A no-BS guide for fund managers tired of overpaying
If you've searched Reddit, you've seen the same names: Preqin, PitchBook, Dakota. But you've also seen the complaints. $20K minimums. Stale data. Clunky interfaces. Here's what actually works in 2025.
Enterprise databases charge $20K-$80K/year—designed for mega funds, not emerging managers
Contact data goes stale fast. Emails bounce. Decision makers move. Your list decays.
"Custom pricing" means weeks of sales calls before you even know if you can afford it
You pay for M&A data, market research, and 50 features you'll never touch—just to get LP contacts
Annual contracts lock you in even when the data stops working
We analyzed 100+ Reddit threads in r/private_equity and r/venturecapital. Here's the honest consensus:
The industry standard for LP data. Strong fundraising tools, 10-15 new VC mandates weekly. But the interface feels dated, contact emails sometimes bounce, and pricing starts around $15K-$30K/year per asset class.
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Better for deal/asset data than LP contacts. LP data is secondary to their M&A and company focus. Strong research team that adds context to data gaps. Price rises 20-30% annually.
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Cons
Built by fundraisers for fundraisers. Strong for institutional investor sales contacts. Good for pension funds and consultants. Less comprehensive for family offices.
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Financial terminals with some LP data. Overkill for most fund managers. Better for market data than LP contacts.
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The "best" database depends entirely on your situation. A $500M PE fund and a first-time GP have completely different needs. Here's the truth:
You don't need PitchBook. You need 500 qualified LP contacts with working emails. Enterprise databases are designed for teams of analysts, not solo GPs grinding through outreach.
Preqin and PitchBook are weaker here. Family offices are notoriously hard to track—many don't appear in traditional databases. Look for specialized providers.
Static databases show you who invested 2 years ago. By then, they've already committed their allocation. You need current mandate data.
Don't sign a $20K annual contract for your first fundraise. Start small, validate the data quality, then scale up.
LPbacked was built for fund managers who need LP contacts—not market research, not M&A data, not AI-powered trend analysis. Just 19,000+ LPs with verified emails and phone numbers.
Start at $99/month. Cancel anytime.
No sales calls. Sign up in 2 minutes.
19,496 LPs across 133 countries
Direct emails and phone numbers—not generic info@ addresses
Filter by firm type, sector, geography, and AUM
Export to CSV. Take your data wherever.
No credit card required. Cancel anytime.
For large institutional fundraises ($500M+), Preqin's mandate data and allocation intelligence can justify the cost. For emerging managers or smaller raises, the ROI is harder to justify at $15K-$30K/year.
Specialized LP databases like LPbacked start at $99/month. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is $99-$149/month but lacks investment data. Full-featured platforms like Preqin and PitchBook start at $12K-$20K/year.
Yes. While Preqin and PitchBook require enterprise contracts, newer platforms offer monthly pricing with no long-term commitment. LPbacked, for example, offers 19,000+ LP contacts from $99/month.
Family offices are notoriously difficult to track. Specialized databases focused on LPs (rather than deals or companies) typically have better family office coverage than general-purpose platforms like PitchBook.
Decision makers change roles frequently. Studies suggest 20-30% of contact data decays annually. Look for databases that verify contacts regularly, not just when you report a bounce.