European Companies Search Engine
The search engine for in-depth journalism
Journalism fulfills a central role in society: It ensures transparency, asks critical questions, uncovers misconduct, and enables open and informed public debate.
North Data is committed to this mission. For years, we’ve been supporting investigative journalism with reliable company data that helps make sense of complex corporate networks. We collect publicly available information and transform it into clear, searchable insights — for everyone who wants to take a closer look.
Fourfold support
Journalistic work takes many forms, and so does our support. This is why we offer free access to our Premium Services, financial backing through sponsorships and partnerships, and help in numerous other ways.
Investigative Accounts
Features & Possibilities
With an Investigative Account, you get free access to the full range of Premium Service features — specifically for journalistic use. These include:
- Power Search, for filtering industries and companies based on selected criteria
- Network charts, for understanding complex economic relationships
- Watch list, for automatically receiving notifications about changes to selected companies or individuals
- Exports for extracting and structuring your findings for further use
A full overview of all features is available on the Premium Services Page.
Used Worldwide
From local newsrooms to international networks, journalists across the globe use their Investigative Account for research. They work as freelancers, for daily newspapers, public broadcasters, specialist editorial teams, independent platforms, and cross-border investigative networks.
More than
2500
journalists from 47 countries use their
Investigative Account as a source for company information.
Requesting Your Investigative Account
Investigative Accounts are available to professional journalists — whether freelance or employed. The offer is aimed at investigative, local, and business journalists, as well as trainees, bloggers, and professionals working in related fields.
To apply, please send your request to info@northdata.com, including a brief description of your work and a copy of your press card. We reserve the right to decline requests or to suspend the free account at any time.
Usage Rights
We explicitly welcome the use of our data and visualizations in journalistic investigations, articles, and data-driven projects.
All content and visual representations on North Data are published under the Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0. This means they may be freely used, edited, and published, including in a journalistic context, as long as the source is clearly cited (“Source: North Data”).
Investigator in Residence
In April 2025, North Data introduced the position of Investigator in Residence to further strengthen its commitment to investigative journalism. Inspired by established “in residence” models from the fields of technology, art, and science, the focus is on mutual exchange: the individual is fully integrated into the team and contributes their expertise to the development of content and strategy, while retaining full freedom for independent investigations.
The position is held by Christina Brause, a highly acclaimed investigative data journalist with 16 years of experience in research and editorial leadership. More information about her expertise and approach can be found here.
To ensure transparency and journalistic independence, clear guidelines have been established for the Investigator in Residence. These guarantee a strict separation between editorial freedom and the company’s commercial interests.
Media Partnerships
We support organizations committed to investigative journalism through partnerships, sponsorships, and collaborative projects.
ICIJ
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is a US-based project of the Center for Public Integrity (CPI). The tasks of the ICIJ include exposing abuse of power, corruption, and breach of duty by powerful public and private institutions.
North Data is ICIJ Insider.
netzwerk recherche e.V.
netzwerk recherche e.V. is a registered non-profit association. It was founded in 2001 by journalists to support and strengthen journalistic research and quality journalism in Germany.
North Data is a member of the funding board of trustees.
Nothing2Hide
Nothing2Hide is a French non-profit organization that advocates for press freedom and the digital security of journalists. It supports information professionals in adopting good cybersecurity practices, particularly during sensitive or transnational investigations.
North Data supports Nothing2Hide as a sponsor.
Disclose
As an independent, non-profit investigative media outlet, Disclose is committed to producing public interest reporting on major issues such as abuses of power, corruption, and threats to civil liberties.
North Data supports Disclose as a sponsor.
CorrelAid
As part of the CorrelAidX Challenge, CorrelAid's local chapters are taking a closer look at offshore papers on a region-specific basis. Each group is supported by a local reporter from the CORRECTIV.Lokal Network. As part of this project, the North Data API is used to extend and enrich the findings from the ICIJ database.
Interested in a media partnership? Send us an email at info@northdata.com.
Support
Do you have questions about the platform, need help with your research, or want to learn how to use certain features?
You’ll find many helpful guides and explanations in our Help Center.
For individual inquiries, feel free to contact us via email at info@northdata.com.