DFX Intelligence vs CB Insights
CB Insights is a private company intelligence platform with 13M+ company profiles, predictive scores such as the Mosaic Score and exit probability, and tech market rankings across 1,700+ markets.[1] DFX Intelligence is a private-market intelligence and data company whose Data Factory resolves US public filings and registries into one graph of firms, funds, companies, people and dated events, with a source and a date on every fact.
The main difference is technology markets against private capital: CB Insights scores and ranks companies in technology markets and adds analyst research and interviews, while DFX publishes US firms, funds, advisers, allocators and lenders from filings, with no scores.[1]
Facts about CB Insights as of , each linked to its source below. DFX currently tracks 7,274 venture capital firms, 7,654 private equity firms and 365 business development companies, as of 11 October 2026.
Side by side
CB Insights comes out ahead on 4 of the 6 rows below. We say so because a comparison written by one side is only worth reading if it is willing to lose.
| Criterion | DFX Intelligence | CB Insights | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company coverage | Companies appear where the record ties them to capital: portfolio companies, venture-backed companies, deal targets and BDC borrowers. It is not a general directory of private companies. method | 13M+ private company profiles, built from startups, customers, investors and public and non-public sources worldwide.[1] | CB Insights |
| Scores | Built from what filings and announcements state. DFX does not publish funding, acquisition, IPO or exit probability scores. method | Mosaic Score for health and growth potential, commercial maturity, exit probability by IPO and M&A, and customer sentiment.[1] | CB Insights |
| Research and interviews | No sector analyst research. Records are built from filings and registries under published rules. method | An expert analyst team covering key industries and technology, plus transcripts of analyst briefings and startup customer interviews.[1] | CB Insights |
| Relationships | Structured records of firms, funds, people and their relationships, not a document library. method | Customer, partner and vendor relationships between companies.[1] | Even |
| Advisers, allocators and lenders | The capital side as datasets of their own: investment advisers by CRD, family offices, institutional allocators with dated commitments, independent sponsors and BDC positions. method | Its data list is company-centred: scores, rankings, funding, revenues, financials, firmographics, media and patents.[1] | DFX |
| Data delivery and AI | A real estate MCP server and an llms.txt index for AI assistants; the other graphs are read through the public pages. No CRM sync or bulk feed is published. method | MCP, API and data feeds, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Snowflake and Salesforce.[1] | CB Insights |
Who CB Insights is for
CB Insights names corporate venture capital, sales and business development, M&A, venture capital, product strategy and corporate strategy teams.[1]
Who DFX Intelligence is for
Choose DFX if your question is about the capital behind private companies in the US (which firms, funds, advisers, allocators and lenders, and what they filed) rather than a score for the company.
How DFX sources its data
- SEC Form ADV filings since 2011 and the daily IAPD adviser feeds, for investment advisers, their private funds, owners and registered advisers. Method
- SEC Form D notices, for private fund offerings and venture rounds. Method
- SEC Form 13F holdings, read as long positions in 13(f) securities and never as a portfolio or as assets under management. Method
- Business development company 10-Q and 10-K schedules of investments, read position by position. Method
- Public pension board and investment committee minutes, for dated fund commitments, each carrying the sentence that states it. Method
Every registered source is listed on the sources page. The figures DFX publishes are on the statistics page (for example this one), and each dataset, with how to cite it, is on the datasets page.
Sources for the CB Insights column
- CB Insights home page, read 10 October 2026.
Every statement about CB Insights on this page comes from the sources above, read on the dates shown. We do not state prices, ratings or judgements about another company's data. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.