Overview
You need external data about companies, funding, people, and markets. Data providers feed your CRM, power sourcing tools, and enrich your warehouse. But they’re expensive, have different strengths, and deliver data differently. This section covers the different types of external data for VC funds.Types of Data for VC Funds
Company and funding data: Basic information about companies (name, location, founding date, description, website, employee count, industry) and their funding history (rounds, amounts, dates, investors, valuations). This is the foundation of your deal flow tracking, market analysis, and portfolio monitoring. People data: Information about founders, executives, and employees. Who founded the company, who’s on the leadership team, their experience and education. This is crucial for evaluating founding teams and identifying potential hires for your portfolio companies. Signal and sourcing data: Early indicators that companies are growing, raising funding, or becoming interesting. This includes investor interest signals (who’s looking at a company), company registry filings (new incorporations), talent movements, headcount growth, web traffic, and funding predictions. Useful for sourcing tools to identify companies before they’re widely known. Market and competitive data: Information about sectors, industries, technology trends, and competitive landscapes. What companies operate in a space, how markets are evolving, what technologies are emerging. Research data: Academic papers, patents, and technical publications. Especially valuable for deep tech funds evaluating novel technology or scientific founding teams. Many providers span multiple categories. For example, People Data Labs offers both person and company data. Signal providers often include company fundamentals. The pages below are (mostly) organized by primary focus, but don’t assume a provider only does one thing.What’s in This Section
Data Starter Kits
Recommended data stacks for different fund types and stages.
Accessing Data
APIs, file exports, authentication, and delivery methods.
Company Data
Providers for company information, funding history, and investment data.
Signal Data
Providers for early-stage signals, sourcing, and growth indicators.
People Data
Providers for founder, team, and employee information.
Other Data
Market data, research, patents, and specialized sources.
Considerations
Cost, vendor relationships, and things to think about.