How To Cold Email Investors: Guide To Getting Funded

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Originally Posted On: https://emailgrowthhacks.com/pages/how-to-cold-email-investors-guide-to-funding

Entrepreneurs often go through a familiar journey. They devise an innovative idea, create a minimum viable product (MVP) or prototype, garner some traction, and then seek to expand their business. This scaling process is usually capital-intensive, hence the need for investors who, in exchange for part of the company, provide the essential funding for expansion.

Fundraising can be a sticking point for many founders, often due to limited connections, lack of understanding about where to begin, or knowledge of the documents needed to secure investment. However, at Email Growth Hacks, we’re here to address these challenges. Together, we have raised over $5m from cold emailing investors. Just like you, we began without connections and had to build them. Through cold emailing, we were able to streamline our investor outreach. This guide, curated by founders for founders, will simplify the process and help you acquire the necessary capital to realize your vision.

GROWTH HACK: AVOID SENDING MASS EMAILS TO INVESTORS. IT SHOULD BE A PERSONALIZED AND INDIVIDUALIZED EFFORT. MASS EMAILING CAN GET YOU BLACKLISTED.

Subject Lines:

Your email subject line should correspond to the type of investor you’re targeting. If your target is angel investors, get creative and resonate with them. Engage their interest with a subject line that shows value. On the other hand, for institutional investors, simplicity is key. They receive countless pitches daily, so avoid wasting their time. Given this basic understanding of investor categories, let’s discuss creating impactful subject lines.

Accredited Angel, Seed, and Seed+ Investors Subject Line Break Down

Part 1

Part 1: The email needs to be your company name. Why?

• They need to see who your company is. Angel investors see the subject line and will google the company name. Further, angel investors will understand some parts of your business by the name of it. Which will intrigue them.
• Example: Good Hooman(Dog Company)- Gftd (Gift giving app)- Sumbird (online math tutor) etc…

Part 2

Needs to be about the product or company

Early investors invest in a space they know, a mission they can relate to, or a product that solves a need. Keep it short and sweet.

Examples: 

• Goodhooman- Fur-thering the way dogs play or innovative dog toys or sustainable dog clothes
• Gftd- Gifting Made Easy or Taking the Guesswork out of Gifting or Unique Gifting App
• Sumbird- Improving Kids Math Skills or Virtual Math Tutor or Saas educational instructor

Part 3

Indicate what you’re seeking. State clearly that you’re after an investment. This filters out disinterested parties and helps you get to the point.

A huge part of raising money is getting to a quick no. The quicker you get a no, the closer you are to a yes. Maybe’s are purgatory for founders.

Example

• Seeking Angel Investment
• Investment Proposal

Full Email Subject Line: {Company Name} – {About the Company} – {Ask}

Examples: 

• GoodHooman- Fur-thering the way dogs play- Investment Proposal

• GoodHooman- Innovative dog toys- Seeks Investment

• Goodhooman- Sustainable dog clothes- Bird dogs For Investors

• Gftd- Takes the guesswork out of gifting- Bow-Wrapped Investment Proposal

• Gftd- Gifting made easy- Searches for Investor

• Gftd- Unique gifting app- Presents New Investment Round

• Sumbird + Improving Kids Math Skills = Investment Proposal

• Sumbird = Virtual Math Tutor – Investor

• Sumbird- Saas Educational Instructor- Seeks Additional Investors

Takeaways:

1. Keep Subject Lines under <75 Characters
2. Keep Subject Lines short and sweet
3. Be creative with the language and structure. Sumbird- we used equations and math-based puns.
4. A/B tests different subject lines, and the winning subject line should have the highest Open Rate.

For more email subject lines- download this PDF of 100

Institutional Investor Email Subject

3 Parts To Subject Line

• Compay Name

  Begin with the company name for branding reasons.

• Industry

  State the industry your business operates in. This demonstrates due diligence and ensures you aren’t sending mass emails.

• Funding Round

  Specify the funding round you’re raising. For instance, “Raising First Round of Institutional capital” or “Investment proposal for seed round”.

Full Examples:

1. GoodHooman- CPG Pet Company- Seed Round Prosopal
2. GoodHooman- Pet Industry- Raising First Round Of Institutional Capital
3. Gftd- Market Place App- Seed Round
4. Gftd- Commerce App- Series A Pitch
5. Gftd- App- Seed Round Submission

Content Of Email

Introduction

Keep the introduction concise. Investors want to know who you are, your role

Example:
I am AJ Stoneworth, the Founder of Gftd

• Link your name to your LinkedIn Profile
• Link your business name to your Website

About

Company + Product

Example:

• Gftd is redefining the gifting industry through product recommendations based on consumers buying history that is shareable with all your friends

One show of subject mastery is taking a complex subject and making it simple.

Email Body- Traction in Qualitative and Quantitative data.

Highlight the company’s growth, partnerships, idea, or proof of concept.

Qualitative

• Gftd launched 2 months ago with rapid user growth and minimal customer churn with a feature in TechCrunch.
• Gftd launched 1 year ago with soaring consumer growth while producing three different MRR streams.
• In the last 3 years, Gftd went from an idea to an app used worldwide with profitable revenue

Quantitative

You need to show tractions with hard numbers. This is sometimes hard for newer companies, but you’re the founder asking for money. You have to find these positive numbers. Why would someone else put money into your venture if you can’t?

Depending on your industry, you will change the metrics needed for investors’ attention. Find a nice combo between the data sets that shows your company is worth investing in. You’re selling yourself and your business!

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Email Conclusion- The Ask

Funding Round Details

Give specifics of your funding round:

1. How much you’re raising
2. Terms of the round
3. If you have any of the round raised

Here is where research, pumping up investor are used

Ask Without Asking

• With your investment of proven track record of success, demonstrated in Companies 1, 2, and 3 (make sure they are similar to your company industry) Gftd can be the next growth company in your portfolio.
• With your investment, Gftd can go from great to an industry disrupter and leader.

Link To Deck

Ideally, you want your deck to be downloadable and not attached. Attachments go to Junk a lot easier. If that is not possible, attach your deck.

Example:

• Here is a link to our deck for more information about Gftd
• I have attached our pitch deck for a deeper dive into Gftd

Give A Thanks

Finally, send them parting words about connecting in the future

• Thank you for taking the time to read over my pitch, I look forward to connecting
• Thank you for reading my email, Please let me know if you would like to discuss Gftd further.

Final Email

Putting it all together

Avoid These Mistakes

Asking For an NDA

Never Ask them to sign an NDA before sending a deck. Investors are going to steal your idea. They are too busy finding their next investment, raising their next round, and helping their current portfolio companies grow. They do not have time to steal from you. Furthermore, investing is all about trust. If you require an NDA before providing information, you say “I do not trust you.” This is a collaborative process.

Here Is My Calendly

Ending the email with Here Is My Calendly; please select the best time. You are asking the investor to take extra steps. Have them check their calendar, go back to your email, reopen it, click the link, and select a time that matches up. That is not how raising money works. You are asking them for money. You’re on their time, not the other way around. If you want to be successful in raising, you move things around to accommodate their schedule.

How To Find Investors

Many founders are lost when it comes to finding investors. Here is a list of sites and ideas to begin connecting with investors.

1. Google local startup events in your area. Show up, talk to people, tell them what you’re doing and get their information. You may not find investors immediately, but you will find others who have raised capital. You want to be in their networks. They will provide warm intros.
2. Start pitching at live events. It doesn’t matter what type of event it is, go. The more you pitch, the more questions you will get asked and the better you will be at combating “why this won’t work” questions and statements.
3. Crunchbase. Crunchbase is the best for finding investor information in your industry.
4. F6S. F6S is the best platform for startup accelerators
5. Build Your Own List– This will take a lot of time. Start on LinkedIn and search for your industry+ investor or Angel investor. You can also use your stage of investing as a search query. Do direct outreach or get an email scrapper.
6. Investor Lists. If you’re going to buy lists, email them out individually for email validation. Do not mass email the list. Take the same approach as mentioned in the article.