Learn how to use the General Search bar found at the top of the PitchBook Platform.
Help: Using the General Search bar
Overview
The General Search bar allows you to conveniently find data across the PitchBook platform all in one place. Search for any company, investor, fund, person, or entity on PitchBook and preview the search results to ensure you find the data you need. You can also use the search bar to find other PitchBook tools, generate a search, and find Analyst Content. In this article, learn about the ways you can use the General Search bar to get started with your PitchBook needs.
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Using the General Search bar
To start your search, click on the General Search bar at the top of the page. This feature supports a variety of search functions to help you find the data you’re looking for quickly. It works best when searching by specific keywords, industries, verticals, and short phrases for broad but relevant results. You can also search for specific PitchBook tools as well as analyst reports, news articles, and past deals.
As you begin typing, the drop-down menu will automatically update and display the top ten search results that match your query. For more results, you can either click on the magnifying glass icon, the see the full list of results link at the bottom of the drop-down menu, or press Enter on your keyboard.
If you click on the search bar without typing anything, you will find a list of your ten most recent searches in the drop-down menu. Selecting a search from this list will take you back to the same content you had previously visited, allowing you to quickly resume your search journey. The drop-down will also show the recent content you accessed on the mobile platform, so you can continue your searches across web or mobile. If you want to see more of your previous searches, you can either click on the magnifying glass icon, the See All Recent Searches link at the bottom of the drop-down menu, or press Enter on your keyboard.
Once you’re on the page with your full list of results or recent searches, you can choose how you’d like them sorted by selecting the following options from the menu at the top:
- All – Lists all search results related to your search term(s).
- Profiles – Lists the PitchBook profile and/or specific deal results related to your search term(s).
- Screeners – Lists Screeners from your search term(s), including screeners based on industries, verticals, and custom searches generated utilizing natural language search capabilities.
- Analyst Content – Lists analyst verticals and emerging spaces related to your search term(s).
- Research – Lists research reports related to your search term(s).
- News – Pulls third-party news related to your search term(s) or the entity name you are searching.
- My PitchBook – Lists your Saved Lists and Saved Searches related to your search term(s).
Ready to get started?
Accessing PitchBook tools
Use the General Search bar to easily find other PitchBook tools. Can’t remember how to access market maps? Search for “market maps” and a tooltip will appear at the top of the full search results list.
Tooltips will surface for a variety of features, including:
- Corporate Calls
- Benchmarks
- Excel Plugin
- League Tables
- Manager Scoring
- Market Maps
- Research Center
Note: This feature is only available on the full search results page and is not accessible in the drop-down menu. To access the tooltip feature, you will need to type in the name of the tool as it appears on the platform. If you’d like to learn how to create your own custom Companies & Deals screener, visit Learn the basics of creating a screener.
Generating a list of companies and deals
The General Search bar is a great place to start a Companies & Deals search. You can quickly generate a list of companies or deals filtered by common search criteria, including company location, industry, vertical, keyword, backing status, employee count, revenue, deal type, deal size, deal date, and post valuation.
The General Search results page will display Companies & Deals screener suggestions when you use related search terms. These search results will show a preview of key statistics, such as the number of companies and deals in the screeners. Click on the screener result to be taken to the search results page of the screener featuring the specific criteria you entered.
For example, you could search for “companies in New York with over 1,000 employees in media” and have a Companies & Deals search generated for every company that matches that description, as shown below.
You can also search for deal-specific data by combining a company name with deal type, deal year, and deal status to see individual deal data in the General Search results page. Click on the Deal result to view the deal information from the Deals tab of that entity’s profile.
For example, you could search for “Canva 2024 deals” and see Deal results where Canva is either the company or investor of a 2024 deal, as shown below.
Note: Not all search criteria from a Companies & Deals screener are supported in the General Search bar.
“PitchBook is the gold standard for data on privately-backed companies and the VC and PE ecosystem. Over the years they have expanded their coverage to provide excellent data on public companies and M&A as well, and have vastly increased the coverage on international companies. The platform is intuitive and easy-to-use and customer service is top-notch.”
Source : G2.com
Generating a list of investors and funds
The General Search bar is also a great place to start an Investors & Funds search. You can quickly generate a list filtered by common search criteria including investor type, assets under management, investor location, fund types, fund status, fund access point, fund size, and fund date.
The General Search results page will display Investors & Funds screener suggestions when you use related search terms. These search results will show a preview of key statistics, such as the number of investors and funds in the screeners. Click on the screener result to be taken to the search results page of the screener featuring the specific criteria you entered.
For example, you could search for “US Investors actively investing in Information Technology” and have an Investors & Funds search generated for every investor who meets those criteria, as shown below.
Note: Not all search criteria from an Investors & Funds screener are supported in the General Search bar. If you’d like to learn how to create your own custom Investors & Funds screener, visit Learn the basics of creating a screener.
Finding Analyst Content
At PitchBook, we offer more than just information on established investment spaces. We also have everything you need to find industries that are still emerging. Simply search for the Emerging Space or Analyst-Curated Vertical you’re interested in and click on the Analyst Content header once on the full results page. Click on the search result to be directed to additional data, research, and information. To learn more about these spaces, check out our articles Emerging Spaces tool and methodology and Understanding Analyst-Curated Verticals.
How are results ordered?
Our search results are arranged to display results in order of relevance to the search criteria. The highest matches will be highlighted, while other results will include an explanatory text to clarify why they are shown.
What fields are supported?
You can search our data by industry, keyword, and vertical. You can also search using company information like the company’s name, HQ location, backing status, business status, employee count, year founded, revenue, and EBITDA. If you want to search by deal data, you can do that too. Type in fields including deal type, deal size, deal date, total raised, post valuation, and deal status to get results.
The General Search bar works best when typing in specific keywords, industries, verticals, short phrases, or the names of specific PitchBook tools for broad but relevant results. If you want to create a more detailed search with all the fields that PitchBook has to offer, you can create a screener.
How does the General Search bar handle special characters like periods or colons?
Knowing where to place a period or a colon can be challenging, especially for companies with long acronyms or unique names. The General Search bar supports additional handling for special characters, except the ampersand (&). This means that “Remax” and “Re/Max” will return the same results. This logic gives you more results, improving the likelihood of finding what you’re looking for.
Does the General Search bar handle non-Roman characters?
You can use the search bar to look for profiles using Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese characters.
If a business is tagged to multiple entity types, how does it appear in General Search?
Each business has a primary entity type designated, which is the profile type that is shown by default when you search for the entity. You can always change the view once you click on the entity.
If you’re having trouble finding a company by name, we recommend searching by website, LCD ID, or PBId. Also, please provide feedback to our Support team about your experience so we can continue to enhance this feature.
Helpful links
To understand how this feature fits into a broader workflow, check out PitchBook Pioneer’s course – PitchBook 101.