In the fiercely competitive world of attracting investors, access to business intelligence is essential for success. Every region aspires to attract the next Amazon. The challenge every economic development organization (EDO) faces is uncovering these opportunities at the right time and being the first to engage with them.
What is Foreign Direct Investment?
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) involves a company from one country investing in a business in another country. The United States, China, Brazil, and the Netherlands consistently rank among the top recipients of FDI inflows worldwide.
There are various forms of FDI, including greenfield investments (establishing new businesses in a foreign location), reinvestment (expanding existing operations), and mergers and acquisitions (acquiring or partnering with local businesses).
FDI, in its diverse forms, can help countries become more connected and modern. It supports their efforts to grow economically and cross-border collaboration.
Why is FDI Important to Economic Development Professionals?
FDI is vital for economic development professionals due to its positive impact on local economies. It creates jobs, attracts talent, and drives economic growth within the region.
International investment plays a pivotal role in fostering progress and prosperity by facilitating the transfer of capital, expertise, and technology across borders.
EDOs can discover foreign direct investors through several avenues such as market research, industry analysis, networking, trade shows and conferences, and investor outreach campaigns. To succeed in these efforts, having and using data effectively is vital.
How to Leverage Gazelle to Attract FDI
Using Gazelle's data is a strategic way for economic development professionals to identify the most promising potential foreign direct investors. Gazelle, an AI-powered business intelligence platform ranks over 9.8 million companies based on their likelihood to expand, so EDOs can focus on companies with the greatest FDI potential.
1. Spot the Next Tech Giant with Venture Capital (VC) Data
Gazelle provides in-depth VC-funded data that can help EDOs find the next tech giant. Why pursue VC-funded firms? Well-funded startups are attractive because of their growth potential.
Additionally, startups often lead the way in innovation, bringing prestige, expertise, and talent to an area. Attracting the next big startup before it reaches its full potential can have a huge economic impact on a region.
With Gazelle, EDOs can monitor and track startups by funding type, date of funding, total VC funding, and more.
2. Build Lead Generation Lists by Target Sector:
An effective lead generation strategy hinges on understanding a region’s target sectors and identifying promising companies within those sectors. Gazelle goes beyond being a mere repository of company names. It allows EDOs to perform cutting-edge research that aligns with a region's unique value proposition.
For example, EDOs search by:
Companies with the highest growth score
Companies that are growing but that are NOT located in a specific region(s)
International footprint
Industry, size, revenue, etc.
With our advanced search capabilities, in just a few clicks, EDOs can research and build lists of companies and C-suite executives that will be most interested in their region. This level of precision helps EDOs curate top-tier lead generation lists.
3. Identify and Target Emerging Clusters
Want to build a new cluster in an emerging sector? By proactively identifying and investing in emerging sectors, EDOs can position their region for future success.
By combining NAICS codes and Gazelle's unique keyword searches, researchers can go way beyond the traditional limitations of NAICS Codes to build lists of growing companies in all the top emerging spaces. Want to go after growing “space tech”, “agtech”, or “medtech” companies? That data is available.
EDOs can you use heatmaps at the state and county levels across over 900 6-digit NAICS industries to help them identify cluster growth “hot spots”. The cluster mapping feature is a great way to identify gaps and opportunities. These heat maps allow users to discover density and growth based on employment, total salaries, net sales, gross profits, establishments, and average salaries.
Want to attract the next tech giant to your region?
4. Find Confirmed Expansion Projects
Be the first to find out about a new expansion project(s). EDOs gain early insight into upcoming expansion projects with Gazelle's "Confirmed Expansion Projects" feature. Before the expansion becomes public knowledge, research teams verify these projects and collect as much information as possible.
Information such as the following is provided:
Project description
Project type (Manufacturing, R&D, HQ, Sales/Services, etc.)
Drivers for expansion project
Company origin
Number of jobs to be created
5. Boost Trade Show Success with Exclusive Attendee Data
Gazelle's Trade Show feature is a powerful tool that can greatly benefit EDOs in their research, planning, and targeting efforts for trade shows and missions.
The extensive global conference lists and growth data provided by Gazelle facilitate pre-event planning.
Advanced search filters help EDOs:
Select the right shows
Save weeks of preparation and research time
Increase conversions for one-on-one meetings
Identify opportunities at missed events
Get a deeper understanding of how Gazelle's trade show data can help you maximize events.
6. Showcase Supply Chain and Talent Data:
You've piqued a company's interest in your region, but what's next? EDOs need to provide them with compelling data to showcase why their location is ideal. Gazelle combined with Lightcast’s labor market data helps EDOs demonstrate that their region offers the ecosystem necessary to fulfill their talent and product development needs.
The Gazelle platform is the only data platform that features the ability to both expose the buying and selling ecosystems across 900 6-digit NAICS industries and generate lists of companies specific to these industries (buying or selling) at the state and county levels.
Seize Your Next FDI Opportunity
Everyone wants their share of FDI flow, but the challenge lies in how to attain it. By leveraging Gazelle's unique features, EDOs can pinpoint the most promising leads, monitor emerging sectors, engage with expanding companies, prepare for trade shows effectively, and so much more. With Gazelle's data, EDOs can turn their FDI ambitions into reality, fostering prosperity and innovation within their communities.
