Overview

Third Bridge is a global investment research firm that provides human-led insights to investors and business leaders. Established in 2007 as Cognolink, the company rebranded to Third Bridge in 2015, adopting the name of one of its business units.

Former employees have founded their own expert networks:

1. Six Degrees Intelligence (2017, China-focused).
2. Nexus Network (2020, London-based).
3. NetworksX (2021, Melbourne-based).

Core services

1. Expert Connections: This service facilitates direct access to prequalified industry experts through one-on-one consultations, surveys, and project recruiting. Approximately 50% of employees work in this division.
2. Access to database: Archive of expert interviews. Clients can access transcripts and audio replays of these interviews: This represents ~25% of revenues and the majority of net profit. In 2022, began incorporating user-generated content into its library.

Key differentiators

1. Combines a large expert database with custom recruiting, leveraging modern tech tools for onboarding and service delivery.
2. Proprietary Coverage Model: Third Bridge's coverage model ranks, filters, and prioritizes private and public companies.
3. Maps: This tool visually presents public and private company value chains in a single view.
4. Community: Generated from fixed-rate one-on-one consultations, Community offers clients insights into companies, markets, and investor sentiment.
5. Primers and Tearsheets: Primers provide information on privately held companies. Tearsheets condense company information from Primer transcripts into a summary view.
6. Offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Dallas.

Key milestones

1. 2007: Founded in London as Cognolink.
2. 2015: Rebranded to Third Bridge, named after a metaphorical bridge symbolizing exploration and discovery, inspired by a founder’s journey in Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
3. 2021: French private equity firm Astorg invested over $200 million in Third Bridge, acquiring a stake alongside its founders.
4. 2022: Opened a third U.S. office in Dallas, Texas, and began relocating operations from New York City.

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom