RapidRatings
Rapid Ratings International Inc. is a SaaS technology firm that provides information on the financial health of public and private companies around the world. The company’s analytics system allegedly provides insights into third-party partners, suppliers, vendors, and customers. The company's platform provides Financial Health Ratings and detailed reporting to help businesses mitigate financial risk. Additionally, Rapid Ratings offers a service to obtain financial statements from private company third parties to increase transparency and improve visibility. Rapid Ratings is headquartered in New York City at 86 Chambers Street near City Hall. It also has a North American office in Boston for customer service. International offices include Dublin, Ireland - the company's technology hub - and the New Zealand office, which focuses on R&D. The company is led by James H. Gellert (Chairman & CEO), Douglas Cameron (President & Head of Product), and Pete Tantillo (COO & CFO). In 2020, the firm predicted that more than half of the companies currently operating on the globe would become high risk due to a decrease in revenues brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. History The framework for RapidRatings' technology was founded in 1991, by economist Dr. Patrick Caragata. He was repeatedly struck by the problems of the rating industry status quo throughout his work as a senior-level economist in Canada and New Zealand. Dr. Caragata analyzed millions of company years’ worth of data to assess the financial health and performance of companies to develop the initial framework for the Financial Health Rating model. In 2007, James H. Gellert and Douglas M. Cameron, bankers and entrepreneurs in the financial and business information services markets, brought RapidRatings to the United States. The company gained recognition in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, as traditional rating agencies were criticized for conflicts of interest inherent in their issuer-paid models and qualitative ratings. It gained attention for detecting inefficiencies at MF Global, Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat, General Motors, Bear Stearns, Ford Motor Company, US Steel, and Peregrine. All of these companies had ratings well below investment grade for years before traditional agencies downgraded them. In April 2016, RapidRatings secured its Series A round of funding from private equity firm LLR Partners to invest in growth and focus on innovation. LLR invests in middle-market growth companies in a broad range of industries, with an emphasis on software, technology-enabled services, and healthcare. RapidRatings invested in many areas including leadership, sales, marketing, customer service, and product. In September 2018, RapidRatings secured $30 million in its Series B round of funding from private equity firm FTV Capital to continue investing in growth. FTV Capital is a growth equity firm specializing in innovative enterprise technology and services companies. Kyle Griswold, FTV Capital partner, also joined the RapidRatings board of directors. Methodology RapidRatings generates a Financial Health Rating (FHR), a single number on a 0 - 100 scale that indicates the overall financial health of a given company. The FHR is calculated using fundamental data from a company’s financial statements and does not take