your spreadsheets, formulas and results stay within your own Excel environment. The add-in retrieves Gain data into your sheet only.
What does "no data" being returned mean?
- That means your lookup was successful, but Gain doesn't hold any data for that particular value - for example, if you referenced a period in the future
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