Crunchbase: What It Is & How to Use It


Crunchbase is a database service that offers business information on private and public companies. Their website offers countless profiles on various companies, like the company profile here. This information includes, but is not limited to: funding, company investments, company leaders and founders, mergers and acquisitions, news regarding the company, and trends in the industry.

Company History

Founded in 2007 by Michael Arrington, the company was first used to track the progress and doings of various startup companies that Crunbase’s parent company, TechCrunch, would write articles on.

AOL would later acquire TechCrunch, and therefore Crunchbase as well in 2010. A few years later in 2015, Crunchbase would separate itself from AOL and its parent company Techcrunch to become its own entity. After that, they would launch a plethora of products and services such as Crunchbase Pro, Crunchbase Marketplace, and others.

Advanced Search Feature

One of the main components of Crunchbase is their advanced search feature. Using this, you can find private and public companies based on a number of qualifications. You can search based on keywords, company location, industry, employee count, date founded, and more.

To use this core feature of Crunchbase however, you will need to sign up for one of their three subscription plans.

Starter Plan

Crunchbase’s Starter plan is a good place to begin if you’re not sure what your exact needs are for investing in and researching private and public companies. While it may seem like a hefty price at $29 a month, remember you are paying for the best private company data out there. 

Their starter plan will give you unlimited searches, access to all data types and search fields, and it will let you view new prospects with their specialized profile comparison tools. The Starter plan should be more than enough for your average investor, but Crunchbase offers more for your more advanced and experienced investors.

Crunchbase Pro

A step up from their starter plan is Crunchbase Pro. This plan comes in at $49 per month, and offers its users a wide range of tools and services for them to use. With this plan, you’ll be able to access verified contact information, email decision makers within the company, and monitor up to 100,000 companies. 

Not enough? Crunchbase offers one more plan, best for larger investment teams.

Crunchbase Enterprise

If you’re looking to put a considerable amount of capital into a company, you’ll want direct contact with the people running the business to know if you should trust them with your money. Crunchbase Enterprise offers everything their pro plan has, and more. 

You and your team of investors will have access to unlimited contacts, real-time updates, leverage API access, ability to export bulk data sets, and direct contact with their customer support manager.

Wrapping Up

Crunchbase is a way for investors to research information about primarily private, but also public companies. We recommend using the Starter plan unless you are part of a team of investors that require specific services from the Crunchbase Enterprise plan or Crunchbase Pro.