Crunchbase free tier: look up private companies and their funding
Crunchbase profiles startups and private companies, including funding. A free account gives limited search; exports and full results need a paid plan.
The site: Crunchbase. Cost: Freemium. Useful for: companies.
What it is
Crunchbase is a database of private and public companies, best known for startup funding data. A free account lets you create and edit a profile, look up companies, see growth insights and predictions, and set activity alerts for one list, called My First List.
Search is the main limit. Crunchbase’s help centre says free search results are limited to up to 5 results per search, and data exports are not included. The paid Pro plan allows up to 1,000 results per search and data exports of up to 2,000 rows a month, and adds funding, acquisition and IPO predictions. The Business plan adds CRM integrations and larger exports.
Use it for
- Checking who has funded a startup competitor and when
- Getting a quick overview of a private company before a meeting
- Following a short list of companies through activity alerts
- Testing whether a paid plan would be worth it for prospecting
The free tier suits looking up companies you already know by name. It does not suit discovering new ones through broad searches.
How to use it
- Sign up for a free account at crunchbase.com.
- Search for a company by name and open its profile.
- Read the overview and any funding information recorded for it.
- Add the companies you care about to My First List to receive activity alerts.
- Expect broad searches to return only a handful of results on the free plan.
Cross-check any funding round you plan to quote against the company’s own announcement or a news report.
Example
Before a call with a fintech startup, a founder can open its Crunchbase profile to see its description, location and any funding rounds recorded. Adding the startup and three rivals to My First List means an alert arrives when Crunchbase records activity on any of them.
Watch out for
- Free search shows up to 5 results per search, so it is poor for building lists.
- Data exports are not included on the free plan.
- Funding data is gathered from many sources and can be incomplete or late.
It works well alongside Companies House, SEC EDGAR full-text search and Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
Checklist
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