Because your first fund shouldn't cost your first fund
You're raising Fund I. Every dollar counts. And then you discover that LP databases cost $20K-$50K/year. Here's how to get quality LP contacts without enterprise pricing.
Enterprise databases assume you have a $1B fund and a 5-person IR team
You can't afford to spend $20K on data before you've raised a dollar
Free alternatives (LinkedIn, Google) eat up 40+ hours/week in manual research
Budget databases have garbage data—bounced emails, wrong people, outdated firms
Annual contracts are a gamble when you don't know how long your raise will take
Many emerging managers try to bootstrap their LP research. Here's what that actually costs:
You can find people, but not investment preferences. No AUM data. No allocation history. You'll spend 10+ hours building a list that might be completely wrong.
Cons
Conference attendee lists, press releases, fund announcements. Takes 60+ hours to build 500 contacts. Half the emails will bounce.
Cons
The best path if you have the network. But most first-time GPs don't have 100 LP relationships. You need to supplement with outbound.
Cons
You don't need everything. You need these five things:
Direct emails that don't bounce. Phone numbers that reach real people. Not generic info@ addresses or outdated LinkedIn profiles.
Does this LP invest in first-time managers? What's their typical check size? What sectors? Without this, you're shooting blind.
You don't need every LP on earth. You need 500-2,000 LPs that match your fund profile. Quality over quantity.
Your fundraise might take 6 months or 18 months. Annual contracts don't make sense for unpredictable timelines.
No weeks of sales calls. No "custom pricing." See the price, sign up, start searching.
Here's what actually exists at each price point:
LPbacked ($99/mo), some specialized family office databases, LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Limited features but enough for focused outreach.
Pros
Dakota entry tiers, some Preqin add-ons, niche regional databases. More coverage but still monthly or quarterly billing.
Pros
Full Preqin, PitchBook, CB Insights. Makes sense after Fund II when you have budget and a track record.
Pros
LPbacked exists because we saw first-time GPs choosing between rent and LP databases. You shouldn't have to.
$99/month—less than most founders spend on coffee
No annual commitment. Pause when you close.
19,000+ LPs including family offices, endowments, and pensions
Filter by "invests in emerging managers" to skip the noise
Direct emails verified before you see them
Export your list and cancel. No data hostage situations.
No credit card required. Cancel anytime.
Yes, many GPs rely entirely on warm intros. But it limits your reach and extends your timeline. A targeted database accelerates outreach to LPs you'd never meet through your network.
Functional LP databases start around $99/month. Below that, you're likely looking at outdated lists or generic sales tools that don't have investment data.
PitchBook is excellent but costs $20K+/year. Unless you have institutional backing or a large operating budget, it's hard to justify for Fund I. Start smaller, upgrade later.
Most first-time managers contact 200-500 LPs to close a fund. You'll likely need 50-100 meetings to get 10-20 commitments. Quality targeting matters more than volume.
Many do—family offices are often more willing to back emerging managers than institutional LPs. They value relationships and can move faster. They're ideal targets for Fund I.