How Do I Build an Investor List for My Startup?

Define your criteria (stage, sector, check size), source investors from similar company rounds and databases, verify recent activity, then tier by fit.

Start with 100–150 investors: 20–30 perfect-fit Tier 1 targets, 40–50 good-fit Tier 2, and 30–50 Tier 3 backups. Focus your best effort on Tier 1 investors with warm introduction paths.

Why Your Investor List Determines Fundraising Success

Most founders approach investor outreach backwards. They grab a generic list, blast emails, and wonder why nobody responds. The problem isn't their pitch, it's their targeting. Building a strategic investor list before you start outreach dramatically improves conversion rates and saves weeks of wasted effort.

Here's the step-by-step process for building a list that works.

Step 1: Define Your Targeting Criteria

Before searching for investors, clarify exactly what you're looking for:

Stage fit. Are you raising pre-seed, seed, or Series A? Only target investors who actively invest at your current stage.

Sector alignment. Does the investor have experience in your industry? Fintech VCs rarely invest in biotech. Sector expertise matters.

Check size match. If you're raising $1M, don't target funds that write $10M checks. Match your raise amount to their typical investment size.

Geographic focus. Some investors only back founders in specific regions. Verify geographic preferences before adding anyone to your list.

Investment thesis. Many VCs publish what they're looking for. Read their thesis and confirm your startup aligns.

For a complete framework on targeting criteria, read our guide on how to build a target investor list before your fundraise.

Step 2: Identify Potential Investors

With criteria defined, source names through multiple channels:

Similar company research. Look at startups similar to yours. Who invested in their rounds? These investors already understand your market.

Portfolio analysis. Review VC portfolios for companies in adjacent spaces.

Founder referrals. Ask other founders who they pitched and who was responsive.

Database searches. Use investor databases to filter by stage, sector, and activity. Prioritize platforms tracking recent investments.

Event discovery. Note investors who speak at industry events or publish content about your space.

Step 3: Verify Activity Status

Not every investor in a database is actively deploying capital. Before adding anyone to your final list, verify:

Recent investments. Have they made new investments in the past 12 months? Funds without recent activity may be fully deployed.

Fund timing. When did they raise their current fund? Funds older than 3–4 years are typically not making new bets.

Public signals. Are partners actively engaging with founders, attending events, or publishing content? Silence often indicates inactivity.

Skipping this verification step means wasting outreach on investors who can't actually write checks.

Step 4: Tier Your List

Not all investors deserve equal effort. Organize your list into tiers:

Tier 1 (20–30 investors): Perfect fit. Strong thesis alignment, recent activity in your space, potential for warm introductions. These get personalized, high-effort outreach.

Tier 2 (40–50 investors): Good fit. Relevant stage and sector, but less obvious connection. These get solid personalization with moderate effort.

Tier 3 (30–50 investors): Possible fit. Meet basic criteria but lower conviction. These receive efficient outreach to maintain pipeline volume.

This tiering ensures your best energy goes toward highest-probability conversations.

Step 5: Research for Personalization

For Tier 1 and Tier 2 investors, gather personalization details: recent investments they've made, content they've published, portfolio companies you could reference, and mutual connections for introductions. This research takes 10–15 minutes per investor but dramatically increases response rates.

Step 6: Organize and Track

Build a system to manage your list and outreach. Track investor names, contact info, tier ranking, outreach status, and follow-up dates. Spreadsheets work for small lists; dedicated CRM tools help at scale. Consistent tracking ensures no conversation falls through cracks.

How SheetVenture Accelerates This Process

Building an investor list manually takes 20–40 hours. SheetVenture compresses this dramatically. Our platform tracks 30,000+ active investors filtered by stage, sector, check size, and verified recent activity. Build a qualified, tiered investor list in minutes, not weeks. Export directly to spreadsheets and start outreach with confidence.

The Bottom Line

A strategic investor list beats a big investor list every time. Define clear criteria, verify activity status, tier by fit, and personalize your approach. The upfront investment in list quality pays dividends throughout your fundraise.

Have questions about building your investor list? Reach out to our team.

SheetVenture helps founders build targeted investor lists in minutes, so you spend less time researching and more time closing.