How do you track a portfolio of private companies?
Give each company a fixed identifier, subscribe to the free filing alerts that exist, and log every change in one place. UK Companies House emails you when a filing for a company you follow is accepted (GOV.UK). In the US, check SEC EDGAR for new and amended Form D notices.
Why is tracking private companies harder than tracking public ones?
Public companies report on a fixed calendar and every result is news. Private companies file little, at irregular times, and most news about them never reaches a press release. Investors, lenders and corporate development teams end up with holdings scattered across spreadsheets, inboxes and portals, a pain point that even private market software vendors build their pitch around (The Wealth Mosaic).
The questions people ask are practical: which alerts are free, how often to check, and how to avoid missing a change. The method below takes about 45 minutes to set up for 20 companies and a few minutes a week to run.
Step 1. Give every company a fixed identifier
Names change and brands differ from legal names, so record the identifiers that do not change:
| Identifier | Where to find it | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| SEC CIK number | SEC EDGAR company search | Form D and any other SEC filings |
| UK company number | Companies House register | Accounts, officers, charges, alerts |
| LEI | GLEIF search | Legal name, parent and ownership links |
| State registration | Secretary of State registry | Status, registered agent, annual reports |
| USPTO assignee name | Patent Public Search | Patents granted and assigned |
Our guide on finding a company's LEI explains the GLEIF lookup.
Step 2. Turn on Companies House Follow for UK companies
Register a free account, search the company and select "Follow this company". You then get an email each time a document is accepted, including director appointments and resignations, a change of registered office and dissolution (GOV.UK). Companies House says you can choose which notification types you receive (Companies House blog). The alert tells you that something was filed, not what changed, so open the filing and record the detail.
Know the calendar too. Private limited companies file accounts 9 months after the financial year ends (GOV.UK), and a confirmation statement at least every 12 months, within 14 days of the review period ending (GOV.UK). Put both dates in your tracker, so a missed deadline shows up as a signal.
Step 3. Watch Form D notices for US companies
A Form D is due within 15 days after the first sale in an offering, and an issuer must amend it at least once a year while the offering continues (17 CFR 230.503). A new notice usually means a new raise. An amendment with a higher amount sold means the round grew. Check each CIK on EDGAR weekly, or use the EDGAR Latest Filings page, which lists filings as they arrive (SEC). Our guide on how to read a Form D explains each field.
Silence is not proof of anything. A Lehigh study of almost 40,000 venture rounds found that more than 50% had no Form D on file (Hanley and Yu, ECGI).
Step 4. Add court, patent and sanctions checks
Set a monthly routine for the slower records:
- Court dockets. Search each legal name on CourtListener's RECAP Archive, whose coverage depends on the PACER documents users contribute (Free Law Project wiki).
- Patents. Search the assignee in USPTO Patent Public Search (USPTO). New grants show where research money goes.
- Sanctions. Re-screen the company, owners and directors on OFAC's Sanctions List Search and the UK, EU and UN lists (OFAC), since lists change without notice to you.
Step 5. Watch news and hiring without drowning
News alerts on brand names catch launches, departures and disputes, but they bring noise. Use the legal name and a key executive in each alert. Hiring pages and job boards show which teams grow or shrink. Note the change and the date, and ignore repeats.
Step 6. Keep one change log
Every alert should end as one line: date, company, what changed, source link and whether it needs action. A shared sheet works for a small portfolio. Review the log monthly and ask 3 questions of each company: did it raise, did its control or management change, and did a new risk appear in court, credit or sanctions records. The log becomes the history you need for valuation reviews and investment committee notes.
Where does Tamarly Intelligence help?
Tamarly Intelligence is Tamarly's research platform on companies, funds, countries and markets, built from official filings and open data. On Level 2 ($145 a month) you get a portfolio, a personal Wall and alerts, on top of every company, fund, country and deal page. The news Wall refreshes every 15 minutes. Company pages draw on SEC EDGAR, UK Companies House, GLEIF, CourtListener and GDELT, and every figure links to the filing or record it came from.
For companies Tamarly does not yet cover, it says so, and on Level 2 and above you can have Tamarly research a company from your portfolio and build a sourced profile of it. Tamarly shows no market prices, no fund performance benchmarks and no Excel data feed, so valuation marks stay in your own system.
Track your private holdings on a personal Wall free for 7 days
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free way to get alerts on private companies?
Yes, for UK companies. Companies House Follow emails you when a filing is accepted, at no cost (GOV.UK). For US companies, there is no equivalent per-company email from the SEC, so most people check EDGAR on a schedule or use a tool that does.
How often should I check a private portfolio?
Weekly for filings and news, monthly for court, patent and sanctions records, and at each accounts or confirmation statement deadline for UK companies. Form D amendments arrive at least yearly while an offering continues (17 CFR 230.503).
Can I track a private company's valuation?
Rarely from public records. Form D shows amounts raised, not valuation, and UK accounts show book values. Valuations usually come from the company, from fund reports or from deal announcements.
About the author. Melvine Manchau is the founder of Tamarly and author of the Tamarly Newsletter. He previously worked at PwC, Salesforce, BlackRock/eFront and Lazard.
About Tamarly Research. Tamarly Research is part of Tamarly Media, which holds no investment positions. Tamarly is a New York research house that studies how AI is changing regulated institutions.