DFX Intelligence vs Crunchbase
Crunchbase is a private company data platform with AI predictions of funding, growth, acquisitions and IPOs, sold as Crunchbase Pro, Crunchbase Business, an API, an MCP server and data licensing.[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 companies against capital: Crunchbase covers millions of private companies worldwide with live signals and predictions, while DFX publishes the US capital side of the private markets (firms, funds, advisers, allocators and lenders) from filings, with a source and a date on every fact and no predictive scores.[1]
Facts about Crunchbase as of , each linked to its source below. DFX currently tracks 7,182 venture capital firms, 7,647 private equity firms and 1,041 independent sponsors, as of 10 October 2026.
Side by side
Crunchbase 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 | Crunchbase | 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 | Covers millions of private companies worldwide, with 39B live private market signals and 30M+ verified updates per year.[1] | Crunchbase |
| Predictions | Built from what filings and announcements state. DFX does not publish funding, acquisition, IPO or exit probability scores. method | Funding, growth, acquisition, IPO, remain private, closure and layoff predictions, with 15M+ predictions refreshed weekly.[1] | Crunchbase |
| How the data is built | Every fact names the public record it was read from and the date it was read. method | Combines direct input from first-party experts, engagement signals from 80M+ users, proprietary ingestion, external sources and analyst validation.[2] | Even |
| Years of history | Filing histories reach back to 2011 for Form ADV; DFX itself is a newer company. method | Founded in 2007 as a database of the startups featured in TechCrunch articles.[3] | Crunchbase |
| 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 home page organises products and use cases around companies, funding and investors; RIAs, pension commitments and BDC positions are not listed as datasets.[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 | Crunchbase API, Crunchbase MCP, data enrichment and data licensing.[1] | Crunchbase |
Who Crunchbase is for
Crunchbase names GTM teams, investors, product developers, analysts, wealth managers and entrepreneurs as the people it serves.[1]
Who DFX Intelligence is for
Choose DFX if your question is about who holds and moves capital in the US private markets (advisers, family offices, allocators, sponsors and lenders) and you need every fact tied to the filing it came from.
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 Crunchbase column
- Crunchbase home page (page title: Crunchbase | Private Company Data & Predictive Intelligence), read 10 October 2026.
- About Crunchbase, read 10 October 2026.
- Crunchbase, Wikipedia, read 10 October 2026.
Every statement about Crunchbase 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.