There’s literally thousands of startups brewing down in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs of the world, and thousands more are set to emerge as we move through the digital age.  Makes you wonder, how do all of these startups actually, well, get started? Who gave them the backing to land up where they are today? And what kind of relationships do these startups have with others?

Identifying a need to dissect the world of startups, data visualization maestros Visual.ly set out to create “The Startup Universe,” an interactive map that would allow users to examine the relationship of all Silicon Valley startups since 1990.  The Startup Universe is a central source tool that displays the network of venture capitalists, startups and founders using the massive public library of startup data at CrunchBase.

“The Startup Universe” allows users to quickly switch from founders to VCs to startups to see how these are inter-connected.  You’ll notice trends regarding how VCs have invested over time, what fields of business were most popular over the years, what kinds of startups VCs are interested in, and which type has been the most successful in terms of securing funding.

“Using data on more than 12,000 venture capitalists, 29,000 startups and 34,000 founders, “The Startup Universe” is an essential visual guide for anyone interested in diving into the web of relationships between tech and venture capital,” Tal Siach, Co-Founder & CMO of Visually told SiliconANGLE by email.

“Think MIT’s Gmail inbox visualization, but for the grander and more complex world of startups.”

For the ambitious, budding young entrepreneur, the “Startup Universe” has the potential to be a valuable resource. Begin exploring today see how venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel invested in revolutionary startups like Facebook, PayPal, Quora, and Zynga, and others.  If anyone has a good eye for what emerging services and products are set to boom, it just has to be this guy.

Maybe, just maybe, the Startup Universe will be your chance to spot a new trend ahead of the game as well.