Build an Investor List
A short list of funds that can invest in you beats a long spreadsheet. What to check for each fund, where to look, and how to order the list.
Build the list before you write to anyone. Funds will say no, so you need to talk to many of them at the same time. The research is what lets you move fast once you start. A process that drags on can outlast the cash in the company.
What to check for each fund
For every fund on the list, write down seven things.
- Stage. Pre-seed, seed or Series A. A seed fund will not lead your pre-seed round, however good the email is.
- First ticket. The amount they put in at the start. If you raise €500K and their first cheque starts at €2M, move on.
- Sector. What they say they invest in, and what the portfolio shows.
- Geography. Where they invest. Many funds in Central Europe invest only in the region or in founders from it.
- Portfolio. Companies close to yours. A company in your space is a reason to write. A direct competitor is a reason to be careful with what you share.
- The person. The partner who covers your sector. You write to a person, not to an info@ address.
- Why this fund. One sentence. If you cannot write it, the fund does not belong on the list.
The last point is the opening of your first email. More on that in The First Email to an Investor.
Where to look
Fund websites, people you know, LinkedIn, Google, accelerators and incubators. Incubators know which funds are active, because they invite them to work with their startups. Reports and rankings help too, as long as you can verify them.
The best source is founders who already raised. They can tell you which fund invested, how the work with that fund looks after the money arrives, and what to watch for in the talks.
Later, when you are already talking to a fund, ask which other funds they would recommend. Do not push for an introduction. If the investor does not believe in your idea, they will not recommend you, or the intro will not help you.
I keep a free list of European early-stage investors, each one checked against the fund’s own website. Use it as a starting point and check every fund again before you write. Funds change focus, close, and raise new vehicles.
Put the list in order
Split the list into three groups.
- A: fits on stage, ticket, sector and geography, and you have a warm path or a strong reason to write.
- B: fits well, no warm path yet.
- C: fits on paper. Your reserve if A and B do not fill the round.
Write to groups A and B within the same two or three weeks, so the conversations move at a similar pace. Keep C ready before you need it.
How long the list should be
That depends on the round and the ticket. In the book’s example a founder raises one million złoty and goes to 50 funds. Ten of them want to invest the full amount, so there is ten million on the table instead of one. That founder negotiates from a much better position.
Work out your own number with the Pipeline Math tool, and read How Many Investors to Contact for the reasoning.
Keep it in one place
One spreadsheet: fund, person, group, status, date of the last contact, next step. The free pipeline template has these columns, and the CSV from the investor list pastes straight into it.
Source: adapted from the fund research and teaser sections of the Polish original Anioł w Piekle (2021).
Book path for this guide
Angel in Hell
A book about raising startup funding: when investors help, when they limit founder freedom, and how to prepare for VC conversations.