Pre-seed investors

A pre-seed round funds the work of turning an idea into something people can use. The team is usually small, the product is often a prototype, and the evidence is mostly conversations with the people who have the problem. The money buys the months it takes to ship a first version and put it in front of real users.

The firms on this list state on their own website that they invest at pre-seed. Many are small funds and angel groups built for this stage, and some are larger funds with a programme for it. Each cites its own site as the source for what is written here.

What pre-seed investors look for

The founders.

At this stage there is little else to judge. Investors want to know why this team, why this problem, and what they have already done about it with their own time and money.

A problem worth solving.

Evidence that the problem is real and painful for a specific group of people. Interviews, a waitlist, a manual version of the service, or a first paying customer all count.

A first version, or a clear path to one.

A prototype people can touch changes the conversation. Where the product takes longer to build, a detailed plan for the first version and the people who will build it does the same work.

A market that can grow.

The company may start narrow. The investor wants to see that the narrow start leads somewhere large, and that the founders can describe that path in plain terms.

A round that gets somewhere.

Enough money to reach the milestone that unlocks a seed round, and a plan that says what that milestone is.

How a pre-seed raise usually runs

Pre-seed rounds are often assembled from several smaller cheques rather than led by one firm. Angels, pre-seed funds and accelerator programmes each take a share, and the founders do the work of bringing them together.

Have ready before the first conversation: a short deck that explains the problem and the team, a demo or a prototype where one exists, and a plain account of what the money buys. A financial model matters less here than a clear milestone.

Decisions at this stage are faster than at later rounds because there is less to check. A firm that specialises in pre-seed will often decide within a few meetings. The slow part is usually finding the firms that fit, which the filters on this page are for.

Questions

What is a pre-seed round?

The first outside money a company raises, used to build a first version of the product and find its first users. It comes before seed, and usually before there is any revenue.

Do I need a product to raise pre-seed?

A working product helps and is not always required. Firms at this stage regularly back a team with a prototype, a detailed plan and evidence that the problem is real.

Who invests at pre-seed?

Angels, funds built for the stage, accelerator programmes and some larger funds with a dedicated pre-seed practice. The list on this page includes all of them where the firm states the stage on its own site.

How is pre-seed different from a friends and family round?

Friends and family invest in the person. Pre-seed investors invest in the business, and they expect a company, a plan and terms. Many companies raise both, in that order.

What do pre-seed investors expect in return?

Equity, on terms set by an instrument such as a convertible note or a simple agreement for future equity, or by a priced round. The terms differ by market, and a lawyer who works with early companies in yours is worth the fee.

Pre-seed investors by city

Pre-seed investors in London Pre-seed investors in New York Pre-seed investors in San Francisco Pre-seed investors in Paris Pre-seed investors in Boston Pre-seed investors in Los Angeles Pre-seed investors in Chicago Pre-seed investors in Berlin Pre-seed investors in Palo Alto Pre-seed investors in Menlo Park

Pre-seed investors by sector

AI Healthcare SaaS Fintech Climate Deeptech Consumer Food and agriculture Mobility and logistics Proptech Cybersecurity Media Edtech Marketplace Govtech and defence

Other stages

Seed investors Series A investors Series B and later