Finding the right investors is one of the biggest challenges early-stage founders face. You’re building a product, managing a team, trying to find product-market fit and somehow also expected to locate, pitch to, and convince the right backers to believe in your vision. For many, it’s not just overwhelming it’s unclear where to even begin.
The truth is, there are more ways than ever to connect with investors. But not all are efficient, accessible, or effective especially when you’re short on time and resources.
In this article, we’ll explore the most common places founders look for investment, why many of those paths fall short, and how modern fundraising platforms are helping startups connect with the right investors faster and with greater clarity.
Where to Find Investors for Your Startup?
Traditional Ways Founders Find Investors
When you first start looking for investors, you’re likely to hear a lot about these routes:
1. Personal Network & Warm Introductions
Leaning on friends, mentors, or professional contacts is often the most natural starting point. A warm introduction to an angel investor or early-stage VC can go a long way in establishing trust. But not every founder has this network and even when you do, it may not be aligned with your sector or stage.
2. Startup Events, Demo Days & Pitch Competitions
Events offer exposure and can lead to valuable conversations. However, they’re time-consuming, and competition is fierce. You might pitch to 50 investors and only hear back from one if any.
3. LinkedIn & Cold Outreach
Many founders take to LinkedIn to search for investors and send cold messages. While it’s possible to connect this way, it requires persistence, research, and patience.
Most messages are ignored simply because the investor isn’t the right fit, or your outreach gets lost in a flood of pitches.
4. Accelerators & Incubators
These programmes can offer funding, mentorship, and investor access. However spots are limited, and the application process is often intense and competitive. Not every startup fits the mould.
5. Online Databases & Public Lists
There are dozens of public spreadsheets and platforms listing investors. While a good starting point, many are outdated, generic, or lacking in context meaning you’re still left doing the heavy lifting to figure out who’s relevant and how to reach them.
Why the Old Way No Longer Works?
These traditional routes can yield results, but they also come with downsides:
- Time-intensive: You spend hours researching, writing cold emails, and following up.
- Scattered: Investor information is fragmented across websites, forms, and directories.
- Opaque: You rarely know who’s actively investing, or what they’re looking for.
- Low Success Rate: Without context or alignment, many conversations lead nowhere.
In summary, it is ineffective and can often be disheartening.
Where Fundraising Platforms Come In?
In recent years, startup fundraising platforms such as ThatRound have emerged as a more structured, streamlined way for founders to connect with relevant investors. Think of them as centralised marketplaces that remove the noise and guesswork from early-stage fundraising.
Here’s how they’re changing the game:
1. A Central Hub for Investor Discovery
Instead of searching the internet or relying on scattered recommendations, platforms bring a wide range of investor types into one place. It’s the easiest way to get funding for startup ventures without spending weeks just identifying potential business partners.
2. Relevance and Filtering
Good platforms allow you to filter by stage, sector, geography, and investment size. That means you’re not wasting time on investors who aren’t aligned with your business. You only engage with those looking for exactly what you offer.
3. Transparent Comparison Tools
Fundraising platforms often include metrics like past deals, founder reviews, and investment criteria. This lets you compare services or investor groups side by side, helping you make informed decisions something that’s nearly impossible with cold outreach or outdated lists.
4. Structured, Trackable Outreach
Rather than sending cold emails and hoping for replies, these platforms provide formalised channels for engagement. Some even include built-in messaging or deal rooms, giving you clarity and control over your investor pipeline.
5. Time-Saving Legal Frameworks
Some platforms offer pre-standardised legal terms or templates, removing a major bottleneck from the fundraising process. This makes it easier to move from interest to commitment, without getting stuck in legal back-and-forth.
What to Look for in a Fundraising Platform?
Not all platforms are created equal. When choosing where to start, consider:
- Investor Quality: Are the investors active and relevant to your sector?
- Transparency: Can you compare offerings based on real metrics?
- Support Tools: Does it help you manage outreach, legal, or reporting?
- Ease of Use: Is the platform intuitive and built with founders in mind?
Final Thoughts
Finding investors is never a one-size-fits-all process but it doesn’t need to be guesswork, either. While personal networks and events still have their place, modern fundraising platforms are giving founders a faster, smarter way to raise capital.
If you’re currently figuring out how to raise capital for your startup, consider starting with a platform that brings structure, clarity, and access to the process.
It might just be the difference between a months-long search—and a well-matched partnership that propels your startup forward.
