How to Find Investors (Without Losing Your Mind)

A practical guide for how to find investors without losing your cool, your entire cap table, or your will to live!

Raising money for your startup is time-consuming, a distraction from your real job of growing your business and can leave you demoralised and doubting yourself.. But fear not, it’s not all bad news. With the right approach, aimed at the right investors and a clear sense of what you want to achieve with your business, you can secure investors who align with your vision, back you with their cash and bring value in other ways too – contacts, functional expertise and strategic know-how. So how do you get on the right path?

Let’s get cracking.

1. Start with Your Network

Your own contacts might not be investors (yet), but they probably know people who are – or who can make introductions to investors. Speak to former colleagues, clients, suppliers, friends-of-friends. Get active talking about what you are doing – your vision, how the business is doing, what you need in terms of advice and support. Use LinkedIn (or your preferred social media), pick up the phone(or email if you must!) and don’t let a day pass without speaking to someone new! Ask your network for introductions or advice, not investment. If people like what you’re building, they’ll happily open doors.

2. Show Up at the Right Events

Yes, actual physical events, or webinars. The point is: investors go to industry events, pitch nights, and startup showcases. You should too. Not to spam every investor in sight, but to strike up genuine conversations, build rapport and familiarity. Remember, you’re not just raising cash—you’re building relationships.

3. Get Online (But Make It Personal)

Use platforms like:

Republic or Crowdcube – if you’re equity crowdfunding
Angel Investment Network or LinkedIn – for direct approaches
Startup directories – many include investor databases
Crunchbase and other specialist databases – handy for investor history, sector preferences and focus.

But don’t just spam people. Research each investor. What stage do they fund? What sectors? What do they talk about on social media? Tailor your approach to match investors’ interests. A little personalisation goes a long way.

4. Use Data Platforms Strategically

There are brilliant tools out there that let you search for investors by sector, round size, geography and more. Think:

Beauhurst
MarktoMarket
Ship Shape

Scribe Labs

These will help you build a target list of investors who actually invest in businesses like yours. Saves time. Saves rejection. Saves your sanity.

5. Join an Accelerator or Incubator

Many founders see accelerators as a box-ticking exercise. But a good accelerator can do wonders. They provide structure, mentorship, accountability towards your goals and—crucially—warm intros to investors. Plus, demo days are prime hunting ground for backers who want early access to startups on the rise.

6. Be Seen on Socials

Investors are on Twitter, LinkedIn, even Instagram (yes, really). Share what you’re building. Be transparent. Celebrate wins, own the stumbles, post team selfies. People invest in people, and you can build trust before you’ve even met.

Bonus: follow investors you admire, comment on their posts, share something thoughtful. Then, when you do reach out, you’re not just another cold message—they’ve seen your name before.

7. Ask for Warm Introductions

A warm intro beats a cold email every time. If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know someone in your extended network who knows an investor you’re targeting. Ask for an introduction. Make it easy for them: send a short intro paragraph that they can use in their introduction and explain why you’d like to talk.

Not sure where to start? Use LinkedIn’s mutual connections or give your mentor a gentle nudge.

8. Be Patient and Resilient

Let’s be honest—raising money is rarely quick, and it’s never easy. You’ll hear a lot of “not right now” and “come back when you’ve got more traction”. That’s normal. Learn from it. Stay professional. Keep moving. The right investor match is out there, but you’ve got to keep showing up until they see you.

Final Thoughts

Finding investors isn’t just a numbers game—it’s a game of strategy. It’s about targeting the right people, saying the right things, and doing it consistently. And when it all comes together, it’s magic. When you find someone who understands your vision, loves your team and backs your plan — not to mention who writes a cheque — you’ll know you’ve found the right investor for the journey of growing a business together.

So start with what you’ve got, use the tools at your fingertips, and build real relationships. You don’t need thousands of investors. You just need the right few.

Author
Recent Posts

Carys Kennedy

Latest Blog & News

Overcome The Impossible: How To Secure Investment For Your Startup

If you’re struggling to secure investment for your startup, you’re not alone. Many founders find the process overwhelming, especially when you are raising investment

This Is Why A Business Exit Strategy Actually Attracts Investors

Have you ever wondered why investors are so focused on exits? You’re pitching your vision, your passion, your drive, and they’re asking, “How do

How To Build Investor Relationships Before You Need Equity Investment

When it comes to securing investment for your business, timing is everything. But here’s the kicker, building investor relationships before you need equity investment

How To Make A Pitch Deck That Attracts Investors

Let’s talk about your pitch deck. Every founder knows they need one if they want to raise equity investment. Most founders have probably created

Part 1 – Financial Forecasting For Startups: How Much Money Do I Need?

One of the first questions you need to answer if you are raising equity investment is: How much money should I raise? The answer

How To Value A Small Business To Get Investors Excited

Raising investment can be challenging. The preparation, pitching, and negotiation is a time-consuming process, and can distract founders from their primary goal: Growing their

Resilience training: 6 Proven Hacks to Boost Resilience When Fundraising

Jennifer Clamp, founder of Aata, and one of our trusted mentors on our Funding Accelerator programme, recently led a resilience training workshop on how

Exciting Funding Boost: Dorset LEP & Focused For Business Team Up

If you’re a startup or small business in Dorset looking to raise investment, help is at hand! Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Focused

8 Practical And Eye-opening Tips For Actually Finding Investors

Last month we tried something new in Funding Masterminds: an Idea Swap workshop, where our founders shared their tactics on how to find investors

Your Executive Summary Is More Important Than Your Pitch Deck!

Do you obsess about your Pitch Deck? Spending hours tweaking it to ensure it gives investors the information they need? Most founders do. A

Looking For Funding? Here’s Your Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Startup Investors

Starting a business is exhilarating, but securing the startup funding to fuel your dreams can be daunting. Not only do you need to prepare

3 Things That will Make Your Financial Forecast Attractive

Much like brewing a delicious cup of coffee, a compelling financial forecast for investors requires a complex blend of data, strategy, and storytelling. It’s

3 Unit Metrics You Need To Build A Compelling Growth Story

Did the conversation with potential investors fizzle out at the financial stage? It’s not just the vision, but the focus on detail that secures

Traction makes it quicker to raise funding for a startup

So you want to raise funding for a startup? To succeed, you’ll need to speak the language of investors. Investors will ask “how much

How to Raise Money (Without Losing the Plot)

From VC funding to angels and crowdfunding, here’s what every founder needs to know before raising equity investment. Looking at how to raise money

How I Raised £250K – and Help Other Founders Scale with Equity Funding

From crowdfunding chaos to working with angels and even Kelly Hoppen, here’s what I’ve learned about fuelling growth with equity funding. When I first

Founders’ Negotiation Tactics: How To Secure The Best Startup Valuation

We recently caught up with Daniel Faloppa from Equidam, who we partner with for part of our valuation methodology, to discuss the art of

How To Master Your Sales Lifecycle: Close Deals Faster And Smarter

Sales lifecycles can be a real puzzle, can’t they? One moment you’re full steam ahead with a potential customer, and the next, you’re bogged

How To Maximise Your Business Valuation And Attract Investors

Securing investment isn’t just about having a brilliant idea or a revolutionary product. It’s about proving your business is worth backing. Investors want to

This Is Why Investors Aren’t Backing Your Business Idea: Sales Process Advice You Need To Know

When founders talk about securing investment, they often focus on their product, the market potential and the speed at which they will grow revenue.