Investor Outreach · a guide built on the record

Who to write to, what to say, and when.

The firms that read cold emails, the ones with a new fund to invest, who leads at your stage, the line to open with for any firm, and six emails that get replies. Every number comes from the rounds we watched.

Example email

ToA partner at Andreessen Horowitz

Subject

I'm the founder of Northwind. We lease picking arms to warehouses too small for full automation.

Why themI'm writing to you because you backed Preference Model, which you led (Seed, $16M, Oct 2026), Ghost, which you led (Seed, $11M, Oct 2026) and OpenReserve, which you led (Seed, $25M, Sept 2026), which are close to what we're building.

We're raising $2.5M for our seed round. Deck: your tracked link

The "why them" line is real: written by the opening line finder from Andreessen Horowitz's rounds.

1,082active investors say on their own site they read cold pitches

419firms filed for a new fund of $10M+ in the last six months

19 motypical gap from seed to Series A, across 5,071 companies

2investors named in a typical seed round: plan for several yeses

01 · Who to approach

Two lists to start from

They say they read cold emails

1,082 active investors say so on their own website. The busiest this year:

All 1,082, with filters

They just raised a new fund

A new fund has to be invested, and its first cheques go out now. Filed with the SEC in the last six months:

Every firm raising a fund

Who leads, and who joins them

Approach leads first: a round moves when someone sets the terms. Most rounds led in the last two years, with the firms that most often joined them: once a lead is in, those are your next calls.

Andreessen Horowitz20 ledLightspeed Venture PartnersAccelSV Angel

General Catalyst18 ledY CombinatorSV AngelKhosla Ventures

Lightspeed Venture Partners14 ledSequoia CapitalBessemer Venture PartnersAndreessen Horowitz

Accel13 ledConvictionMenlo VenturesAnthropic

Khosla Ventures11 ledGeneral CatalystAccelNew Enterprise Associates

Index Ventures9 ledConvictionArthur MenschAndrej Karpathy

Headline8 ledABSeed VenturesAndreessen HorowitzA16z Crypto

Bessemer Venture Partners8 ledAIX VenturesAccess Industries8VC

A16z Speedrun8 ledAndreessen HorowitzAlumni VenturesGolden Gate Ventures

Felicis6 ledLiquid 2 VenturesPaul GrahamY Combinator

02 · The opening line

Why them, in one sentence

The strongest line in a cold email says why you are writing to this investor and not everyone. Type a firm, and your sector and stage if you like: you get the rounds of theirs worth mentioning.

03 · Templates

Six emails for the whole raise

Pick the moment on the left. Copy the email, fill the brackets, and read the notes: they are the reason it works.

To an investor you have never met, who does not know you are raising.

Subject[Company]: [what you do, in six words]

Hi [first name],

I'm the founder of [Company]. We [what you do, for whom, in one sentence].

I'm writing to you because you backed [portfolio company] and [portfolio company], which are close to what we're building.

[One number that proves it is working: revenue, growth, customers, a pilot.]

We're raising [amount] for our [stage] round. Here is our deck: [your tracked link]

Would you be open to a 20-minute call next week?

Best,
[Your name]

The subject says what the company is. Investors scan subjects; a clever one reads as a newsletter.
The second paragraph is the reason for writing to them and not to everyone. Use the opening line finder above.
One number, not five. Pick the one that would make you open the deck.
One ask, and a small one: a call, not a commitment.

04 · The playbook

How a raise actually runs

1Start earlier than feels necessary
The typical gap from seed to Series A was 19 months, and 18 from A to B. A raise takes three to six months from first email to money in the bank.
2Warm first, cold well
Ask for intros to the firms you want most. For the rest, a short email with a specific reason, from the finder above.
3Batches, not a blast
10 to 20 investors a week, leads first, so you fix the pitch between batches and meetings land close together.
4Follow up with news
Five to seven days, once, in the same thread. Twice at most, then into your monthly update.

When rounds get done

Rounds announced by month over the last three years. Busiest: Sep, Jun, Mar. Quietest: Nov and Aug. Announcements trail the work by weeks, so be in inboxes the months before.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Before you send

A deck as a link, one per investor (deck tracking)
A one-line description you can say without breathing in
The amount you are raising, and roughly what it buys
One place to track every conversation (fundraising CRM)
A public profile investors can check (list your startup)

Put every conversation on one board

Add the firms from these lists to your fundraising CRM, and send each one their own deck link.

Start your CRM Or search every investor

Questions

How many investors should I write to?

Enough for several yeses: a seed round we watched named about 2 investors. Work in batches of 10 to 20 a week, leads first, rather than one blast.

Warm intro or cold email?

An introduction from someone the investor trusts is read first, so ask for those for the firms you want most. For the rest, a short cold email with a specific reason to write to them is read far more than a long general one.

Should I attach the deck?

Send a link instead, one per investor. You can update it after sending, and you see who opened it and how far they read.

How long before I follow up?

Five to seven days, once, in the same thread, with something new. Twice at most, then add them to your monthly update.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the funding rounds we read and the fund filings we track, recomputed every night. Nothing on this page is a survey or an estimate.

Signed in, you can write these emails for the investors on your board, each with their own opening line and tracked deck link, in the outreach drafts.