Private company and deal data: buyer guide (October 2026)

The short answer

Pick by the kind of company you are hunting.

If targets are PE-backed or VC-backed and you need deal multiples, investors and fund data, buy a private capital database such as PitchBook or Preqin.

If targets are startups and the question is who raised what from whom, buy a startup and venture database such as Crunchbase, Dealroom or Tracxn. Several sell online with a free trial.

If you need to know which companies are about to be sold, before a banker calls, buy an M&A intelligence service such as Mergermarket.

If targets are established private companies that never raised outside capital, buy a company registry database such as Orbis or, for the UK, Germany and Ireland, Beauhurst. Filed accounts are often the only financials that exist for these firms.

Why private company and deal data matter

Most acquisition targets are private, and private companies do not publish quarterly results. Every number in a target screen, a buy-or-build case or a market map depends on what a data vendor has collected: funding rounds, filed accounts, reported deal values and journalists' sources.

The vendors collect different things. A startup database can show every funding round of a software company and nothing about a family-owned manufacturer. A company registry database holds filed accounts for that manufacturer but not the rumor that it is for sale. A team that buys the wrong type screens the wrong universe and misses targets without knowing it.

The category is consolidating. BlackRock completed its purchase of Preqin in March 2025. S&P Global completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of With Intelligence in November 2025. Ask any vendor whose ownership changed what that means for pricing and product.

Who buys it

Corporate development and M&A teams screening targets, strategy teams mapping markets and competitors, venture and innovation teams tracking startups, and finance teams benchmarking deal multiples. Private equity, venture capital firms, banks and advisors are the largest buyers.

Typical triggers: a board mandate to grow by acquisition, a first corporate venture fund, a market entry that needs a list of local players, or a deal team tired of paying advisors for screens it could run itself.

Before you buy: what teams do without one

Without a database, teams build target lists from trade association directories, conference exhibitor lists, news searches and LinkedIn, then buy filed accounts one at a time from company registries. Investment banks and advisors also bring screens to pitch meetings.

That works for one deal in a narrow market. Buying pays when the team screens continuously, needs funding and ownership history across many companies, wants deal multiples to benchmark price, or must monitor a sector for companies coming to market.

What good looks like

Capability	What good looks like	Why it matters
Company coverage	Counts by country, sector and size band, including companies with no outside funding.	A database strong on startups can be thin on mature private companies, and the reverse.
Financials for private companies	Revenue and profit figures with the source and date shown, from filings, company input or estimates labeled as such.	A screen by revenue returns the wrong targets when the revenue figures are stale or guessed.
Deal history and multiples	M&A, buyout and funding deals with dates, parties, disclosed values and valuation multiples.	Precedent deals set the price expectation for your own offer.
Ownership and investors	Current owners, investors, fund details and corporate family trees.	Who owns a company decides whether and when it can be bought.
Forward-looking signals	Alerts and predictions on funding, sale processes, hiring and growth, with a stated method.	Reaching a target before a formal sale process starts can avoid an auction.
Export, API and CRM links	Exports, an API and connectors to your CRM or AI tools, with the limits in the contract.	A screen turns into a pipeline when the data reaches the deal team's own systems.

How private company and deal data are built, and who sells each kind

Vendors in this category can take a labeled Spotlight slot on this guide. How Spotlight works

Private capital databases

Cover companies, deals, investors, funds and fund performance across private equity, venture capital and other private markets, with research and benchmarks.

Fits: Teams that buy PE-backed or VC-backed companies, raise capital, or benchmark deals and funds.

PitchBookDeal, fund and corporate development teams that need private company, deal and investor data in one platform.
PreqinFund managers, allocators and advisors that need fund, investor and performance data, now as part of BlackRock.

Startup and venture databases

Track startups, funding rounds, investors and growth signals, often sold online per seat with a free trial.

Fits: Corporate venture, innovation and strategy teams that map startups and emerging sectors.

CrunchbaseIndividuals and teams that want startup profiles and funding, acquisition and IPO predictions, bought online.
DealroomTeams of 3 or more that track startups, investors and tech ecosystems on per-seat annual plans.
TracxnInvestors and corporate M&A or innovation teams that screen startups by detailed sector taxonomies.

M&A intelligence services

Journalists and analysts report deals before they are announced, alongside deal databases and predictions of which companies will come to market.

Fits: Corporate development teams and advisors that want early warning of sale processes.

MergermarketCorporate development teams and advisors that want reporting on deals before announcement, from ION Analytics.

Company registry databases

Collect and standardize filed accounts, ownership and corporate structure for millions of private companies, usually by country.

Fits: Teams screening established private companies, and compliance or supplier risk teams that need ownership trees.

Orbis by Moody'sTeams that need standardized financials and ownership trees for private companies across many countries.
BeauhurstTeams screening private companies in the UK, Germany and Ireland, including unannounced deals found by analysts.

How to choose

Which companies are covered

Ask for counts in your sector, countries and size band. Startup databases, private capital databases and registry databases cover different universes.

Where the financials come from

Filed accounts, company submissions, analyst estimates and models each have different accuracy. Check that the source and date are shown next to each figure.

Deal data depth

Compare how many deals in your sector have a disclosed value, a multiple and named advisors. Deal counts without values do not support pricing.

Early signals

Predictions of funding, sales and IPOs, and journalism on deals in preparation, differ by vendor. Ask how predictions are made and how often they are right.

Data access rights

Export credits, API calls, CRM sync and use in AI tools are often capped or sold separately. Read the limits before comparing prices.

How pricing works

Private capital databases, M&A intelligence services and registry databases do not publish prices. They sell annual subscriptions after a demo, priced by seats, modules and data access.

Startup and venture databases are more open. Several publish per-seat plans and sell online with a free trial; some also publish a minimum team size and volume discounts.

The add-ons decide the bill: export credits, contact data, API access, CRM integration and AI connectors. Compare quotes on the same seats, regions, modules and export volumes, and ask for the renewal cap in writing.

Model	How it works	Watch for
Per-seat annual subscription	A fixed fee per named user per year, sometimes with a minimum number of seats and lower rates for larger teams.	Minimum seat counts, login sharing rules and auto-renewal terms.
Modular enterprise license	A base platform plus paid modules, such as funds and LPs, deal multiples, research or regions.	Which modules your screens depend on, and their price at renewal.
Export and contact credits	A capped number of records you can download or contacts you can reveal each year.	Credits that run out mid-year and overage prices.
API and data feed	A separate license to pull data into your CRM, data warehouse or AI tools, priced by volume and use.	Limits on storing data, sharing it internally and using it to ground AI tools.

Implementation

Define the universeWrite down the sectors, countries, ownership types and size bands you screen. Use them to test coverage in every trial.
Run a blind testGive each finalist the same 20 companies you know well, including private ones with no outside funding. Compare what each returns.
Connect to the pipelineSet up CRM sync or exports so screens land in the deal team's pipeline.
Set alertsSave searches and alerts for target lists, competitors and sectors in the first month, while the vendor's onboarding team is engaged.
Review before renewalCount deals sourced, screens run and exports used. Cut seats or modules that nobody used.

Confirm before you sign

Coverage counts for our sectors, countries and size bands, in writing.
Source and date shown for every private company financial figure.
Number of deals in our sector with disclosed values and multiples.
Seat definition, minimum seats and login sharing rules.
Export and contact credit limits, and overage prices.
API access and CRM integration, and whether they cost extra.
Permission to use the data in internal AI tools.
Renewal price cap and auto-renewal notice period.
Data retention rights for exports after the contract ends.
Any change of ownership in the last 2 years and its effect on the product roadmap.

Questions to ask in a demo

Run a screen for private companies in our sector and region with revenue between our target bounds. How many results have revenue figures, and where did each figure come from?
Show 5 companies we already know. What is missing or out of date?
How many deals in our sector over the last 3 years have a disclosed value and a multiple?
How do you find companies that have never raised outside capital?
Show an alert on a company preparing for sale. What was the source, and how early did it arrive before the announcement?
How many records can we export a year, and what happens when we hit the cap?
How does data reach our CRM, and can our AI tools query it under this license?
What changed in the product or pricing after your most recent change of ownership or funding round?

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between PitchBook and Crunchbase?

PitchBook is a private capital database covering companies, deals, investors and funds across private equity and venture capital, sold through its sales team after a trial or demo. Crunchbase is a startup and venture database of company profiles, funding rounds and predictions, with plans sold online and a free trial. Deal teams buying PE-backed companies usually need the first type; teams mapping startups often start with the second.

Who owns Preqin now?

BlackRock. It completed its acquisition of Preqin on March 3, 2025. BlackRock said Preqin would remain available as a standalone product while being integrated over time with its Aladdin and eFront platforms. If you are renewing a Preqin contract, ask about roadmap, pricing and any changes to data sharing under the new owner.

How do you find financials for a private company?

In many countries private companies file accounts with a public registry, and company registry databases such as Orbis and Beauhurst collect and standardize them. Where no filing exists, databases rely on company submissions, news and estimates. Check the source and date shown next to each figure before using it in a valuation.

How much does private company data cost?

Most private capital databases, M&A intelligence services and registry databases do not publish prices as of October 2026. They sell annual subscriptions after a demo. Several startup databases publish per-seat plans and offer free trials. Export credits, API access and CRM integration often cost extra, so compare quotes on the same seats, modules and data limits.

What are alternatives to PitchBook?

For fund and investor data, look at Preqin. For startups and venture rounds, Crunchbase, Dealroom and Tracxn. For deals before they are announced, Mergermarket. For filed accounts and ownership of established private companies, Orbis or, in the UK, Germany and Ireland, Beauhurst.

Sources

Written by Stratrix editors from public sources and checked claim by claim by a second AI model against those sources. Vendors named in the editorial sections did not pay to be included. Spotlight listings are paid and labeled. Methodology and corrections

Private company and deal data: how providers differ and who each fits