Market data ends where the decision begins.
PitchBook gives the deal team the outside view: comparable deals, sector benchmarks, sponsor activity, multiples. Capital Refinery gives the IC the inside view: whether the decision they made is still defensible against the operator data flowing in this week.
What PitchBook does well, and where the line is.
What PitchBook is built for
Market data on private companies, deals, funds, and benchmarks.
Sourcing, comp work, fund benchmarking, LP reporting context, sector mapping. The reference dataset for the outside view of any private markets transaction. Most institutional teams use it daily during sourcing and diligence.
What it is not built for
Governing the decision after the deal closes.
PitchBook is a market data system. It does not maintain a structured investment record for the deal you actually closed. It does not connect operator data flowing in post-close to the thesis that justified the entry price. It informs the decision; it does not govern it.
Where Capital Refinery sits next to it
On the inside view of the position you actually hold — running the governed loop.
PitchBook is the outside view: the market. Capital Refinery is the inside view: the decision. Signal, scenario, intervention, output — the four-stage loop that governs the position after it closes. Both are needed. Neither replaces the other.
Where the lines fall.
| Capability | PitchBook | Capital Refinery |
|---|---|---|
| Market data on private companies and deals | Strong — core capability | No — not the goal |
| Fund benchmarks and sponsor activity | Strong | No |
| Structured investment record at IC | No | Yes — bound at approval |
| Operator data → thesis assumption mapping | No | Yes — per position, on open |
| Decision validity scoring on live positions | No | Yes |
| Covenant + breach probability | No | Yes — for credit positions |
Institutional readiness measurement
PitchBook provides third-party data on private companies, deals, and funds — research, sourcing, and comparable analysis. Capital Refinery operates a category PitchBook doesn’t: institutional readiness measurement — grading specific operating businesses against the same 10-axis framework that buy-side ICs, lender credit committees, and LPs use to evaluate. The artifact carries a deterministic fingerprint and a public verification URL.
The two product surfaces don’t compete — they operate at different layers of the stack. PitchBook handles third-party data on the market; Capital Refinery handles structural readiness measurement on the specific business and decision integrity through the lifecycle. See institutional readiness and the same-engine architecture for the dimension PitchBook doesn’t address.
If you already run PitchBook, that is the right call.
The natural next question is what governs the decision after the deal is on the books. Bring us a position from your portfolio.
Keep PitchBook if you need deal sourcing, market data, and benchmark intelligence. Use Capital Refinery when you need a neutral, evidence-backed readiness artifact that shows what will survive institutional review.
Capital Refinery is the institutional measurement layer. It does not replace PitchBook; it sits next to it. The decision to engage is a routing decision, not a swap.
When to use CRIf PitchBook is your discovery and comp-set layer but the IC memo on a specific target still has to be built from the CIM and the management deck by hand, that’s when Capital Refinery’s diagnostic enters. PitchBook finds the deal; CR grades the deal — institutional readiness, blocking risks, and what survives review.
Working with an advisor or AI consultant? Use CR as the independent measurement layer via the Modernization Impact Review. Want to shape the methodology? Apply as a design partner.