How to Find the Right Investors for Your Startup: From Pre-Seed to Series A

Guest article. George Penrock is the founder of RaiseRunner and a former Euro VC analyst and associate. Euro VC is an investor in RaiseRunner. This article describes RaiseRunner's products.

Most fundraising outreach fails before the first email is sent. The deck may be strong and the company may be growing, but the list of investors is wrong.

I spent four years at Euro VC reviewing funds and the pitches that reached them. Then I left to build companies, and I sat on the other side of the table. The pattern looked the same from both sides: founders contacted investors because the name was familiar, not because there was a clear reason to believe the investor would be interested in this company, at this stage, for this amount.

This guide sets out a more reliable approach. It works from pre-seed to Series A. The central idea is simple: every investor on your list needs a defensible reason to be there, and every approach needs to follow a consistent process.

This article is for general information. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.

Why a recognisable fund name is not evidence of fit

A well-known fund is not necessarily a relevant fund. Large firms often run several strategies at once, and a firm that led a famous seed round five years ago may now write only growth cheques. A partner who once backed a company like yours may have left.

Fame tells you a fund exists and has raised capital. It does not tell you whether the fund is currently investing, at your stage, in your sector, in your country, at your round size.

The questions that matter are narrower:

• Has this investor made an investment at your stage recently?
• Does their published thesis include your market?
• Do they invest in your geography, or will they need a co-investor on the ground?
• Is their typical first cheque compatible with your round?
• Do they lead rounds, or do they wait for a lead?
• Have they already backed a direct competitor?

If you cannot answer most of these with evidence, the investor is not yet a target. It is a name to research.

The five filters: stage, sector, geography, cheque size and lead preference

Start with five filters. Apply them in this order, because each one removes a large number of poor fits cheaply.

1. Stage

Pre-seed, seed and Series A investors look for different things. A pre-seed investor is often backing a team and an insight. A Series A investor usually wants evidence that the business can grow repeatedly, such as consistent revenue growth, retention or a sales process that works.

Look at what each investor has done recently, not only what their website says. A stage label on a homepage can be years out of date.

2. Sector

"Software" or "deep tech" is too broad to be useful. Check whether the investor has backed companies with a similar customer, business model or technical risk. A fund that invests in consumer apps may not be the right reader for an industrial sensor company, even if both are "technology".

3. Geography

Some funds invest only in one country. Others invest across Europe but prefer a local co-investor. Some will invest anywhere but expect the company to be incorporated in a particular jurisdiction. Find out before you write.

4. Initial cheque size

If you are raising €1.5 million and a fund's first cheques are usually €5 million or more, the fit is weak, however good the conversation. The opposite also applies: a small fund may want to participate but cannot carry a round on its own.

5. Lead or follow

This is the filter founders most often skip. A lead investor sets the terms, usually takes the largest allocation and gives other investors confidence to join. A follower joins once a lead is in place. Contacting only followers when you have no lead can produce many friendly meetings and no term sheet.

How the research changes at Series A

At pre-seed and seed, you are often assembling several smaller cheques. At Series A, the most important decision is usually who leads.

That changes the research. For each potential lead, look at:

• Partner-level history. Funds do not invest; partners champion deals. Identify which partner has led rounds in your area and whether they are still active.
• Fund timing. A fund late in its investment period may have less capacity for new companies. A recently raised fund may be actively deploying.
• Portfolio construction. How many new companies does the fund back each year, and how much does it typically reserve for follow-on rounds?
• Conflicts. At Series A, a portfolio conflict is often decisive. Check carefully.

A Series A shortlist is usually shorter and deeper than a seed list. Ten well-researched potential leads are worth more than a hundred names.

Recent investments and new funds need interpretation

Announcements are useful signals, but they need reading carefully.

A new fund announcement may mean a firm is about to invest actively. It may also mean it has already committed much of its early capacity to existing relationships. A recent investment in your sector may mean interest in the space. It may equally mean the fund now has its bet in that category and will not back a competitor.

Treat each signal as a reason to look more closely, not as proof of interest. Record what the signal is, where you found it, when it happened and what it might mean for you.

An example shortlist

Here is how a simple shortlist might look for a seed-stage B2B software company raising €2 million in the Netherlands. The fund names are placeholders.

The table forces discipline. Every row has evidence. Every row admits what you do not know. And every row ends with a specific action, which can include deciding not to approach.

Turning research into outreach

Good research is wasted on a generic email. The reason an investor is on your list should be the first thing they read.

A strong first email is short. It states what the company does, why you are writing to this investor in particular, the key evidence of progress and what you are asking for. It links to a deck the investor can open without signing up for anything.

Then follow up consistently:

• Send a polite follow-up after about a week if there is no reply.
• Stop following up when someone replies or asks you to stop.
• Share genuine progress, such as a new customer or a lead investor, rather than repeating the same request.
• Keep a record of every contact, reply and next step, so nothing is forgotten and no investor is contacted twice by mistake.

Warm introductions remain valuable, especially from founders the investor has backed. But an introduction only helps if the fit is real. A busy partner will remember a poor introduction for the wrong reasons.

The tool I built to do this work

After running this process by hand, I built RaiseRunner to carry it out for founders. It follows the method above.

Investor Navigator builds the shortlist. For each investor it shows why they fit, the sources behind that view, what remains uncertain and whether the investor backs a direct competitor. Funding Wizard watches for signals such as new funds, partner moves and relevant deals, and explains why each might matter. The campaign then sends personal emails and follow-ups from the founder's own mailbox.

The founder stays in control. You confirm the company facts, the round size and any investors to exclude. You approve the shortlist and the exact wording of every email, and nothing is sent until you approve it. You take the meetings and answer substantive investor questions yourself. You can read the full process on How it works.

Software can do the research and the routine follow-ups. It cannot build the company, and it cannot make an investor's decision for them. That part remains your responsibility.

Frequently asked questions

How many investors should a seed-stage startup contact?

There is no fixed number. A shorter list of well-researched investors, each with clear evidence of fit, usually produces better conversations than a long list of familiar names.

What is the difference between a lead investor and a follow-on investor?

A lead investor sets the terms of the round, usually takes the largest share and helps other investors decide to join. A follow-on investor joins once a lead is in place.

Should I contact investors who have recently raised a new fund?

A new fund can be a good signal that an investor is deploying capital, but it is not proof of interest in your company. Check stage, sector, geography, cheque size and conflicts first.

Are warm introductions always better than cold emails?

Warm introductions are often more effective, especially from founders the investor has backed. A specific, well-researched cold email to a relevant investor can still work, while a warm introduction to a poor fit rarely does.