Seed investors
A seed round funds the first real test of a business. There is a product people can use, some evidence that they want it, and a team that can build the next version. The money buys the year or two it takes to find out whether that evidence becomes a repeatable motion.
The firms on this list write seed cheques as a stated part of their strategy. Some lead, some follow, and many do both depending on the round. Each cites its own website as the source for what is written here.
Founded in 2020 by brothers Ammar and Mohammed (Mo) Amdani, Adapt Ventures operates as a boutique early-stage venture firm and venture studio. The firm is known for its highly…
Alpha Wave is an investment company that has three main verticals; private equity, private credit, and public markets. The objective of the private equity partnerships is to invest in…
BitScale Capital is the Investment firm.
Draper Associates is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded in 1985 by Tim Draper. The firm has more than 40 years of experience backing transformative technology companies…
Founder Institute is a pre-seed startup accelerator that offers structured accelerator programs to help entrepreneurs launch and grow technology startups. It provides a core program…
International Blockchain Consulting, also known as IBC Group, is a venture capital firm and global consulting agency founded in 2017. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, the firm…
KBW Ventures is an asset management company focusing exclusively on venture capital, value creation, and growth equity. It targets direct investments in some of the world's most…
MH Ventures is a venture firm focused on accelerating the decentralized future. It backs and builds the next generation of open blockchain infrastructure, supporting founders and…
Nascent invests in early-stage teams with a focus on missionary founders who are building category-defining companies and protocols It was founded in 2020.
One Way Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs exceptional immigrant founders. The firm engages with early-stage startups and invites founders who are starting up to pitch…
Portal Ventures is a fundamentals-driven early-stage crypto investment firm. The firm focuses on making investments in the cryptocurrency sector, emphasizing rigorous analysis and…
Presight Capital is a venture capital firm investing in the most ambitious founders across sectors, stages, and geographies. Presight takes a global approach to early-stage…
Primitive Ventures is a crypto venture firm led by industry veteran Dovey Wan. The firm believes that crypto represents a new socioeconomic primitive that will redefine individual…
Quadri Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in enterprise software companies across the US and Europe. It focuses on providing capital to support the growth of…
Reciprocal Ventures is a venture firm that partners with crypto founders from day zero. The firm believes blockchain networks are upgrading the internet and capital markets and…
Robot Ventures is a (pre-)seed investor in exceptional fintech and blockchain companies led by founders with big ambitions, and contrarian worldviews.
Seedify is an incubator and launchpad platform for blockchain games and gamers.
Target Global is a pan-European technology investment firm with more than €3 billion in assets under management. The firm invests in technology companies and maintains an active…
TA Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in ambitious early-stage technology startups. The firm focuses on sectors including HealthTech, FinTech, B2B software, and other…
Xploration Capital is an investment firm that backs ambitious founders building next-generation platforms, digital ecosystems, and SaaS companies worldwide. The firm emphasizes deep…
10x Founders is a network-driven investor backed by over 200 entrepreneurs and angels. The founding partners (Andreas Etten, Andrej Henkler, Claudius Jablonka, Felix Haas, Jan Becker…
Founded in 2012, 1818 Venture Capital is a Guernsey-based VC firm specialising in early-stage financial services innovation. The firm partners with ambitious founders building…
212 invests in growth-stage tech companies across Turkey, CEE, and MENA. Currently, our fund manages €75 million of committed capital, and 25 investments. Our strategy is to invest in…
What seed investors look for
Early evidence of demand.
Paying customers, usage that grows without paid acquisition, or a waitlist that converted. Less is needed than at Series A, and something is needed.
A team that has already shipped.
Seed investors back people more than plans, and the question is whether this team can build the next thing, given what it built with the last money.
A market that can carry a fund-returning outcome.
A firm's fund size sets the outcome it needs from every company, and a seed investor is modelling the exit before the first call.
A wedge.
One narrow problem the company solves better than anyone, with a credible route from there to something larger.
A round that makes sense.
Size, price and use of funds that get the company to a Series A story, with room for the plan being wrong.
How a seed raise usually runs
Most seed rounds have a lead investor who sets the terms, and several others who fill the round on those terms. Finding the lead is most of the work, and a firm that leads at seed will usually say so on its own site.
Have ready before the first conversation: a short deck, a data room with the numbers behind every claim in it, a clear use of funds, and a view of what the company looks like at Series A. A raise with a lead in hand closes faster than one still looking for one.
From first meeting to a signed term sheet commonly takes weeks, and longer without a lead. Partners meet the founders, the firm checks the market and the customers itself, and the partnership votes.
Questions
What is the difference between pre-seed and seed?
Pre-seed money funds building the first version. Seed money funds proving that people want it. The line is set by evidence, and the same firm can write both cheques.
Do I need revenue to raise a seed round?
Not always. Revenue is the clearest evidence of demand, and firms accept other evidence, especially where the product takes years to build. Every seed investor wants proof the problem is real and that this team is the one to solve it.
How many investors should I contact?
Enough to reach the few whose stated thesis matches the company. A shortlist built on stage, sector and geography is the useful size, and the filters on this page are for building it.
What is a lead investor?
The firm that sets the price and terms of the round and usually takes the largest share of it. Other investors join on those terms. Most seed rounds do not close without one.
Should I raise from angels or funds at seed?
Many seed rounds have both. Angels move quickly and bring operating experience. Funds bring larger cheques and a reserve for the next round. The mix depends on the round size and on who you can reach.
Seed investors by country
Seed investors by city
Seed investors by sector