Introduction

The new year promises to strengthen the fundraising environment. According to PitchBook, 2025 could see between $90B and $110B in VC fundraising, far surpassing the $71B raised in 2024.

Even with a positive outlook for the year ahead, the fundamental question haunting every new startup founder remains unchanged: “Can I really raise capital now—and can I do it without an extensive network of warm connections to VCs?”

For years, those in the VC space have universally accepted that fundraising without warm introductions is practically impossible.

Despite having more ways to connect with investors—such as LinkedIn, events, web forms, and more—than ever before, the overwhelming feedback from many founders is that it’s simply not enough. 

Even investors prefer that founders approach them via existing connections. In fact, 70% of VC partners still expect warm introductions and call it a preferred outreach method.

Many VCs view your ability to secure warm introductions as a proxy for your capabilities as a founder. Will you give up after submitting 50 website forms, or will you demonstrate the resourcefulness necessary for building meaningful connections? 

Essentially, potential investors see the fundraising exercise as a first test of how successful and creative you will be in hunting future talent and customers and navigating challenges as a founder.

So, is raising money without warm investor connections even possible?

The answer is that it’s complicated but still entirely possible with the right approach.

The underground playbook for securing VC meetings

At Waveup, I’ve worked with dozens of founders who successfully raised funding without traditional networks. I have seen firsthand many ways to connect to investors, even without being on a first-name basis (yet!).

Here's the fundraising playbook that actually works in today's environment—no warm introductions necessary.

1. The obvious mining of your "hidden" network

Your existing network is likely more valuable than you realize. For example, one founder I worked with recently mapped out their LinkedIn connections and discovered they were just two degrees away from partners at five target VC firms. The key isn't having direct connections—it's understanding how to activate multistep pathways.

Search for second- and third-degree connections who might know investors. Even a "weak" connection can provide an introduction that gets your foot in the door.

2. The founder-to-founder backdoor

The founder-to-founder backdoor is perhaps the most underutilized pathway to investor meetings. I know of a founder who secured three investor meetings in just one week by contacting founders who had raised capital in adjacent spaces. 

Why does this work? Founders who've recently raised funding understand your challenges and often want to pay it forward. Plus, they have fresh, relevant connections to investors and are often very open to making good introductions. 

3. The indirect network effect

One of the most successful cold-to-warm conversion strategies I've seen came from a founder who landed a $5M health-tech seed round through what I call the "indirect network effect." Instead of targeting VCs directly, they built relationships with industry influencers and figures who know pretty much everyone in the field. This particular founder, while raising, reached out to:

• Industry journalists and content creators
• Podcast hosts in their industry vertical
• Professional athletes (who were also angel investors)
• Sales and product leaders at health-related companies
• Partnership executives at Fortune 500 companies
• Well-known wellness coaches

In fact, the full list was well over 200 people. While the list seemed random, it proved invaluable. In a few months of this fundraising exercise, not only did the founder build valuable industry connections, secure first beta clients, and build a marketing profile, but these connections also led to organic introductions to investors who were already primed to be interested in their space. Win-win-win.

4. The art of high-converting cold outreach

Despite what you might have heard, cold outreach can work if done strategically. One startup we worked with secured over 70 investor meetings through cold outreach alone. 

Here's their exact playbook:

1. Hyper-targeted research: They identified funds actively investing in their sector and found the specific partner or associate focusing on their vertical (not just any random person or partner at this fund).
2. Multilevel approach: Instead of only targeting managing partners, they engaged with associates and principals who were often more responsive and could champion deals internally.
3. Numbers-first messaging: Their outreach led with key metrics and growth rates, not company history or product features. Remember that shorter, more impactful emails convert better.
4. Strategic timing: They often avoided sending the deck first to gauge interest and engagement based on the email. If engagement was low, they adjusted the email copy before they saw good response rates and then shared the deck. They used tools like DocSend to track when investors viewed their deck and timed follow-ups accordingly. They packed as many meetings as possible in a month to leverage network effects and round timing for successful closure.
5. Activating the investor-to-investor backdoor: Whether the startup received a positive or negative response, the founders always asked the investors for recommendations on who to speak to. Over 20% of these requests resulted in additional introductions. One investor who passed actually ended up introducing more than 20 other funds.

One helpful thing to remember while fundraising via cold outreach is that you will need more meetings than expected. Investors don’t know you and your team, so they will feel more cautious about giving money—especially if the traction or numbers are not there yet.

In 2024, our seed client would need an average of around 100 conversations to close a round without a warm network. While some startups closed the round in weeks, for many, the average time was 3-6 months. Some clients needed over 12 months to close the round. Account for those numbers early on and make sure the math of the cold outreach works in your favor. 

One last not-so-secret to fundraising successfully

While it seems counterintuitive, the best time to build investor relationships is when you're not fundraising. Investors like to invest in lines, not dots. They want to get to know you and assess your ability to execute before you ask for money. 

One good fundraising strategy is to engage with investors early to learn where and how they invest and what metrics they expect. Then, based on their responses, optimize future pitches. Another successful strategy is to share monthly progress via an investor newsletter or LinkedIn updates. Eventually, fundraising can become easier as companies start receiving meeting requests from investors rather than the other way around.

Finally, nothing attracts investor interest like strong traction. The founders who succeeded with cold outreach had something in common: They weren't just skilled networkers; they were building impressive businesses. Don’t spend a year trying to fundraise; use that time wisely to talk to customers, secure revenue growth, and build an impressive business. The moment you see great traction, investors will come. 

Most importantly, even if at times it seems you are not making progress at all, don’t get discouraged. The fundraising landscape is changing. While warm intros still matter, they're no longer the only path to funding. With the right combination of traction, storytelling, and strategic networking, you can build the relationships needed to fund your vision—even if you're starting from scratch.

Send DataSend DataSend DataSend DataSend DataSend Data