Here's how to find them.
Every dollar is a vote. When you spend at a locally owned business, it circulates in your neighborhood — hiring locals, paying local taxes, and keeping your streets unique.
When you spend at a private-equity-backed chain, profits often leave town, jobs get squeezed, and storefronts start to look the same everywhere.
Equity Lens is a grassroots transparency tool. We map businesses around you and reveal who really owns them — so you can choose local with confidence.
Arm yourself with facts before you spend, share, or organize.
See which businesses near you are independent, local chains, or backed by distant private equity firms.
Tap any business and Equity Lens researches the parent company, investment firm, or franchise chain behind it.
Search a product or UPC to trace which corporation or PE firm ultimately owns the brand.
Find locally owned alternatives, share lists with your community, and make boycotts and buycotts count.
Crowdsource ownership data. Vote on whether a business is local, PE-backed, or part of a national chain.
Add Equity Lens to your home screen and check ownership while you shop, dine, or walk your neighborhood.
From curiosity to conscious spending in four steps.
Launch the app and browse businesses in your city, starting with Portland.
See its ownership status, category, and how far away it is.
If ownership is unclear, trigger an AI check to trace the parent company or PE firm.
Confirm the result, share local finds, and redirect your dollars toward community-owned businesses.
Open Equity Lens and start finding locally owned businesses today. Your city’s character depends on it.
Open Equity Lens