Getting a list of Venture Capitalist or Angel Investors can seem like the Holy Grail to finding an investor for your business, but it has some drawbacks.

For starters, any compiled database is out of date the day after it’s pulled together. People move around and change firms, so a list usually goes stale after about a year.

On the other hand, if you’re planning a big, one-time blitz to raise money and you buy the database right before you need it, this alternative makes perfect sense. To be sure you’re spending your money on a worthwhile database look for one with searchable fields that include:

• Contact information such as company name; postal address; city; state; zip/postal code; country; phone; fax; e-mail; Web site URL; type of firm; capital managed; year founded; names, titles and e-mails of key executives; firm description; branch offices.
• Investment criteria like minimum investment size; maximum investment size; types of financing; stage preferences; industry preferences; geographic preferences.

Among the less expensive investor databases you can buy that meet these criteria are:

EzInfoFind

This is a comprehensive, categorized database of Venture Capital firms. It includes private equity firms, private investors, and investment companies. Contains contact information for over 3,600 investors worldwide!

VCPro Database

Just announced its 2004 Venture Capital database is available. This downloadable venture capital and private equity directory contains complete profiles of over 3,300 venture capital firms worldwide. It’s available in both Windows and Macintosh format.

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