Deal sourcing platforms come in two shapes that get discussed as one: marketplaces where sellers and intermediaries list opportunities, and databases you search to build target lists. Both are useful and neither produces proprietary flow, which is what most funds hope for when they subscribe. This page separates the two, sets out what each is good for, and gives the test for whether either is paying.
Marketplaces: listed opportunities, seen by everybody
A seller or an intermediary lists, and subscribers see it. By definition nothing on a marketplace is proprietary, and the pricing on a listed opportunity reflects that. It is a reasonable base load for a fund with capacity and a poor foundation for a strategy, because everybody sees the same list.
Databases: a list you still have to act on
Search by sector, size and signal, and get names. The value is entirely in what you do next, which is outreach, and outreach is the expensive part. A fund that buys a database without the capacity to run campaigns has bought a list it will look at twice.
Neither is proprietary, and that is worth being clear about
Proprietary means nobody else was asked. A platform, by construction, has told other people. That does not make it useless; it makes it a different channel with different economics, and mixing it into a proprietary count is how a fund ends up believing a story about itself.
The test: source recorded at entry
Every opportunity from a platform tagged as such, then conversion compared against the other channels over a period long enough to mean something. If platform-sourced deals convert at a fraction of the rate, the subscription is a cost rather than a channel, and one dropdown is all it takes to find out.
Questions people ask about deal sourcing platforms
Do deal sourcing platforms produce proprietary flow?
No. A platform has by construction told other people. It is a different channel with different economics, not a proprietary one.
Marketplace or database?
A marketplace lists opportunities everybody sees; a database gives you names you still have to approach. The second needs outreach capacity.
How do we know whether it pays?
Tag platform-sourced opportunities at entry and compare conversion against your other channels over a meaningful period.