After Socrata Inc. launched its online database service last year, it remained in beta for the next several months to see which types of customers would emerge as a fit.
Small businesses were natural early adopters of the company’s online spreadsheets, which allows people to visualize, filter, comment on and search large datasets within a Web site.
But soon, a new, deep-pocketed customer appeared that encouraged Socrata to shift gears: the federal government.
WSJ: Big Government Means Big Business For Data-Sharing Start-Ups
