Is Crunchbase Pro worth the $29/mo cost?

Yes, for B2B sales. The free version lacks critical 'Last Funding Date' filters necessary for timely outreach.

How accurate is the Last Funding Date?

It reflects the public announcement, not the wire transfer. Funding often hits the bank weeks before the press release.

5 Crunchbase Search Examples: Finding Recently Funded Companies

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5 Crunchbase Search Examples: Finding Recently Funded Companies

Crunchbase Funding Searches Find Freshly Funded Companies

5 Crunchbase Search Examples: Finding Recently Funded Companies

_{last updated: Feb 12, 2026}

Finding companies with fresh capital is the oldest play in the B2B sales book, which is why most people do it wrong. Here is how to construct searches that filter out the noise and find prospects who actually need to spend money today.

TL;DR: The Cheat Code

A "Recently Funded" search is only valuable if you layer it with Velocity (how fast they are hiring) and Need (tech stack or industry gaps). Searching for "funded companies" gets you a list; searching for "funded companies with <50 employees hiring sales leaders" gets you a pipeline.

Key Bullets:

Benchmark: A "Good" startup list often has a 15–20% bounce rate (turnover is high in early-stage companies) compared to the standard 7.5% B2B average.
Rule: The "90-Day Rule." If the funding news is older than 90 days, the budget is likely already allocated.
Warning: Do not rely on "Headquarters Location" alone; remote-first startups often list Delaware or a founder's home address.

How to read this: Use the glossary to understand the terms, then copy the 5 "Recipes" directly into your Crunchbase Pro filter.

Glossary

Last Funding Date: The specific date the capital was announced (not necessarily wired). This is your primary recency filter.
Funding Type: Indicates the maturity and pressure on the company. "Seed" means they need product-market fit (buying core tools). "Series B" means they need scale (buying enterprise layers).
HubSpot/Salesforce Pull: The act of cross-referencing a Crunchbase export with your CRM to ensure you aren't prospecting existing customers. See our guide on LinkedIn Outbound for Founders for more on this workflow.

How to Build These 5 Searches

Below are 5 specific Crunchbase search recipes designed for different B2B sales motions. Copy the criteria directly into the "Advanced Search" query builder. For a deeper dive into filter logic, check our Crunchbase Search Filters B2B guide.

The "5 Search" Swipe File

Search Name	Target Profile	Exact Search Criteria (Copy & Paste)	Why It Works
1. The "Fresh Seed" Founder	Early-stage startups building their initial stack.	Funding Type: Seed Last Funding Date: <60 Days Employees: 1–10 Industry: SaaS / Software	Founders are still selling. They have cash but no team. They buy speed (agencies, contractors, core dev tools).
2. The Series A Scaler	Companies under pressure to grow 3x YoY.	Funding Type: Series A Last Funding Date: <90 Days Actively Hiring: Yes (Sales/Marketing)	Series A is the "prove it" round. They are aggressively hiring revenue teams and need tools to support them (CRMs, data, enrichment).
3. The "Silent" Grower	Companies growing without recent press hype.	Funding Status: Private Equity / Late Stage Semrush Monthly Visits: Top 100k Employee Growth: >20% (6 Months)	Everyone chases the TechCrunch headline. These companies are quietly scaling and often have less inbox competition. Note: Crunchbase uses Semrush data for traffic metrics [Source: https://support.crunchbase.com/hc/en-us/articles/360046160313-SEMrush-Data].
4. The Regional Hero	Location-based services or compliance needs.	HQ Location: [Your Target City/Region] Last Funding Date: <180 Days Total Funding: >$5M	Regional focus builds instant trust. "Saw you're the top funded startup in Austin" is a better hook than a generic pitch.
5. The Pivot Prospect	Companies re-tooling after a gap.	Last Funding Date: <30 Days Days Since Prior Funding: >700 Days Industry: AI / Data / Biotech	If they raised after a 2-year gap, they likely pivoted or fixed a major issue. They are rebuilding infrastructure and are open to change.

Stop Guessing, Start Closing.
You have the list. Now you need the strategy to work it. Don't let those leads rot in a spreadsheet. Get The Outbound System.

Benchmarks & Math

Before you launch, understand the baseline numbers. Startups are volatile, and your data hygiene will determine your success.

Sample Math: The Funnel Reality

Input: You export 1,000 "Series A" leads found via these searches.
Verification: ~20% will be bad data (wrong emails, ghost companies). Remaining: 800 contacts.
Conversion: A generic "Congrats on funding" email gets a 0.5% reply rate (4 replies). A specific "Saw you're hiring 5 SDRs post-Series A" email targets a 5.8% average reply rate (46 replies).
Result: Specificity leverages the funding news; it doesn't rely on it.

Crunchbase vs LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Founders often ask which tool to prioritize. The answer depends on your trigger.

Feature	Crunchbase Pro	LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Primary Trigger	Capital Injection. Best for finding companies who just got money.	Personnel Changes. Best for finding companies who just hired a VP.
Contact Data	Weak. Often generic info@ or outdated founder emails.	Strong. Direct access to profiles (though InMail has low read rates).
Best Use Case	Building the account list (The "Who").	Finding the decision maker (The "Person").

Risks: The "Spray and Pray" Trap

Using funding data has two major pitfalls:

The "Zombie" List: Companies often announce funding after they have spent it. A press release dated today might reflect a wire transfer from 4 months ago. This is why our Crunchbase Search Strategy 202 6 emphasizes layering "Active Hiring" filters to prove current activity.
Competition: A Series B announcement attracts hundreds of vendors. If you email the CEO on the day of the announcement, you are competing with 500 other agencies. Wait 2 weeks or target the VP instead.

Conclusion: The Revenue Reality Check

Mastering these search filters is a necessary step, but it is not the whole picture. A list of recently funded companies is a commodity; tens of thousands of other founders have access to the exact same data.

You can have perfect execution here, but if your offer is weak, your probability of hitting $10k MRR remains near 0%. The hard truth is that funding data is just a trigger event. If you don't have a relevant bridge—like linking their new hiring spree to your specific solution—you are just another spammer congratulating them on taking VC money.

Take the 90-second audit to calculate your probability of hitting $10k MRR in the next 90 days.

Don't Build a Zombie Startup

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FAQ

You:

Is Crunchbase Pro worth the cost?

Guide:

Yes, if you sell B2B. Pricing has evolved (expect $49/mo or higher paid annually), but the free version does not allow granular filtering by "Last Funding Date," which renders the data useless for timely outreach. One closed deal usually covers the annual cost.
You:

How accurate is the "Last Funding Date"?

Guide:

It is accurate regarding the announcement, but the wire transfer often happens weeks earlier. This means by the time you see it, they may have already started spending. Speed is critical.
You:

Can I export these lists directly?

Guide:

Yes, but Crunchbase limits exports based on your plan tier. Always clean the data with a verification tool (like NeverBounce or ZeroBounce) before uploading to your sequencer to avoid damaging your domain reputation.

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