The best choice for searchers who think in deal stages and want a clear, visual overview of their entire acquisition pipeline at a glance.
Pipedrive is a cloud CRM built around the concept of pipeline-first deal management. For search funds it functions as a structured acquisition tracker, giving searchers a visual, stage-by-stage view of every target company from first contact through to LOI, with activity reminders and email tracking built in.
Why searchers use it
The core strength of Pipedrive for searchers is its visual pipeline. At any moment a searcher can see exactly where every target company sits in their acquisition funnel, what the next action is, and which conversations have gone cold. This is particularly useful during high-volume direct outreach phases when tracking dozens of parallel owner conversations simultaneously. Pipedrive is also one of the few CRMs that feels immediately intuitive without significant configuration, meaning a searcher can be operational within hours rather than days.
Core capabilities relevant to search funds
- Pipeline management: Kanban-style visual board with fully customizable stages, map your exact acquisition funnel from first contact to LOI
- Activity reminders: Automatic follow-up prompts tied to each deal so no owner conversation goes cold
- Email sync and tracking: Two-way sync with Gmail and Outlook, track when owners open emails and log all correspondence automatically
- Custom fields: Add financial attributes, sector tags and owner details directly to each deal record
- Reporting: Pipeline velocity and deal-stage conversion reports, useful for investor updates
- Integrations: 500+ native integrations including outreach tools, e-signature platforms and data enrichment services
Honest limitations
Pipedrive is a sales CRM originally built for B2B sales teams, not acquirers. Default terminology and suggested fields reflect a sales context, so a searcher will need to adapt stages and field names to fit an acquisition workflow. Unlike HubSpot, there is no meaningful free tier, so there is a cost commitment from day one. Automation capabilities on the entry tier are also limited, searchers running structured outreach sequences will need to upgrade or use a separate outreach tool alongside it.
Getting started
A searcher can have a working pipeline configured within a few hours. Create an account, set up your acquisition stages, import your first target list and connect your email. Pipedrive offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Pricing
Pipedrive has no permanent free tier.
Paid plans start at approximately €12/seat/month billed annually (Essential tier), which covers pipeline management, email sync and basic reporting.
The Advanced tier at approximately €34/seat/month unlocks email sequences and workflow automation, which most searchers doing structured outreach will find useful.
