Private market data provider PitchBook Data Inc. opened its platform free to start-ups at the Web Summit in Lisbon today.
Anyone who registers must provide their financial information. Some of this information will come to investors through the company’s new deal sourcing service, PitchBook Origin.
The launches come at a time when more startups than ever are reaching a first round. In the US, the record for initial financing in 2021 had already fallen at the end of September, PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association noted in their latest Venture Monitor report.
PitchBook attributes some of this growth to artificial intelligence, as the technology has made it easier for businesses to launch. AI tools have also shortened investor due diligence from weeks to days. Procurement has not kept pace, the company argues, particularly where signals are not public.
Free access for startups is provided through a program called PitchBook for Startups. Founders who were only bootstrapped or raised by angels, grants or accelerators qualify as long as they are now targeting a first institutional round and can provide at least a model of their product.
Once a startup has submitted its financials and details about its leadership team and product, its founders can use the PitchBook platform to research which companies are actively writing checks in their industry and stage. Investor research is at the top of PitchBook’s own list of what founders can do with the access.
This founder data ends up in a much larger pool on the Origin site, where reporting begins at around 25 million companies and 250 million people profiles. This includes bootstrapping companies and companies that haven’t yet raised money or announced what they’re building, and about 15 million of the companies are new to PitchBook.
Third-party data enrichment and PitchBook’s own machine learning models provide some coverage. PitchBook said it has never had founder-verified data at scale before.
Each company receives a score and investors can customize relevance filters to their own criteria. Real-time alerts, saved searches, and customer relationship management integrations are designed to replace the manual monitoring that deal teams currently perform.
Paul Santarelli, chief solutions officer, said investors lack insight into “the pre-raise phase of a company, when key signals are hardest to spot.” Every company that joins the startup program and contributes verified information sharpens that picture, he said.
PitchBook “was once a startup itself, working to find the right backers,” said President and Chief Operating Officer Rod Diefendorf. Founded in 2007, the Seattle company now serves more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Morningstar Inc. has been the owner since 2016.
Startups can apply for the program now. Origin is available as a standalone product or as an add-on to PitchBook’s main platform.
Image: PitchBook
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