Without any introduction we can certainly say that Enigma is a tool that should not be ignored by any data enthusiast. First introduced to the wide public at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 where this start-up was the grand winner, it has gained popularity by simplicity of use and wide availability of its content.

Enigma allows its users to explore a vast amount of publicly available although not easy to obtain data. The service pulls its data from more than 100,000 data sources, a major advantage being a deceptively simple process of sifting through all the information  — a quick search for a person’s name or company brings up multiple detailed sources of information, and jumping in and playing with data is thoughtfully executed. 

By now the excellent simplistic design and usefulness of the information provided in one place has brought the company partnerships with the Harvard Business School, research firm Gerson Lehrman Group, S&P Capital IQ, and newly-minted strategic investor the New York Times.

Although by now it has proven itself a very useful tool Enigma has its ups and downs. The biggest downsize is the fact that it only has databases collected from american government and american local authorities, which is great because those datasets are public and free but they are not very useful for researchers from another countries, unless they are studying their country relations with America. Second of all, its simplistic design can be a bit confusing at first because it’s a new type of application and not all of its functions are clear. However this can be avoided if before browsing through the site you first visit the support section.

All in all , we have reached the verdict that Enigma is a great App if you are interested in public data of America, not easy to obtain otherwise.