Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT can now connect directly to databases… and for anyone working in private markets, that's a major unlock.
But only if you're actually using it.
The professionals pulling ahead right now aren't waiting for AI to become part of their firm's official process. They're building it into their daily workflow today whether for meeting prep, prospect research, outreach, or competitive intelligence.
The difference between a generic AI tool and the Claude App connected to Dakota Marketplace is the difference between a guess and a grounded answer.
Generic AI has no access to 30 years of verified LP, GP, fund, and transaction data. It hallucinates. It generalizes.
Dakota Marketplace’s Claude App doesn't return rows. It returns intelligence, built on the only dataset built exclusively for the private markets community.
Here's what that looks like in practice, five things we learned today.
1. The B2B SaaS Proprietary Deal Sourcing List
For: VPs of Business Development at growth equity funds sourcing proprietary deal opportunities in B2B SaaS ahead of formal sale processes. The Job: Identifying founder-owned B2B SaaS companies backed by VC or growth equity funds from 2018 to 2020 vintages, where exit or recapitalization pressure is building and recent leadership changes signal accelerating capital decisions.
The prompt
Using Dakota Marketplace sponsor-backed company data, identify B2B SaaS companies in North America with revenues estimated between $10M and $50M that are backed by VC or growth equity firms whose flagship funds were raised between 2018 and 2020 — indicating likely pressure to exit or recapitalize within the next 12 to 24 months. For each target company, show the company name, city, estimated revenue range, lead investor, fund vintage year, CEO name and LinkedIn, and any recent leadership changes. Prioritize companies where the current CEO or CFO joined within the past 2 years, as succession or transition events often accelerate capital decisions.
2. The PE-Backed Industrials Refinancing Pipeline
For: Directors of Sponsor Finance and Debt Advisory at investment banks building proactive refinancing and dividend recapitalization pipelines ahead of formal adviser processes. The Job: Identifying PE-backed industrials companies from 2019 to 2021 vintages with management teams approachable before a formal process begins, flagged by recent CFO or finance leadership hires as a timing signal.
The prompt
Using Dakota Marketplace's sponsor-backed company database, identify PE-backed companies in the industrials sector — manufacturing, distribution, specialty chemicals, or industrial services — with estimated EBITDA between $50M and $250M, where the private equity sponsor's original investment was made between 2019 and 2021. For each, provide: portfolio company name, PE sponsor, estimated hold period elapsed, CEO and CFO name and contact information, headquarters state, and any recent leadership changes such as a new CFO or VP Finance hire in the last 18 months. I want to proactively reach these companies' management teams with a refinancing or dividend recapitalization pitch before they hire an adviser and run a formal process.
These prompts are only as good as the data behind them. Every prompt above runs on Dakota Marketplace data: the verified contacts, AUM, investment preferences, and transaction activity that turn a generic AI answer into a real prospect list. Whichever AI app you use, the facts come from the same place. Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to get connected.
3. The Head of Business Development Candidate Longlist
For: Managing Directors at financial services executive search firms running retained Head of Business Development searches at mid-market PE firms. The Job: Building a ranked candidate longlist of senior fundraising and IR professionals at comparable PE platforms, prioritizing those with in-house GP experience, proven tenure, and a track record of moving from larger to smaller platforms.
The prompt
I'm leading a retained search for a Head of Business Development at a $3B mid-market PE firm focused on industrials and business services. Using Dakota Marketplace's contact and career history data, identify individuals currently in Head of Business Development, VP of Investor Relations, Director of Fundraising, or Managing Director of Capital Formation roles at PE firms with AUM between $1B and $10B focused on industrials, business services, or generalist mid-market strategies. Filter for individuals who have been in their current role for at least 3 years but no more than 8 years. Flag contacts who previously worked at a larger platform and moved to a smaller firm. For each candidate, include: name, current title, current firm, firm AUM, years in role, prior firm, direct email if available, and geography. Return a ranked candidate longlist PDF of the top 25 names.
4. The Emerging Private Credit Manager Watchlist
For: Senior Investment Officers at university endowments building first-look watchlists of emerging direct lending managers ahead of formal manager sourcing reviews. The Job: Screening Fund I and Fund II private credit managers targeting lower middle market direct lending, with verified GP institutional credit backgrounds and no affiliation with larger multi-strategy platforms.
The prompt
Search Dakota Marketplace for private credit managers currently raising a Fund I or Fund II targeting direct lending to lower middle market companies with EBITDA between $5M and $25M. Filter for managers with a disclosed target fund size of $100M to $750M, at least one GP principal with prior institutional credit experience at a BDC, insurance platform, or bank credit platform, and that are not affiliated with a larger multi-strategy platform. For each manager, show the fund name, strategy description, GP principals and their backgrounds, target raise, current close amount if disclosed, geography focus, and the best contact for a first call.
5. The Family Office Portfolio Analytics Prospect List
For: Heads of Sales at FinTech SaaS companies selling portfolio analytics software to family offices expanding direct and co-investment programs. The Job: Identifying single-family offices and multi-family offices that have recently added direct investment capabilities and are most likely outgrowing legacy reporting tools, prioritized for pilot conversation outreach.
The prompt
Using Dakota Marketplace, identify single-family offices and multi-family offices with AUM over $500M that have added direct investment or co-investment capabilities within the past 24 months, as indicated by recent staffing changes — new CIO, Director of Direct Investments, or Portfolio Manager hired — and that currently use legacy CRM or portfolio reporting tools noted in their profile. For each prospect, show the firm name, city, AUM, key decision-maker name and title, email, technology stack notes if available, and a brief description of their direct investment focus — sector, stage, geography. Prioritize outreach to the 20 highest-fit offices for a pilot conversation.
Start Prompting With Real Data
Here's the thing that makes these prompts work… on its own, AI is brilliant at structure and terrible at facts it doesn't have. Ask any chatbot for a pension fund's current allocation, a CIO's contact, or who actually owns a target company, and it will confidently make something up.
That's the whole reason these prompts run on Dakota Marketplace data, no matter which AI app you prefer: you get the speed and structure of AI with contacts, AUM, allocations, and transactions that are actually verified.
AI is the engine. Dakota Marketplace is the fuel.
Connect the two, in Claude, ChatGPT, or whatever you already use, and the work that used to eat your morning takes minutes, with data you can actually act on.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to get started.
