The short answer
Crunchbase, PitchBook, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator are all valuable tools — but none of them were built for finding LP and family office investor contacts. They were built for VC deal tracking, startup funding data, and general B2B sales prospecting. Using them to find limited partner contacts is like using a restaurant review app to find a plumber.
Here's what each tool actually does well, where it falls short for LP outreach, and what to use instead.
For LP and family office contacts specifically — verified emails, AUM, stage focus, investment mandate — none of these tools are purpose-built for it. Crunchbase and PitchBook are deal databases. LinkedIn is a professional network. A purpose-built LP database is the only tool designed for this exact use case.
Head-to-head comparison
| Feature | Crunchbase | PitchBook | LinkedIn SN | Altura Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LP / family office contacts | Minimal | Limited | Manual search | 5,800+ curated |
| Verified direct emails | No | Some | No | 90%+ verified |
| AUM / fund size data | Firm-level only | Yes | No | Per contact |
| Stage focus per contact | No | Firm-level | No | Per contact |
| Endowments & pensions | No | Limited | Manual only | Included |
| Sovereign wealth funds | No | No | Manual only | Included |
| Cross-border flag | No | No | No | Yes |
| CSV export / CRM import | Paid tier only | Yes | Limited | Instant download |
| Pricing | $349–$999/yr | $25,000+/yr | $99–$149/mo | $97–$447 one-time |
| Built for LP outreach | No | No | No | Yes |
Crunchbase — great for VC research, not for LP contacts
Crunchbase is the default starting point for most startup fundraising research, and for good reason — it has comprehensive VC firm data, investment history, and portfolio tracking. If you want to know which firms have invested in companies like yours, Crunchbase is the right tool.
But Crunchbase was built around publicly-reported funding rounds. Family offices, endowments, and LPs rarely appear in funding rounds — they invest in funds, not directly into startups, and those LP commitments are largely private. As a result:
- Family office coverage is near-zero
- Endowments, pensions, and sovereign wealth funds are essentially absent
- Contact-level emails are rarely available — usually just a generic firm address
- No AUM, stage focus, or investment mandate data at the contact level
Use Crunchbase for: VC firm research, portfolio mapping, investment history. Not for: finding LP or family office contacts. The data simply isn't there.
PitchBook — comprehensive but priced for institutions
PitchBook is the most comprehensive private markets database available — used by large PE and VC firms, investment banks, and institutional investors. It has real LP data including some family office and endowment coverage.
The catch: PitchBook is priced for institutional buyers. A standard subscription starts at $25,000/year and often exceeds $50,000 for full access. For a founder trying to find 50–100 investor contacts, this is like buying a server rack to host a personal website.
Beyond price, PitchBook's LP data has gaps:
- Direct emails for family office decision-makers are sparse — often just the firm address
- Stage focus and investment mandate are at the fund level, not the individual contact level
- Many smaller single-family offices and boutique MFOs are missing entirely
- Data freshness varies widely — some contacts are years out of date
Use PitchBook for: fund-level LP data, large institutional investor research, PE/VC deal analysis. Not for: most founders — the cost is prohibitive, and the contact-level data for outreach is incomplete.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator — powerful but manual and expensive
LinkedIn Sales Navigator gives you access to LinkedIn's full professional network with advanced search filters. In theory, you can find almost anyone at a family office or endowment.
In practice, using Sales Navigator for LP outreach has real limitations:
- No email addresses. LinkedIn deliberately withholds email data — you can only message via InMail (limited credits) or connect first
- No investment mandate data. There's no AUM, stage focus, sector thesis, or cross-border flag — you'd have to research each contact manually
- Hours of manual work per contact. Finding 100 relevant LP contacts via Sales Navigator means running searches, reviewing profiles, and building a spreadsheet by hand
- $99–$149/month, recurring. You pay whether you're actively fundraising or not
Use LinkedIn for: researching specific contacts before reaching out, warm intro mapping, profile validation. Not as: a primary source for building your investor list — no emails, no investment mandate data, too much manual work.
What to use instead for LP and family office contacts
The tools above weren't designed for LP outreach. They're powerful for their intended use cases — VC deal tracking, professional networking, institutional data — but none of them solve the specific problem: finding verified contact details for limited partners and family offices, with their investment mandate, at a price accessible to founders.
Altura Data is built specifically for this gap:
- 5,800+ LP and family office contacts — single family offices, multi-family offices, endowments, pensions, sovereign wealth funds, fund of funds
- 3,200+ VC contacts — partners, associates, principals with stage and sector focus
- Verified direct emails — 90%+ confirmed, with verification status per contact
- Investment mandate data — AUM range, stage focus, sector thesis, geography, cross-border flag
- One-time purchase — $97–$447 depending on tier, no subscription
- Instant CSV download — import to Airtable, HubSpot, Affinity, or any CRM in minutes
The LP database built for founders and fund managers
5,800+ limited partner and family office contacts — verified emails, AUM, stage focus, geography. One-time purchase, instant CSV download.
GET LP & FAMILY OFFICE DATABASE — $297 →