# Startup Funding Intel & VC Scraper (`complex_intricate_networks/startup-funding-scraper`) Actor

Extract VC deal flow, startup funding rounds, valuations, and lead investor details from Crunchbase and TechCrunch. Download structured JSON, CSV, or Excel datasets for lead generation, investment research, and competitive intelligence.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/complex_intricate_networks/startup-funding-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [CIN](https://apify.com/complex_intricate_networks) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation, News
- **Stats:** 326 total users, 22 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 5 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

Extract daily startup investment rounds, investor names, funding amounts, and VC deal flow from TechCrunch, Crunchbase News, and FinSMEs.

This Actor monitors the **"Big Three"** startup news sources and converts raw news into structured **B2B sales leads** and **VC market intelligence** — ready for CRM sync, spreadsheet export, or AI agent pipelines.

***

### 🚀 How to Scrape Startup Funding Data in 5 Steps

1. **Create** a free [Apify account](https://console.apify.com/sign-up).
2. **Open** [Startup Fundraising Scraper](https://apify.com/complex_intricate_networks/fundraising-and-startup-funding-scraper) in the Apify Console.
3. **Configure your Input:** Select your preferred time range (e.g., *Today* or *Last 7 days*) and max page depth.
4. **Click "Start"** and wait a few seconds for the Cheerio-based engine to pull real-time deal data.
5. **Download your leads** in JSON, CSV, Excel, or export directly via API or MCP Server.

***

### 🌟 Key Features & Advantages

- **Multi-Source Coverage:** Aggregates funding announcements simultaneously across TechCrunch, Crunchbase News, and FinSMEs.
- **Smart Headline Cleaning:** Built-in NLP patterns strip out non-deal headlines, event registrations (e.g., TC Disrupt), and sponsored posts.
- **Structured Lead Details:** Extracts clean company names, funding amounts ($M/$B), funding rounds (Seed, Series A, Series B, Venture), and original article links.
- **Lightweight Cheerio Architecture:** Runs up to 10x faster and significantly cheaper than heavy browser scrapers (Puppeteer/Playwright) by fetching raw HTML.
- **Anti-Blocking Support:** Integrates seamlessly with Apify Proxy to prevent IP rate-limiting.

***

### 💼 Actionable Use Cases & Recipes

#### 🎯 SDR Sales Triggers (Outreach Automation)

- **Goal:** Pitch software or service solutions to startups the exact day they close a funding round.
- **Recipe:** Set this Actor to run **Daily** with `timeRange: "today"`. Send output via Webhook or Make/Zapier to your CRM (HubSpot/Salesforce) or Slack channel for immediate SDR outreach.

#### 📊 VC & Private Equity Market Mapping

- **Goal:** Track sector-specific investment trends and competitor portfolio deals.
- **Recipe:** Run weekly with `timeRange: "last_7_days"`. Combine outputs with **[Company Signal - AI Company Research](https://apify.com/complex_intricate_networks/company-research-ai)** to enrich scraped startup domains with firmographics and headcount growth.

***

### 💰 Pricing & Plan Capacity

This Actor uses the **Pay Per Event (PPE)** pricing model. You are only charged for results successfully returned ($10.00 / 1,000 results).

| Plan Tier | Estimated Cost / 1,000 Results | Monthly Volume Capacity |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Free Plan** | $10.00 | ~500 leads / month |
| **Starter Plan** | $9.00 *(10% disc.)* | ~5,500 leads / month |
| **Scale Plan** | $8.00 *(20% disc.)* | ~62,500 leads / month |

***

### ⬇️ Input Configuration

You can set input options via the Console UI or pass them as JSON:

#### Input JSON Example

```json
{
  "timeRange": "last_7_days",
  "maxPagesPerSource": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxies": true
  }
}
```

#### Input Parameters

- **Time Range (`timeRange`):** Options include today, last_3_days, last_7_days, last_14_days, or last_30_days.
- **Max Pages (`maxPagesPerSource`):** Sets the pagination depth per source to keep run costs predictable.

***

### ⬆️ Output Data Schema

Scraped results are pushed directly to your Dataset in JSON, CSV, or Excel formats.

#### Sample Output Object (JSON)

```json
{
  "company": "Axelera AI",
  "funding": "$250M",
  "round": "Series B",
  "source": "finsmes.com",
  "title": "Axelera AI Raises $250M in Series B Funding",
  "url": "[https://www.finsmes.com/2026/03/axelera-ai-raises-250m-series-b.html](https://www.finsmes.com/2026/03/axelera-ai-raises-250m-series-b.html)",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-03-16T08:00:00.000Z"
}
```

#### Error Output Item Structure

If an article cannot be parsed or a source is temporarily unreachable, an error item is pushed to keep your pipeline informed without throwing execution breaks:

```json
{
  "url": "[https://techcrunch.com/sample-article/](https://techcrunch.com/sample-article/)",
  "error": "Article content unavailable or non-funding format",
  "errorCode": "PARSE_ERROR",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-03-16T08:00:00.000Z"
}
```

***

### 🤖 MCP Server & AI Agent Integration

You can connect this Actor directly to AI Agents and LLMs (Claude Desktop, Cursor, LibreChat) using the Apify MCP Server.

1. Start an SSE session with Apify's MCP endpoint (https://mcp.apify.com).
2. Pass `complex_intricate_networks/fundraising-and-startup-funding-scraper` to fetch live funding leads inside your LLM prompts for automated market research.

***

### 💻 Programmatic API Access (SDKs)

Run this Actor programmatically using Python or JavaScript:

#### Python Client (`apify-client`)

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("complex_intricate_networks/fundraising-and-startup-funding-scraper").call(
    run_input={"timeRange": "today", "maxPagesPerSource": 3}
)

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(f"{item['company']} raised {item['funding']} ({item['round']})")
```

#### JavaScript Client (`apify-client`)

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('complex_intricate_networks/fundraising-and-startup-funding-scraper').call({
    timeRange: 'today',
    maxPagesPerSource: 3,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.log(`${item.company} raised ${item.funding} (${item.round})`);
});
```

***

### 🔄 Expand Your B2B Intelligence Pipeline

Enrich your scraped funding leads by chaining this scraper with our complementary tools:

- **[Company Signal - AI Company Research](https://apify.com/complex_intricate_networks/company-research-ai):** Extract firmographics, web traffic, and tech stack details for newly funded startups.
- **[Startup Hiring Signals & Linkedin Finder](https://apify.com/complex_intricate_networks/founder-contact-enricher-hiring-signals):** Extract founder LinkedIn profiles and hiring status from startup domains.
- **[LinkedIn 24h Jobs Scraper](https://apify.com/complex_intricate_networks/linkedin-24h-jobs-scraper-real-time-job-alerts-leads):** Monitor open roles at newly funded startups.

***

### ❓ FAQ

**Is this an alternative to Crunchbase Pro API?**
Yes. It extracts public funding announcements (company name, round size, round tier, original URL) directly from primary reporting sources without needing expensive API tiers.

**Can I run this on an automated schedule?**
Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run this Actor every morning and deliver fresh leads via Webhook directly to Slack, Google Sheets, or your CRM.

**Why does this Actor use Cheerio instead of Puppeteer?**
TechCrunch, Crunchbase News, and FinSMEs serve static HTML for news lists. Cheerio parses raw HTML without launching a heavy headless browser, reducing execution costs by up to 90%.

**Is scraping public funding news legal?**
Yes. This Actor only extracts publicly disclosed corporate announcements and news articles, strictly complying with public web scraping standards and GDPR guidelines regarding business entity data.

**Can I integrate Startup Fundraising Scraper with other apps?**
Yes. Scraped data can be integrated with almost any cloud service or web app. Apify supports Zapier, Make, Slack, Airbyte, GitHub, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and more. You can also use webhooks to trigger actions whenever a run finishes, like sending notifications or syncing datasets.

**Can I use it with the Apify API?**
Yes. The Apify API provides programmatic access to run Actors, fetch datasets, monitor performance, and manage tasks. For Node.js, use the `apify-client` NPM package. For Python, use the `apify-client` PyPI package. Full API docs are available in the Apify API reference.

**Can I get data through an MCP server?**
Yes. You can connect to an MCP server using clients like ClaudeDesktop or LibreChat, or build your own integration. Start a Server-Sent Events (SSE) session to receive a `sessionId`. Send API messages using that `sessionId` to trigger the scraper with the provided input. The response should be: Accepted.

**Your feedback**
We’re always working on improving the performance of our Actors. If you have any technical feedback or found a bug, please create an issue in the Issues tab.

# Actor input Schema

## `dateFilter` (type: `string`):

Scrape articles published within this time frame.

## `maxRequestsPerCrawl` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of pages the crawler will process. Controls your run cost.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Select the proxies to be used. Residential proxies are recommended to prevent blocking on TechCrunch and Crunchbase.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "dateFilter": "7",
  "maxRequestsPerCrawl": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxRequestsPerCrawl": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("complex_intricate_networks/startup-funding-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "maxRequestsPerCrawl": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("complex_intricate_networks/startup-funding-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxRequestsPerCrawl": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call complex_intricate_networks/startup-funding-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,complex_intricate_networks/startup-funding-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/PvQV2P2hJET6vamKG/builds/BnHOZRWGbFccFWCyT/openapi.json