In a given raise process, the highest leverage activity is to focus on the “most likely” investors. With 10,000+ VCs actively writing checks, founders need a data-driven approach to discover investors that are actually likely to lead or join the round. Metal provides founders four primary mechanisms to discover the most likely investors for their Company.Documentation Index
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AI Search
Use AI or develop a custom search query using precision filters across stage, sector, geography and more.
New Funds
Surface new investors that have recently started a new firm, or that have raised a new fund.
Market Signals
Algorithmically scan 1m+ data points to surface investors that publish content aligned with your business model.
Similar Companies
Seamlessly identify investors that have previously backed companies similar to yours.
Training the Rankings Engine
A recommended starting point is to use Metal’s built-in engine that ranks investors based on our internal fit assessment. The rankings engine draws on the information users provide about their Company and on the proprietary intelligence that Metal holds on venture investors. Our fit scores are determined through an orchestration layer that takes into account your Company’s business model, stage, sector, geography and round dynamics. For instance, if you are looking for a lead investor at the Pre-seed stage, and if a given investor doesn’t lead at Pre-seed, then the system will assign a low fit score to such an investor. Founder can “train” the rankings engine by providing Metal with greater context on your Company’s business model and overall strategy. Our fit scores become more accurate as Metal better understands your Company. You can equip the platform with rich context by uploading pitch decks, by engaging in conversations with Richard AI, and by integrating your data sources.AI Search
In order to identify investors that are a strong-fit for a given raise, users first need to develop an elimination criteria — a set of requirements that qualifies a given investor as a likely target. To develop an elimination criteria, founders need to make the following key decisions.- Lead Decision
- Stage Decision
- Round Size Decision
- Sector Decision
- Geo Focus
When round size is significant ($1-2m+), users need a lead investor to bring the round together. The lead investor plays a critical role by: (a) Setting the valuation cap for the round, and (b) Coalescing other investors to participate. Typically, the lead investor is the first to invest, and does so without waiting for other investors.When round size is small (<$1m), founders can often structure a “party round” whereby a large number of investors with small check sizes make up the round (without requiring a lead investor). Similarly, companies that are backed by well-known incubators (such as YCombinator or Techstars) are often able to structure large party rounds without necessarily requiring a lead investor.For users looking to structure party rounds, the focus should be on identifying follow-on investors that write small checks in existing rounds.
For guidelines on how party rounds work, refer to this section.
Market Signals
Every day, investors are “talking” about what types of founders or business models they want to fund. This is spread out across millions of data points in the form of podcasts, blog posts, social media posts, and more. With Market Signals, Metal provides founders a way to “listen” to what investors are saying across the entire web. The platform automatically flags investors that are posting content that shows a strong thesis or belief in the user’s product and/or business direction.New Funds
Using the new fund insights section within Metal (Insights > New Funds), users can identify investors that have made their first investment in a given sector or sub-sector. Investors that make their first investment in a given space are often interested in identifying more companies that are building in the same space. New investors that just raised their first fund often have the highest appetite to deploy and the least amount of deal flow, making them excellent prospects as financing partners.Investors in Similar Companies
Investors that have invested in similar companies are often the “most likely” partners (based on empirical evidence for their interest in similar companies). Such investors can be easily identified by using Metal’s “Company Search” module that allows users to:View all VC-backed companies that are similar
In the “Company Search” tab, users can now view all companies that: (a) Have raised VC financing and (b) Are somewhat similar to the user’s product description. Users can also apply other filters to further refine the list of companies.
Tag companies that are actually similar
Users can tag companies that are actually similar (via the “Actions” elliptical menu on the top-right of the Company Search table). Ideally, these should be companies that are similar, but are not direct competitors.Generally, a direct competitor is a Company that is going after the exact same customer and for the exact same use case as the user’s Company.
Most Active Investors at a Sector Level
Using the sector insights section within Metal (Insights > Sectors), users can identify investors that have been the most active in a given sector. This is achieved by first selecting a set of parent and/or sub-sectors and then applying other filters:- Investor Type: Use this filter to limit table results to only “Accelerators”, or “Family Offices” or “Venture Capital Firms”
- Time Period: Allows users to limit table results to a specific time period (I.e. users can see which investors have been most active in selected sectors within a given time period)
- Continents: Filter can be used to limit table results to a given continent (I.e. users can see which investors have been most active in selected sectors within a given continent)
- Round Stage: Allows users to limit table results to specific stage(s) (I.e. users can see which investors have been most active in selected sectors within a defined set of stages)