Overview
Company Lookup works by aggregating official SEC EDGAR company filings data. The database includes ~10,000 US public companies with their metadata, SIC codes, contact information, and former names. Data is refreshed weekly from SEC submissions.
Live Test Company Lookup Source →
Formula
One function covers the whole catalog: the first argument names the source, the rest are its inputs, and the "field" pair says which single value lands in the cell. Formulas covers the grammar that applies to all of them.
=VERVE("companylookup", A2, "field", "count")=VERVE.CALL("companylookup", A2, "field", "count")A2 holds the ticker you are looking up. Drag the formula down and each row resolves on its own.
With literal values
Nothing has to come from a cell — typed values work the same way.
=VERVE("companylookup", "AAPL", "field", "count")=VERVE.CALL("companylookup", "AAPL", "field", "count")Inputs
Required inputs are positional, in the order below. Everything else is passed as a "name", value pair after them — the same shape as SUMIFS. Premium inputs are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.
| Input | Type | Where it goes | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
tickerRequired | string | argument 2 (A2) | Stock ticker symbol (e.g. AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL) length 1–5 |
What lands in your sheet
The "field" pair is what makes the formula resolve to one cell. Its value is a dot-path from the table below, so swapping it is how you pull a different value — one formula per column.
Seeing everything at once
Drop the "field" pair and the formula returns the whole response instead: two columns, field name on the left and value on the right, spilling from the cell you typed in.
=VERVE("companylookup", A2)=VERVE.CALL("companylookup", A2)The second row's table would land on top of the first's, and every cell after the first reads #REF! (#SPILL! in Excel). Keep one per sheet, or name a field, and leave the cells below and to the right empty.
Response fields
Paths are relative to data. Each one is exactly what the "field" pair accepts, so swapping it is how you pull a different value into a cell. On a plan without a Premium field the cell reads #PREMIUM(field) rather than a value, so a locked field never looks like a real answer.
| Use as "field" | Type | Example cell value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
count | number | 1 | Number of companies returned |
companies | array[1] | Matching companies | |
companies.0.ticker | string | AAPL | Stock ticker symbol for the company |
companies.0.cik | string | 0000320193 | SEC Central Index Key identifier number |
companies.0.name | string | Apple Inc. | Legal company name registered with SEC |
companies.0.tickers | array | ["AAPL"] | All ticker symbols associated with company |
companies.0.exchanges | array | ["Nasdaq"] | Stock exchanges where company trades |
companies.0.entityType | string | operating | Company entity type classification |
companies.0.sic | string | 3571 | Standard Industrial Classification code |
companies.0.sicDescriptionPremium | string | Electronic Computers | Human-readable SIC code description |
companies.0.sectorPremium | string | Manufacturing | High-level industry sector classification |
companies.0.category | string | Large accelerated filer | SEC filer category designation |
companies.0.stateOfIncorporation | string | CA | State where company is incorporated |
companies.0.fiscalYearEnd | string | 0926 | Fiscal year end month and day |
companies.0.ein | string | 942404110 | Employer Identification Number for tax purposes |
companies.0.phone | string | (408) 996-1010 | Primary phone number from SEC filings |
companies.0.addresses | object | {…} | Addresses on file with the SEC |
companies.0.addresses.mailing | object | {…} | Mailing address |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.street1 | string | ONE APPLE PARK WAY | Mailing address street line |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.street2 | object | null | Mailing address second street line (suite, floor, etc.), null when not applicable |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.city | string | CUPERTINO | Mailing address city name |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.stateOrCountry | string | CA | Mailing address state or country code |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.zipCode | string | 95014 | Mailing address postal code |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.stateOrCountryDescription | string | CA | Human-readable name of the mailing address state or country |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.isForeignLocation | number | 0 | Whether the mailing address is outside the United States, null when not determined |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.foreignStateTerritory | object | null | Foreign state or territory name for the mailing address, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.country | object | null | Mailing address country name, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.countryCode | object | null | Mailing address ISO country code, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.business | object | {…} | Business address |
companies.0.addresses.business.street1 | string | ONE APPLE PARK WAY | Business address street line |
companies.0.addresses.business.street2 | object | null | Business address second street line (suite, floor, etc.), null when not applicable |
companies.0.addresses.business.city | string | CUPERTINO | Business address city name |
companies.0.addresses.business.stateOrCountry | string | CA | Business address state or country code |
companies.0.addresses.business.zipCode | string | 95014 | Business address postal code |
companies.0.addresses.business.stateOrCountryDescription | string | CA | Human-readable name of the business address state or country |
companies.0.addresses.business.isForeignLocation | object | null | Whether the business address is outside the United States, null when not determined |
companies.0.addresses.business.foreignStateTerritory | object | null | Foreign state or territory name for the business address, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.business.country | object | null | Business address country name, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.business.countryCode | object | null | Business address ISO country code, null for US addresses |
companies.0.formerNamesPremium | array[3] | List of all previously used company names | |
companies.0.formerNames.0.namePremium | string | APPLE INC | A previously used legal name for the company |
companies.0.formerNames.0.fromPremium | string | 2007-01-10T05:00:00.000Z | ISO 8601 timestamp when the company began using this former name |
companies.0.formerNames.0.toPremium | string | 2019-08-05T04:00:00.000Z | ISO 8601 timestamp when the company stopped using this former name |
Filling a whole column
Both platforms make one batched call for a column rather than one request per cell, and both cost the same — 2 credits per row looked up. How you write it differs, because the two runtimes batch at different points.
=VERVE("companylookup", A2:A100, "field", "count")In Google Sheets, give the arguments ranges and the answers spill down from the cell you typed in. Custom functions there run synchronously and in isolation, so dragged cells cannot be coalesced — the range form is how a column becomes one call. The "field" pair is required here: a per-row two-column table has nowhere to spill. Use a full column per input (A2:A100, not A2) — a single-cell reference is read as row 1 only and the rest of the column comes back blank.
In Excel, type the formula once and fill down — no range form and none needed, because its runtime is asynchronous and the add-in coalesces the calls a fill produces into a single batched request. Do not hand VERVE.CALL a range: Excel flattens it into positional arguments, so A2:A100 arrives as a hundred separate arguments and the cell reads #ERR rather than filling.
Either way, column A holds your ticker values and the answers land beside them, one row each, blank rows skipped.
When a cell doesn't fill
A failed lookup returns readable text starting with #ERR rather than a spreadsheet error, because Excel cannot show a custom message on a real error — you would get a bare #VALUE! with no reason. The trade-off is that IFERROR() will not catch it; test with LEFT(cell, 4) = "#ERR" instead. Error handling covers the rest.
| Cell reads | What happened |
|---|---|
#ERR Not connected | No API key saved. Open the side panel and connect your account. |
#ERR Replace <name> with a cell or value | A preview formula was copied as-is. Swap the placeholder for a cell reference. |
#ERR No "x" in companylookup | An option name this source does not take. The message lists the ones it does. |
#ERR No data point "…" | The "field" path is not in the response. Check it against the table above. |
#PREMIUM(field) | The field exists but your plan does not include it. |
#ERR Out of credits | The cycle's credits are spent. Usage resets on your billing date. |
Before the formula works
The add-in reads the API key you saved once in the side panel — the key never goes in the formula, so a shared sheet does not leak it and a collaborator without access simply sees the last calculated values.
- Install the add-in for Google Sheets or Excel.
- Open the side panel and sign in, or paste a key from your dashboard.
- Type the formula above into any cell.
Use cases
- Investor Search Autocomplete
- Brokerage apps resolve user-typed company names to verified ticker symbols, trading exchanges, and SEC CIK numbers in real time.
- Vendor Due Diligence
- To confirm vendor tax identities, procurement teams match submitted business entities against official SEC Employer Identification Numbers and registered headquarters addresses.
- Compliance Onboarding
- When onboarding institutional accounts, KYC software reads state of incorporation, SEC filer category, and contact phone numbers directly from SEC records.
- Industry Peer Screening
- Filter publicly traded companies by four-digit SIC codes to build comparable company sets across specific manufacturing or technology segments.
Other ways to use Company Lookup
Set up Company Lookup on VerveSheets, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveSheets account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.
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