Item: Crunchbase
Rating: 10
Author: Parker O'Very

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Crunchbase as a data source for our account information in our CRM. We do not use the Enterprise version with a SFDC integration currently. I use Crunchbase to stay on top of major funding rounds for our key prospect accounts--this is a major buying signal that we track as part of our ABM strategy. We have also used add ons for Bombora, Builtwith, and Siftery.

Pros and Cons

Account-Based Data. Employee range, website, industry, company description, chief executives, latest news, etc. All for the given company you are researching.
Salesforce integration. I have not used it, but the functionality is supposed to be great. You can run data enrichment in your CRM with the Crunchbase data.
Funding, mergers, and acquisitions data. Crunchbase has relationships with thousands of VC firms throughout the world and followup with each very regularly to be able to serve up the latest data to their users.
Tech integrations. Integrations with tools like Bombora, Builtwith, Siftery, and others are really useful because you can use Crunchbase's company profile-based research method, and see the data from these tools specifically related to the given company.

Timely data. We also use Owler for company funding alerts. Since Owler scans the web for press releases from the set of companies you follow, it is often more "on time" when it comes to major funding rounds. Crunchbase usually catches up within the month.
There are data discrepancies sometimes between a company profile on Crunchbase vs that company's profile on LinkedIn. It could be that Crunchbase is more accurate, but we just don't know.

Return on Investment

The best use we get out of Crunchbase Pro is staying on top of funding, mergers, and acquisitions. This has really helped us to identify key target accounts for our ABM strategy.

Alternatives Considered

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Crunchbase has far more company data than LinkedIn Sales Navigator. The thing that it lacks is data on the people at those companies. LinkedIn Sales Navigator also has a better CRM integration, from what I understand. It is more automated. For our strategy, we use both of these platforms. Both are essential for our ABM model.

Other Software Used

LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Owler

Likelihood to Recommend

Crunchbase Pro is pretty inexpensive and offers so much great data. What's more, you could use it as your sole provider for account data in your CRM with the CRM integration and have very clean and accurate data with a reasonable margin of error. I also love that you can have saved searches, and get alerts on those search criteria each week. For example, I can have a weekly alert on major funding rounds from companies that meet the given search criteria.

Crunchbase is an essential tool for our ABM strategy

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Crunchbase