The complete guide to finding investors who are right for your stage, sector, and raise size — including warm intro strategies, cold outreach that works, and the platforms founders actually use.
Stage (pre-seed/seed/A), check size, sector focus, and geography. Most failed outreach is targeting the wrong investors, not a bad pitch.
A warm intro converts 3–5x better than cold. Map your network, your investors' networks, and your advisors' networks before any cold outreach.
If warm intros aren't available, personalized cold emails to right-fit investors work at 5–10% reply rate. Volume and personalization are both required.
A $500M fund's minimum check is often $5M — they can't lead your $1.5M seed. Filter investors by stage first. Most failed intros are stage mismatches.
An investor who has deep SaaS portfolio experience asks better questions and adds more value than a generalist. Find investors with directly relevant portfolio companies.
AngelList Raise is the best database for angels. LinkedIn for research and intros. Twitter/X for real-time investment signals from active investors.
Before cold outreach: map every investor who has invested in your friends' companies, your previous colleagues' companies, and your advisors' portfolio companies.
Ask for a specific intro ('Can you introduce me to [investor name] at [firm]?') not a general endorsement. Make it easy by providing a blurb your connector can forward.
Subject: [Specific reason you're right for them] — [one-line company description]. Body: 3 sentences max, specific traction metric, one direct ask. No decks in the first email.
4,846 investors filtered by your exact stage, sector, and check size.