Swipe File: 5 Crunchbase Search Examples for Founders (Copy-Paste)
last updated: Feb 6, 2026
You paid for the subscription, but you are likely staring at a blank search bar or a list of 50,000 irrelevant leads. Here are the specific filter stacks to bypass the noise and find the investors, competitors, and talent that actually matter.
TL;DR: The cheat code
A Crunchbase search example is a pre-validated set of Boolean filters and signal indicators designed to isolate high-intent records (investors or leads) from the database’s noise. Using these specific configurations saves 10–20 hours of manual list cleaning per week.
Key takeaways:
Key takeaways:
- Focus: An optimized query should yield 50–150 high-quality results, not 5,000.
- Rule: Always filter by "Last Funding Date" to remove zombies.
- Warning: Relying on the default "Recommended" lists usually results in crowded outreach channels.
Glossary
- Boolean Search: The use of operators like AND, OR, and NOT to combine keywords and refine results (e.g., "SaaS" AND "London" NOT "Consulting").
- Buy Signals: Events that indicate a company has budget or intent, such as recent funding rounds, leadership hires, or new technology installs.
- Lead Investor: The firm or individual who writes the largest check in a round and usually takes a board seat; these are your primary targets for fundraising, not the followers.
How to use these search templates
Copy the text inside the code blocks below. These are formatted as "Filter Stacks" corresponding to the fields in Crunchbase Pro advanced search filters.
1. The "active checks" seed investor search
Context: Don't pitch VCs who are "on vacation." This query isolates investors who have actually deployed capital in the last quarter.
SECTION: INVESTORS / MONEY
--------------------------
1. Investor Type: [Venture Capital, Micro VC, Angel Group]
2. Investment Stage: [Seed, Pre-Seed]
3. Announcement Date (Investments): [Past 90 Days]
4. Industry Categories (Investments): [Your Sector, e.g., Fintech]
5. Location (Headquarters): [Your Target Geo, e.g., North America]
6. Exits (Count): [1 to 100] (Filters out total newbies)
2. The "fresh competitor" watchlist
Context: Find out who just got funded in your space. These are the companies buying ad inventory and poaching talent.
SECTION: COMPANIES
------------------
1. Industries: [Your Niche Keywords]
2. Last Funding Date: [Past 6 Months]
3. Total Funding Amount: [$500k to $10M]
4. Operating Status: [Active]
5. Description Keywords: [Specific Tech Stack or Problem, e.g., "Generative AI"]
3. The "potential acquirer" scout
Context: Companies that buy other companies usually have two things: public stock currency or recent massive private funding.
SECTION: COMPANIES
------------------
1. IPO Status: [Public] OR
2. Last Funding Type: [Series C, Series D, Private Equity]
3. Last Funding Date: [Past 18 Months]
4. Acquisitions (Count): [Greater than 0] (In the last 3 years)
5. Industries: [Your Adjacent Sectors]
4. The "Series A lead" hunter
Context: You need a lead investor to price your round. Followers are useless without a lead.
SECTION: INVESTORS
------------------
1. Investor Type: [Venture Capital]
2. Investment Stage: [Series A]
3. Is Lead Investor: [Yes] (Crucial filter)
4. Number of Investments (Past Year): [5 to 50]
5. Diversity Spotlight: [Optional: Select if applicable to your founding team]
5. The "zombie startup" talent poach
Context: Great engineers work at dying companies. Find startups that raised money 2+ years ago but haven't raised since. They are likely running out of cash.
SECTION: COMPANIES
------------------
1. Last Funding Date: [24 to 48 Months Ago]
2. Last Funding Type: [Seed, Series A]
3. Operating Status: [Active]
4. Number of Employees: [11 to 50]
5. Actively Hiring: [No] (Or check trend data for -10% growth)
1. The "active checks" seed investor search
Context: Don't pitch VCs who are "on vacation." This query isolates investors who have actually deployed capital in the last quarter.
SECTION: INVESTORS / MONEY
--------------------------
1. Investor Type: [Venture Capital, Micro VC, Angel Group]
2. Investment Stage: [Seed, Pre-Seed]
3. Announcement Date (Investments): [Past 90 Days]
4. Industry Categories (Investments): [Your Sector, e.g., Fintech]
5. Location (Headquarters): [Your Target Geo, e.g., North America]
6. Exits (Count): [1 to 100] (Filters out total newbies)
2. The "fresh competitor" watchlist
Context: Find out who just got funded in your space. These are the companies buying ad inventory and poaching talent.
SECTION: COMPANIES
------------------
1. Industries: [Your Niche Keywords]
2. Last Funding Date: [Past 6 Months]
3. Total Funding Amount: [$500k to $10M]
4. Operating Status: [Active]
5. Description Keywords: [Specific Tech Stack or Problem, e.g., "Generative AI"]
3. The "potential acquirer" scout
Context: Companies that buy other companies usually have two things: public stock currency or recent massive private funding.
SECTION: COMPANIES
------------------
1. IPO Status: [Public] OR
2. Last Funding Type: [Series C, Series D, Private Equity]
3. Last Funding Date: [Past 18 Months]
4. Acquisitions (Count): [Greater than 0] (In the last 3 years)
5. Industries: [Your Adjacent Sectors]
4. The "Series A lead" hunter
Context: You need a lead investor to price your round. Followers are useless without a lead.
SECTION: INVESTORS
------------------
1. Investor Type: [Venture Capital]
2. Investment Stage: [Series A]
3. Is Lead Investor: [Yes] (Crucial filter)
4. Number of Investments (Past Year): [5 to 50]
5. Diversity Spotlight: [Optional: Select if applicable to your founding team]
5. The "zombie startup" talent poach
Context: Great engineers work at dying companies. Find startups that raised money 2+ years ago but haven't raised since. They are likely running out of cash.
SECTION: COMPANIES
------------------
1. Last Funding Date: [24 to 48 Months Ago]
2. Last Funding Type: [Seed, Series A]
3. Operating Status: [Active]
4. Number of Employees: [11 to 50]
5. Actively Hiring: [No] (Or check trend data for -10% growth)
Benchmarks
You cannot improve what you do not measure. When running these searches, compare your output against these standards to ensure you aren't wasting time on bad data.
Sample Math: If you execute Query #5 (Zombie Startups) in the "MarTech" sector, you might find 40–60 companies. If each has 3 engineers you want to poach, that is a talent pool of 120–180 candidates. With a 10% reply rate, that generates 12–18 interviews from a single afternoon of work.
- List Size: A healthy, high-intent list should contain 50–150 records. If you have 1,000+ results, your filters are too loose. If you have <10, you are too niche.
- Email Response Rates: If you spray generic emails to a raw export, industry data shows you will hit a typical 1–5% reply rate. However, by using the "Fresh Competitor" or "Zombie Startup" triggers to personalize your outreach, top performers consistently see 10%+ positive reply rates.
Sample Math: If you execute Query #5 (Zombie Startups) in the "MarTech" sector, you might find 40–60 companies. If each has 3 engineers you want to poach, that is a talent pool of 120–180 candidates. With a 10% reply rate, that generates 12–18 interviews from a single afternoon of work.
Crunchbase Pro vs. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Founders often ask if they need both tools. The short answer is yes, but for different stages of the funnel. Using the right tool for the wrong job is a primary cause of search strategy failure.
Verdict: Crunchbase has superior company data, while Sales Navigator has superior contact data. User reviews on TrustRadius confirm that Crunchbase is the "best resource for prospecting startups hands down," but it lacks the direct personal contact granularity of LinkedIn.
- Crunchbase is for Company Discovery. It excels at surfacing organizations based on signals like funding rounds, IPO status, and tech stack. It answers the question: "Which companies have money right now?"
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator is for People Discovery. Once you have the list of companies from Crunchbase, you use Sales Nav to find the specific decision-maker (CEO, CTO, VP of Engineering).
Verdict: Crunchbase has superior company data, while Sales Navigator has superior contact data. User reviews on TrustRadius confirm that Crunchbase is the "best resource for prospecting startups hands down," but it lacks the direct personal contact granularity of LinkedIn.
Risks and limitations
Even with perfect boolean strings, the database is not infallible. Be aware of these pitfalls:
- Data Lag: Private market data is not real-time. Seed funding rounds are often reported with a 3–6 month delay because founders and VCs control when they announce. Crunchbase News admits lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages, meaning a "new" funding round might actually be old news to insiders.
- The "Zombie" False Positive: A company marked "Active" that hasn't raised in 4 years might actually be dead, just not legally dissolved yet. Always manually verify the website before outreach.
- Generic Contact Info: Crunchbase often provides hello@ or info@ addresses. Do not rely on these for high-ticket sales; use a dedicated enrichment tool (like Apollo or Clay) to find personal emails.
Conclusion
Mastering these Crunchbase search examples is a necessary step to build a qualified pipeline, but data alone won't get you to $10k MRR. You must pair these lists with strong narrative and validation — cold outreach burns leads if the offer is weak. Use these filters to start the right conversations, then rely on your insight to close them.
FAQ
- You:Do I need Crunchbase Pro to use these examples?Guide:Yes. The free version of Crunchbase limits the number of filters you can stack and restricts search results to a handful of rows. For serious B2B filtering, the paid tier is required.
- You:Can I export these lists directly to my CRM?Guide:Most Pro plans allow for CSV exports (usually capped at 1,000 rows per month) or direct integrations with Salesforce/HubSpot. Always verify your data before import.
No-BS guides
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