Crunchbase now includes NAICS codes across its industry taxonomy, available via the Crunchbase API; with Crunchbase’s Fundamentals API package.
NAICS codes are mapped to the NAICS Codes In Crunchbase and can be accessed through the Categories entity, enabling teams to integrate standardized industry classification directly into their workflows. Each Crunchbase industry is currently mapped to a single NAICS code, providing a consistent and standardized reference point across datasets.
This has been a long-standing customer request, making it easier to align Crunchbase data with the broader ecosystem of tools, datasets, and reporting frameworks that rely on NAICS.
What NAICS Unlocks and Why It Matters
NAICS is the standard for classifying businesses by industry, used across government datasets, business research platforms, and regulatory reporting.
By incorporating NAICS, Crunchbase enables you to:
- Segment industries consistently across systems: Connect and reconcile data across CRMs, data warehouses, enrichment tools, and external datasets.
- Improve data interoperability: Reduce ambiguity when combining multiple data sources for analytics and enrichment workflows.
- Align with investor and global taxonomies: Map to frameworks like ICB, GICS, and NACE to support investor use cases and cross-market comparisons.
- Connect macroeconomic data to company data: Associate datasets like BLS and BEA with Crunchbase data to analyze industry trends, employment signals, and economic activity.
This allows you to move between tools and datasets without redefining industries — reducing friction and improving confidence in analysis.
How Teams Use NAICS in Crunchbase
Investors
Use standardized industry groupings to screen opportunities, benchmark companies, and analyze portfolio exposure across sectors.
GTM and business development teams
Refine ICPs, segment accounts, and prioritize outreach using consistent industry definitions across CRM and go-to-market tools.
Data and analytics teams
Normalize and aggregate data across platforms, improving reporting accuracy and cross-source analysis.
Strategy and corporate teams
Support market sizing, competitive analysis, and due diligence using a recognized industry framework.
Crunchbase’s Approach to Mapping NAICS Codes
Mapping a modern, flexible industry taxonomy to a standardized system like NAICS requires balancing precision with consistency.
Crunchbase applies a principles-based approach to ensure mappings are both reliable and usable:
- Optimized for relevance over specificity: Each Crunchbase industry is mapped to the most specific single NAICS code to preserve the applicability of associated datasets.
- Designed for hierarchical data use: NAICS operates across multiple levels, and mappings are structured around the principle that broader industry classifications remain directionally relevant to more specific segments — supporting analysis without introducing misleading comparisons.
- Built to handle structural differences: Differences in scope and granularity between NAICS and Crunchbase are handled to preserve consistency rather than force exact (but potentially unreliable) matches.
- Handled with intentional coverage: In cases of multiple or unclear mappings (e.g. an industry spans multiple sectors), the most representative option is selected; when no clear fit exists, industries are left unmapped rather than forcing a potentially misleading classification.
This approach ensures that NAICS mappings in Crunchbase are not only standardized — but also meaningful when used in real workflows.
NAICS provides a common foundation for industry classification — but it was designed for broad economic reporting. Crunchbase builds on this standard with its own industry taxonomy, enabling both interoperability across systems and more granular, dynamic views of the market.
Interested in the Crunchbase API? Reach out to your dedicated Crunchbase representative or our sales team at sales@crunchbase.com for assistance on which API package best fits your application’s needs.