Skip to main content

The Affinity Blog

The same conviction, a new Affinity

Affinity is launching Ascend, an agent platform for private capital, and stepping into a new identity as the AI-first private capital CRM. A note from our CEO.

Becoming fluent in AI was never the job

You came into private capital to close deals, not to learn a dozen AI tools. Affinity Ascend takes the busywork off the deal, so the work can be all that's left.

Introducing Affinity Ascend

Affinity Ascend is the agent platform for private capital. Three agents are live on launch—Meeting Prep, Warm Intros, and Data Update. Here's what ships and how to use it.

Your AI doesn't know your firm. Connect it to the tools that do.

Four AI workflows across the deal lifecycle—Grata, Crunchbase, AlphaSense, and Lumonic—each connected to Affinity so your model reaches your pipeline, relationships, and data.

How do you use AI for due diligence? An AlphaSense workflow, from a blank prompt to a data-room red-flag list.

Get a sourced market read, deal comps, channel checks, and a data-room red-flag scan in hours, with every claim traceable to the source it came from.

Artificial intelligence

View more

Becoming fluent in AI was never the job

Introducing Affinity Ascend

Your AI doesn't know your firm. Connect it to the tools that do.

Private equity

View more

The concentration principle: how PE investors actually create value

Not all EBITDA is equal: Gary Crittenden on the return-on-capital lens that picks winners

The PE log jam: why over-marked assets can't trade, and what actually clears the market

Venture Capital

View more

Best practices for successfully navigating the VC fundraising process

Who are the top venture capital firms investing in AI in 2026?

Unlocking the power of AI in venture capital: Efficiency, insights, and growth

Recently published

Top 6 Pipedrive alternatives

Pipedrive is a CRM built for salespeople, but your team might need more than pipeline management. Learn how other CRMs stack up.

The mandate is won before the bake-off starts: How Morgan Stanley won the Hinge Health IPO

Four banks pitched for the Hinge Health IPO. Morgan Stanley won. The outcome was 15 years in the making. A senior banker explains why mandates are won before the bake-off starts.

800 public software companies already exist. Why IPO yours?

Morgan Stanley's Global Head of Software Banking explains the demand-side logic that actually governs IPO decisions—why a public investor would own your stock instead of 800 liquid alternatives.

AI + CRM use cases for private capital: 6 workflows that actually work

Six AI + CRM workflows for VC and PE: meeting prep, deal evaluation, warm intros, IC memos, LP mapping, and portfolio monitoring.

Latest updates to the Affinity CRM, mobile app, API, and integrations

Explore the latest Affinity updates—from CRM and mobile app upgrades to new API calls—designed to help private capital teams close deals faster and smarter.