Crunchbase is a potentially useful source of information for research in entrepreneurship. “The platform for finding business information about private and public companies, including investments and funding information, founding members and individuals in leadership positions, mergers and acquisitions, news, etc. Crunchbase sources its data in four ways: the venture program, machine learning, an in-house data team, and the Crunchbase community.”
The database has been used for dozens of academic research studies ranging from the prediction of funding and exit events to improving the accuracy of matching a new venture with its most appropriate industry sector. One of the challenges faced by scholars when using the Crunchbase information for research is the degree of completeness of the data. This is primarily due to the voluntary submission of such data by investors or community members, who may – intentionally or otherwise – omit critical information.
Access to Crunchbase
A subscription is required to access Crunchbase data, which has been used in the following entrepreneurship research:
- Brown, R., Rocha, A., & Cowling, M. (2020). Financing entrepreneurship in times of crisis: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the market for entrepreneurial finance in the United Kingdom. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 38(5), 380–390. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242620937464
- Cohen, S. L., Bingham, C. B., & Hallen, B. L. (2018). The Role of Accelerator Designs in Mitigating Bounded Rationality in New Ventures. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(4), 810–854. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839218782131