How to build a target investor list using Crunchbase. 👇

First, you’ll need Crunchbase Pro. At $25/mo, not bad.

Then, I use Airtable, specifically the Linked Table feature.

Step 1: Go to Crunchbase and search for funding rounds (not companies), filter by relevant categories (for funded org), the right funding type (Eg seed), geo, and then do “announced after” and pick a date 2 or 3 years ago.

These are funding rounds by startups relevant to you.
Step 2: Export list to csv. Make sure you have the “investors” column in there.

Import csv to a new Airtable.
Step 3: Go to the “Investor Names” column > Edit Column Type > Link to another table > Create New (title it “Investors”).

What this does is separate the column by comma and create a new row for each investor in a new table.
Step 4: Go to linked “Investors” table. It should auto have a column w all the linked funding rounds. Create a “count” column on this.
Step 5: Sort by Count desc.

What you’ll have is a list of the most active investors in your geo/industry, sorted by activity, w reference to recent deals.
Step 6: You can repeat this search for each industry and geo separately, which will give you more granular data (Eg. “this investor invests locally AND in my sector often”).
Step 7: Once you have this list, use LinkedIn to see if you have intro paths (use LinkedIn premium and search for “current companies > add firm names” and “2nd degree connection” for intro paths.

If no luck, you can try cold emailing them. Or try to reach a portfolio founder.

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