Building Intelligent Technology for the Private Markets: Bison

Founded in 2011 Bison is an innovative software company working to develop an indispensable suite of business intelligence tools for the front offices of the private markets fund operators and investors. The company was set up by a small team of industry insiders and technology visionaries who wanted to create a better way for fund managers and asset allocators to raise and invest capital in the private markets. The result is a series of technology solutions focused on supporting front office teams and decision-makers.

“Every day, we are working to build the future of business intelligence technology for the private markets,” says Dr. Rasmus Goksor, CEO of Bison. “We believe this future is end-to-end technology where data collection, analysis, and reporting workflows are fully-integrated, intelligent, and collaborative.”

Bison knows that it can’t achieve its mission with industry expertise alone. That’s why the team is a unique mix of developers, PE professionals, and big thinkers who have come together to create game-changing technology for the private markets.

Bison has grown both in team size and global footprint with new offices in Bala Cynwyd, PA, and Gothenburg, Sweden that complement its Boston headquarters. But as Bison continues to grow, its mission remains the same – Build an indispensable suite of business intelligence tools for the front office of the private markets.

BISON Data Suite: It’s Time to Trust Your Data Again

Bison’s founders recognized that the private markets were riddled with information asymmetry, incomplete data sourcing, and a general lack of transparency. They made it their mission to develop technology and resources that helped create truly transparent and objective datasets that supported stakeholders across the private markets.

Bison Data is defining data transparency in the world of private fund management.

Bison Data tracks private market performance metrics, fundraising details, and limited partner investment allocations spanning the last four decades. Bison’sin-house research team, based in Boston, collects information from a wide variety of sources, including government filings, press releases, newsletters, and Hamilton Lane. The research team has an intimate understanding of the private markets and leverages technology to filter through, cross-check, and run extensive quality control checks on the tens of thousands of data points collected each quarter.

The BISON Performance Dataset is the industry’s only database transparently sourced from LPs. This means users can drill down to a specific investor’s performance or understand a benchmark’s components in depth.

BISON Performance Dataset

Fully transparent performance information sourced exclusively from LPs

• 5,900+ funds
• Approximately 70% market coverage
• Historical performance metrics to analyze firm, fund, and industry trends over time
• Drill down to specific investor returns

BISON Fundraising

More than four decades of historical private markets data

• 6,900+ firm profiles
• Covers over $7.7 trillion raised
• Comprehensive coverage of current and projected funds from public sources, proprietary algorithms, and Hamilton Lane

BISON Derivative Fund Dataset

Proprietary, since inception, quarterly cash flow dataset developed in-house

• 2,550+ funds
• Approximately 50% market coverage
• Dataset allows users to run complex analyses like j-curve comparison or horizon returns versus peer sets and public markets.

BISON LP Insights

Dig into the private equity portfolio holdings of more than 1,100 institutional investors

• 49,500+ unique investments
• Data is exclusively collected from publicly available sources that include public pension plans, private pension plans, Taft-Hartley plans, insurance companies, non-profit foundations, and certain endowments

Words from the Chief

“At Bison, we build cutting-edge technology for private equity. But, we’re not your average fintech company. Bison brings together people from different backgrounds and specializations who are passionate about solving problems with technology. We’re drawn to private equity because it’s an industry ripe for innovation and ready for a technology revolution. We are leading the way. Every day, our collaborative team is working towards a shared goal of changing the way our industry interacts with software. That means, from the CEO down to the most junior team member, everyone is ready to help one another. We’re a friendly, collegial, and supportive team and we love what we do! Come be part of something big at Bison.”

Testimonials

“The Cobalt solution is a powerful tool that offers our team deeper intelligence and insights into the data points we track for our portfolios. Cobalt’s technology, custom metrics, and a custom attribute to our unique reporting needs and we will seamlessly integrate into the platform.”

- Amanda Heravi, Principal and Head of Investor Relations, Avista Capital Partners

“We believe that we are at an inflection point today where the private markets are ripe for technological disruption. LPs are recognizing that they simply need to build out their data and infrastructure and invest in real technology and the personnel to manage it.”

- Erik Hirsch, Vice Chairman & Head of Strategic Initiatives, Hamilton Lane

“With Bison, we are able to better position ourselves from a differentiation standpoint.”

- Shant Mardirossian, Partner,and Chief Operating Officer, Kohlberg & Company

Meet the Chief

Dr. Rasmus Goksor, Co-founder and CEO: Rasmus oversees the product strategy and the vision of the company. He has previous experience as an attorney with Gunderson Dettmer, where he represented start-ups as well as venture capital funds. His background includes technology start-ups as well as non-profit management. Rasmus frequently speaks of technology in private markets and entrepreneurship.

He holds a Doctor of Juridical Science from Duke Law School, an LL.M. from Boston University School of Law, and a BA and LL.M. from Gothenburg University in Sweden. During his doctorate studies, Rasmus was a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School.

Rasmus lives in the Boston metro area with his wife and two daughters.