Barchart.com, Inc.

Barchart.com Inc. is a Chicago-based privately-held financial technology company specializing in data services and technology in financial markets.
The firm connects directly to numerous equities, futures, options, indices, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency markets and exchanges worldwide and provides market data, analysis, charts, trading tools and software products.
Barchart's customer-base ranges from financial exchanges to brokers, banks, trading and investment firms, commodities businesses in agriculture, oil and gas, metals, cryptocurrencies as well as media companies.
 
== History ==
Barchart.com, Inc. was officially incorporated on Feb. 8, 2000 in Chicago. 
The company's legacy dates back to Logical Systems Inc., one of the first "internet-based financial data providers" which launched the online market data service called Barchart.com in 1995. As electronic trading in financial markets grew rapidly in the late 1990s, the company evolved into Barchart.com, Inc., and is usually referred to simply as Barchart. 
Barchart has expanded via acquisition and through organic growth with new technology and services since its inception. In 2001, Barchart acquired the data and charting business from CRB/Bridge, which specialized in research, data and analysis of commodities and futures markets. Commodity Research Bureau, founded in 1934 by Milton Jiler, was a provider of various data products, publications, printed charts, historical data and the well-known CRB Index, later named the Thomson Reuters/CoreCommodity CRB Index (although Barchart did not acquire the CRB Index itself). Barchart later transitioned Commodity Research Bureau unit into cmdty by Barchart in January 2019 as part of the cmdty suite of products including its cash indices, DataCenter which kept on of the largest historical commodity price databases, CRB Yearbook of global commodity statistics and economic data and CRB Fundamentals, a collection of current and historical fundamental data.
In June 2006, Barchart acquired United States Chart Company from well-known futures trader Ken Roberts.
The company added to its data services with the 2011 acquisition of Stockgroup Media Inc.'s Financial Tools, its business-to-business services which included private-labeled content for websites and market data feeds. Barchart acquired the Stockgroup name and website domain. 
With a strong focus on agricultural markets, the firm launched Agricharts in 2007, to offer market data, plus website hosting and management, web content and real-time quotes for industry firms such as: local cash grain markets, grain elevators, agriculture cooperatives and other agriculture businesses and added a mobile application to it in 2015.
Soon after, Barchart added Grains.com, an online market that connects farmers to grain buyers in North America. Launched in June 2015, the service enables farmers to view local grain bids and send offers to sell grain such as corn, wheat and soybeans to grain elevators. Users also were able to access futures prices, news and weather information.
The company redesigned and revamped its flagship website Barchart.com in 2016. It also expanded its customer base in the media space with a partnership with The Globe and Mail, one of Canada's largest media firms. In the deal, Barchart provides financial content and tools to the company's website. 
In January 2021, Barchart announced a joint partnership with AgVantage Software, a leader in the agribusiness software industry, to integrate AgVantage's ERP software within Barchart's Marketplace Apps in order to simplify the workflows between agribusinesses and producers by making data such as grain contracts and scale tickets available.
===Data In The Cloud===
The growth of electronic trading on exchanges and markets worldwide generated a tremendous amount of data daily: from simple price data to volume, economic data, and other data sets and formats. As such, more exchanges and firms in the financial markets moved to handle the explosion of data using cloud-based services.
Barchart moved into the cloud-based services space for market data and information with the launch of Barchart OnDemand in October 2013. The service used the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform, and was designed to collect and deliver massive amounts of global exchange data such as: price information, fundamental and reference data, corporate actions, leaderboards, charts, news and customizable analytical screens. 
Access to data via Barchart OnDemand was more efficient and less expensive using a collection of Application programming interfaces, or APIs, allowing customers to connect directly to various data sets such as daily, minute or tick data, corporate actions, information on exchange traded funds ETFs and news. In 2015, it added Agricharts to the Barchart On Demand platform.
Barchart followed that up with its participation in the AWS Data Exchange on November 14, 2019. The new Amazon service was designed to make it easy for customers to find, subscribe and use third-party data in the cloud. Barchart was a day-one participant and offered customers on AWS Data Exchange access to more than 3,300 global indexes dating back to 2010, US futures back to 2010 and US equity price data back to 1980.
=== Executive Changes===
In May 2016, Barchart promoted Mark Haraburda to CEO of the company from managing director. Haraburda joined the firm in 2007 and helped expand its sales, marketing and establish Barchart's agricultural technology division. He also led the acquisition of Stockgroup Media Inc.'s Financial Tools business in August 2011. Andrew Lowden, who was CEO and chief operating officer, remained on as COO and chairman. Eero Pikat, Barchart president and CTO, remained in the roles at the time.
In 2018, Chris Harrison was named chief technology officer of Barchart, handling the company's technology offerings such as: data feeds, digital products, APIs and software services including cmdtyView. He replaced Pikat, who remained as Barchart president.
===Cmdty for Commodities===
The company made a further push into the commodities space in October 2017 with the launch of cmdty by Barchart, an online platform offering data, information, trade execution and matching technology. Aimed at firms in the commodities markets, it originally included: proprietary over-the-counter commodity indexes, assessments of the market and commodity news. But more data and technology services have been added to the cmdty by Barchart product suite in subsequent years.
Barchart launched cmdtyView, a commodity research, analysis and trading platform for agricultural market participants in October 2018. The product included analytics, exchange data, cash commodity market data, database of global economic, trade and statistical data and newswires. 
Barchart also folded other legacy business units under the cmdty umbrella via rebranding initiatives. In January 2019, the Barchart Commodity Research Bureau unit was rebranded as cmdty by Barchart. 
In February 2019, Barchart rebranded its Agricharts unit as cmdtyConnect, integrated it into the full cmdty business line of products. 
In October 2019, the company announced the cmdty Pricing Network, a commodity pricing service that aims to offer better data and price transparency by collecting and distributing wholesale data from participating member firms in agricultural markets. The service collects information on markets such as grains, fertilizer and proteins. 
==Products and services==
Barchart offers products and services in three main areas: data, services and software.
Barchart Data is comprised of three data categories: market data, company data and other data. It offers market data on equities, futures, cash commodities, forex and cryptocurrencies, stocks and commodity indexes and mutual funds. Company data includes: corporate actions, analyst ratings, analyst estimates, company profiles and equity fundamentals. Other data includes: technical analysis, economic data, grain prices and data, weather and news.
Barchart offers data subscriptions on web-based and mobile applications through various products including: 
* Barchart.com is Barchart's free financial media property which is designed for individuals, or retail customers and for media outlets, looking to provide market information to their customers.
* Barchart Digital: provides data, analytics, charting, news and tools for companies that want to incorporate that information into its service offerings. Barchart Digital offers Application programming interfaces, or (API)s for charting, portfolios and watchlists for firms. 
*Barchart OnDemand: provides cloud computing-based financial market data in various formats and time frames for market participants. Using (API)s the Barchart OnDemand enables customers to create charts, historical data, integrate data into a website, assist with algorithm-based trading in financial markets, help build applications, assist with data strategies and processes.
*Barchart Stream: provides APIs for professional trading and brokerage firms in a format that consolidate global exchange data. This system is designed for customers that require extremely fast data feeds. 
Software Solutions includes Barchart's data, analytics, news service and trading software. 
*The firm's cmdtyView Pro product is an HTML5, web-based trading platform that allows traders to execute trades on futures markets. 
*Excel Add-In is used for data and prices to help create streaming workbooks, charts and curves independent of other products. 
*Barchart Trader, launched in 2013, provides a market data and trading platform to execute trades in futures, equities and forex markets.
*Grains.com is a web-based grain trading platform with streaming data, charts, newsletters, video, chat and private bids.
*Barchart also offers white label versions of its platforms. 
The cmdty by Barchart product line is designed to provide data, indexes, trading and technology solutions for agricultural industry participants from farmers to producers. The product suite includes: 
* cmdtyView, a desktop solution offering real-time data from global exchanges, grain indexes, historical data, economic data, energy prices, physical grain prices and scrap metal prices as well as analytics and futures trading.<
* cmdtyMatch, a physical grain market, trade matching platform that is built into cmdtyView.
* cmdtyStats, economic data and global commodity statistics that is built into cmdtyView.
* cmdtyIndexes, proprietary grain price indexes for corn, wheat and soybeans, plus indexes on yield forecasts, crop conditions, crude oil, retail fuel, scrap metal and basic commodities.
* cmdty Pricing Network, collects wholesale data from members, normalizes it, and then distributes the data 
*Commodity Solutions, includes cmdtyConnect, cmdty Yearbook, cmdty Newswires, cmdty Calendar
Barchart Web sites
*http://www.barchart.com
*http://www.barchart.com/solutions
*http://www.barchart.com/cmdty
*http://www.barchart.com/ondemand
==Barchart Events==
Barchart is known in the financial industry for its annual conferences in Chicago. It's first conference, FinTech Exchange 2015, highlighted technology in the financial markets with more than 20 financial technology firms presenting at the event. The company partnered with FinTEX Chicago to organize and promote the first event. 
The company hosted several more annual FinTech Exchange events in Chicago until switching in 2019 to a new conference topic and format called cmdtyExchange, designed to focus on innovations in data and technology in commodity markets, also referred to as AgTech. Barchart followed that event up with cmdtyExchange in 2020.
==Executives==
* Mark Haraburda, Chief Executive Officer
* Andrew Lowdon, COO
* Eero A. Pikat, President
* Keith Petersen, Chief Strategy Officer
* Chris Harrison, CTO 
* Michael Browne, Head of Sales
* Colleen Sheeren, Head of Marketing
==References==
Category:Financial software companies
Category:Financial data companies
Category:Market data services