Finding by who they are
How to find an investor's email and reach them well
To find an investor's email, check the fund's team page and their own writing, but try for an introduction from a founder they back first, since investors weigh how a deal reaches them.
By Invenitor team. Updated .
Should you email an investor cold at all?
Sometimes, yes. Investors do read cold notes, and some publish an address and invite them. But many treat an introduction from someone they trust as a stronger signal, because it also shows you can get to people. So try for an introduction first, and use a cold note when you cannot get one.
This matters most for the investors you want most. Use your best introduction on your top few names. Send well-made cold notes to the rest. See what a warm introduction is and how to ask for one.
How do you decide who to contact?
Most wasted fundraising time goes into investors who could never say yes. Before you look for any address, check these:
- Stage. Do they write cheques at your stage? A fund focused on later rounds will not lead your first one.
- Sector. Have they backed something near yours? Their portfolio page shows this.
- Conflict. Have they backed a direct competitor? If so, they probably will not back you, and you should think before sharing details.
- Geography. Some funds only invest in certain countries or company structures.
- Cheque size. Does it fit what you are raising?
- Activity. Have they made an investment lately? A fund with no recent activity may have finished deploying.
A plain sentence can build the first version of this list. Try "angel investors in India who back early B2B software". You get up to 100 people on Invenitor. Then read each person's investments yourself before you write. Keep a simple sheet with these columns.
Where do you find their contact details?
Investors are usually easy to reach, by design. Look here:
- The fund's website. Many list a team page with addresses, or a submissions form. If they ask for a form, use it.
- Their own blog or newsletter. Some state exactly how they want to be pitched. Follow it.
- Founder interviews, where founders mention how they met the investor.
- Angel networks and syndicate pages, which often have an application route.
- Speaker pages for events they attend.
- A contact lookup, if you need it. On Invenitor, paste a profile link. It costs 1 credit (₹2), and only when an email or phone comes back.
How do you get a warm introduction?
The best introductions come from founders the investor already backs. To ask for one:
- Find founders in their portfolio who you have some link to, such as a shared college, a former colleague or a customer.
- Ask the founder about their experience with the investor first. This helps you and it is honest.
- Write a short forwardable note, in three or four lines: what you do, your traction, and why this investor.
- Ask your contact whether they would be comfortable forwarding it. Make it easy to say no.
- Thank them, and tell them what happened, whatever the outcome.
Do not ask someone who barely knows you. A weak introduction can hurt more than a good cold email.
What should a cold note to an investor say?
Keep it short and put the numbers in. Your first line says what the company does, in words a stranger understands. Your second gives real traction: revenue, growth or customers. Your third says why this investor, using a real reason, such as one of their investments or something they wrote. Your last says what you are raising and asks for one short call.
Attach a short deck or link one, if the investor's published process says that is welcome. Otherwise offer to send it. Do not ask them to sign an NDA for a first look, because most investors will not. Use honest numbers only. They will check, and a stretched figure ends the conversation for good.
How do you keep the process under control?
Contact investors in small batches, not all at once. You will learn from the first few calls and improve your story, so do not spend your best names first. Keep a simple record of who you contacted, how, what they said and when to follow up.
Be careful about mass mail. Sending the same note to hundreds of investors damages your reputation in a small community, and Invenitor's Terms prohibit automated outreach. Write each note yourself. The tools here only help you find people. A search costs 20 credits (₹40), so the cost of finding people is small compared with the cost of annoying them. See how to follow up.
Common questions
- How many investors should I contact?
- No fixed number is right. Work in small batches and improve your story between them, rather than sending everything at once.
- Is it fine to follow up with an investor?
- Yes, once or twice, especially when you have news such as a new customer. News makes a follow-up welcome.