CB Insights
An enterprise market intelligence platform that delivers AI-driven predictive signals on 12 million+ private and public companies, funding activity, M&A, partnerships, and technology markets to power deal sourcing, due diligence, and competitive strategy.
cbinsights.com ↗Private company research, deal sourcing, market mapping, and competitive intelligence.
SSO + MFA (role-based access control, Single Sign-On, and Multi-Factor Authentication listed on security page)
PitchBook (stronger financial data, valuations, and investor profiles; pricier) · Crunchbase (broader, community-driven, cheaper; less proprietary depth) · Dealroom (European-skewed, lighter on U.S. startup data) · Tracxn (cheaper, narrower coverage; no proprietary scoring)
A New York-based enterprise market intelligence platform built on a proprietary database of 12 million+ companies and 1 billion+ data points. Tracks private and public companies, funding rounds, M&A, partnerships, patents, and technology trends. Used by corporate strategy, M&A, VC, and sales teams. Originated as ChubbyBrain, rebranded and pivoted to private company intelligence around 2010. Acquired data assets from Dow Jones VentureSource in 2020.
Company profiles with firmographics, headcount, funding history, cap table, M&A, partnerships, and business relationships. Proprietary scoring via the Mosaic Score (0–1,000, weighted across Momentum, Money, Market, and Management sub-scores). Expert-curated market maps and analyst research reports across 1,600+ markets. Private Company Scouting Reports (on-demand AI-generated assessments of business model, market position, strengths). Customer transcripts and analyst briefings. Predictive signal trackers for competitive and market monitoring. Watchlists with automated daily alerting.
ChatCBI is the platform's conversational AI layer — direct Q&A against CBI's proprietary database with cited responses. AI-generated scouting reports, partnership/M&A insights, and market summaries built into the platform. Official hosted MCP server at mcp.cbinsights.com (launched January 2026, replacing a deprecated self-hosted GitHub repo); supports ChatGPT, Claude, and Microsoft Copilot as MCP clients via OAuth 2.0. REST API and data feeds available (double-verified, continually refreshed) for embedding CBI data in LLMs, CRMs, and data lakes. Native A2A protocol support also listed. Developer portal at api-docs.cbinsights.com.
Not publicly disclosed; custom enterprise quotes only, annual contracts. Third-party sources (Vendr, easyvc.ai) report typical contracts in the $50,000–$265,000+/year range depending on seat count, modules, and data feed access. Available for purchase via Snowflake Marketplace. No free plan; limited free access to select research reports and newsletter.
Native integrations: Microsoft 365 Copilot (pre-built connector), Salesforce CRM (add CBI data to records and agents), Snowflake (available on Snowflake Marketplace, optimized for AI workflows). Official MCP server at mcp.cbinsights.com connecting to ChatGPT, Claude, and Microsoft Copilot. REST API and data feeds for custom integrations. No broad marketplace of third-party connectors; depth of integration is concentrated in Microsoft, Salesforce, and Snowflake ecosystems.
SOC 2 certified; GDPR compliant (explicitly listed on security page and API page). Data encrypted at rest and in transit using industry-standard protocols. Every user action logged and traceable for compliance and governance. Customer data is not used to train AI models. LLM responses tested for hallucinations and logged for auditability, with citations provided. Actively preparing for CCPA and EU AI Act compliance per security page. Role-based access control, SSO, and MFA supported.
Founded 2008 (initially as ChubbyBrain) in New York City by Anand Sanwal (former VP at American Express, co-led a $50M Chairman's Innovation Fund) and Jonathan Sherry. Sanwal served as CEO until January 2024, transitioning to Executive Chair; Manlio Carrelli assumed CEO role in 2024. Sherry remains a board member. Total disclosed funding: ~$11.7M across three rounds — $1.15M in NSF grants and a $10M Series A in 2015 led by RSTP (formerly Pilot Growth Equity). Reported ~$800M sale consideration floated in 2023 (Bloomberg) but no transaction disclosed. ~250–270 employees as of early 2026. Notable customers include PwC (co-publishes MoneyTree Report), major banks, consulting firms, and Fortune 500 corporate strategy teams. Acquired Dow Jones VentureSource data assets in 2020.
Strong. CB Insights is the canonical tool for VC and growth equity deal sourcing and market mapping. The Mosaic Score, funding signal tracking, and partnership/relationship data surface early-stage opportunities before they reach mainstream awareness. For a firm's sector focus (deep-tech sectors), CBI's technology market maps and expert analyst reports provide structured coverage of niche markets that are otherwise opaque. The official MCP server at mcp.cbinsights.com enables direct integration with Claude and ChatGPT, allowing a firm to pipe CBI's proprietary intelligence into AI-native research and diligence workflows — a material differentiator over screen-only tools. Primary limitation for a growth equity firm: CBI skews toward early-stage venture signals and market trend analysis; financial depth (valuations, cap tables, comparable transactions) is weaker than PitchBook for late-stage diligence.
Pricing is enterprise-only and high — typically $50K+ annually, making it difficult to justify for smaller teams or single use cases. Financial data depth (valuations, cap table detail, comparable transactions) is materially weaker than PitchBook. Coverage of non-U.S. and non-VC-backed companies can be thin. UI and data model built for analysts, not lightweight deal flow logging. No native CRM functionality — must push data into Salesforce or a separate CRM. Data quality on smaller or stealth-mode companies can lag.