Crunchbase

Crunchbase is a predictive solution that provides intelligence on private companies, powered by the unique combination of live private company data, AI, and market activity from 80M+ users.

Crunchbase

Type of site	Data as a service
Available in	English
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Owner	TechCrunch (2007–2015) Crunchbase, Inc. (2015–present)
Created by	Michael Arrington
Employees	153 (2019)
URL	www.crunchbase.com
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Optional
Launched	May 17, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-05-17)
Current status	Online

History

Crunchbase's former logo, used before the name was changed from CrunchBase to Crunchbase

Crunchbase was founded in 2007 by Michael Arrington as an outside database to track startups featured in articles on TechCrunch.

In September 2010, AOL acquired Crunchbase. ^{[citation needed]}

In November 2013, AOL entered into a dispute with startup Pro Populi over the company's use of the entire Crunchbase dataset in apps that Pro Populi developed despite having distributed the data under the Creative Commons CC-BY attribution license. Pro Populi was represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.^[1] AOL eventually conceded that Pro Populi could continue to use the dataset but adopted the CC BY-NC license for future revisions.^[2] A snapshot of the 2013 dataset is still available for download under the CC-BY license on the Crunchbase website.^[3]

In 2014, Crunchbase added incubators and venture capital partners to the startup database.^[4]

In 2015, Crunchbase went private, separating from AOL, Verizon, and TechCrunch. Crunchbase then announced the raise of $8.5 million in funding.^[5] In 2016, the company rebranched by removing the camel casing of its name (with the "B" in "Base" now being rendered as a small letter), and launched its first product, the paid database Crunchbase Pro.^[6] In April 2017, Crunchbase announced an $18 million Series B from Mayfield Fund.^[7] At the same time, Crunchbase launched two new products – Crunchbase Enterprise and Crunchbase for Applications.^[8]

In 2018, Crunchbase launched Crunchbase Marketplace, providing subscriptions to data from third parties.^[9] The following year, Crunchbase announced a $30 million Series C led by Omers Ventures.^[10]

Over time, Crunchbase expanded its role in several phases: initially serving as a data resource for investors, later licensing its dataset to professional platforms such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and NASDAQ, and eventually creating integrations with workflow tools including Salesforce^[11], HubSpot^[12], and Outreach^[13]. These partnerships and integrations fueled steady growth, with the platform’s user base surpassing 80 million by the mid-2020s. ,

In 2025, Crunchbase relaunched as an AI-powered solution offering predictive intelligence. Moving beyond static, historical company data, the updated solution incorporated machine learning models trained on Crunchbase’s proprietary dataset, encompassing nearly two decades of startup information, along with billions of live market signals to predict key company milestones such as funding rounds, acquisitions, and growth. Crunchbase stated that its proprietary predictive intelligence combines data from internet sources, government filings, user contributions, partner integrations, and aggregated platform usage to generate forward-looking insights for investors, GTM Teams, and wealth managers alike.^[14]

Following this relaunch, Crunchbase introduced several integrations designed to extend the reach of its predictive intelligence. In 2025, it launched an integration with Clay, a data enrichment and sales engagement platform, enabling users to access Crunchbase’s company insights and predictions directly within Clay workflows.^[15] That same year, Crunchbase partnered with Perplexity, making Crunchbase’s firmographic and funding data available within Perplexity Enterprise Pro.^[16] Crunchbase also partnered with Databricks, making its predictive private company intelligence available through the Databricks Marketplace for use within analytics environments.^[17]

Products

Crunchbase’s core offerings include:^[18]

Crunchbase Pro

Best for individuals or small teams looking to discover and prioritize private market opportunities with best-in-class private company data.

Crunchbase Business

Best for larger teams looking to make strategic decisions with private market insights, predictions, and scalable workflows. Crunchbase Business includes access to everything in Crunchbase Pro, plus advanced features such as data exports, access to all Predictions and Insights, full access to Crunchbase Scout, and CRM integrations.

Crunchbase API

Data Enrichment - Enrich your tools with Crunchbase’s best-in-class proprietary data and predictions.

Data Licensing - Bring Crunchbase’s best-in-class proprietary data and predictions to your customers.