Find investors for a startup, by stage and check size
Turn a fundraise into a filtered list of real investors: who invests in your sector, at your stage, and the cheque size they actually write.
When to use
Use this when a founder asks how to find investors for a startup, needs a target list for a raise, or wants to know which investors back a specific sector and stage. Use it when the answer needs names and cheque sizes, not general fundraising advice.
Do not use it for company or funding lookups on a single startup; that is a company database job.
What it returns
Per investor: name, position, firmName, firmUrl, personUrl, headshotUrl, minInvestment, targetInvestment, maxInvestment (US dollars), investmentLocations, listMemberships, sourceListSlug, sourceListStage, sourceListVertical.
Prerequisites
The Actor
NFX Signal Investor API
Run it with the Apify CLI
Step 1, discover which lists exist. There are 349 across 103 sectors and four stages.
apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \
--input '{"mode":"lists","maxItems":50}' \
--json \
--user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-find-investors-for-startup \
2>/dev/null
Step 2, pull investors from the lists that match the raise.
apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \
--input '{"mode":"investors","listSlugs":["saas-seed"],"maxItems":100,"pageSize":50}' \
--json \
--user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-find-investors-for-startup \
2>/dev/null
Run it from Claude (MCP)
Point an MCP client at https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api and ask it to run the NFX Signal Investor API in investors mode with the list slugs you want.
Workflow
- Ask for the sector, the stage, and the cheque size the founder is raising.
- Run
mode: "lists" and pick the slugs whose vertical and stage match. Slug shape is <sector>-<stage>, for example fintech-seed, ai-seed, saas-seed, fintech-pre-seed.
- Run
mode: "investors" on those slugs with a small maxItems first.
- Sort by
targetInvestment and drop investors whose range does not cover the round.
- Present name, firm, position, cheque range, and
personUrl so the founder can research each one.
- Offer to widen by adding an adjacent stage list, or narrow by
investmentLocations.
Inputs
| Field |
Type |
Default |
Notes |
mode |
string |
investors |
investors, firms, or lists |
listSlugs |
array |
none |
Required for investors. Discover with lists mode. |
maxItems |
integer |
0 |
0 means no limit. Keep it small while exploring. |
pageSize |
integer |
50 |
Investors requested per page |
stage |
string |
none |
lists mode filter: pre_seed, seed, series_a, series_b |
enrichWithLinkedIn |
boolean |
false |
Adds firmographics per firm, costs more |
enrichWithCrunchbase |
boolean |
false |
Adds funding data per firm, costs more |
Cost guardrails
Billing is per delivered row. Always set maxItems while exploring; a single list can hold 8,000 investors. Leave both enrichment toggles off unless firm-level detail is genuinely needed, because they bill per firm and add several minutes.
Honest limits
- Not every investor publishes a cheque range, so those fields come back empty rather than estimated.
- Coverage is what NFX publishes publicly. It is investor-centric, so it is not a substitute for a company funding database.
- Geography is modeled as a sector-style list (for example
san-francisco-bay-area), not as a separate location filter on investors.
Troubleshooting
- No rows: the slug is wrong. Run
mode: "lists" and copy the exact slug value.
- A run feels slow: enrichment is on. Turn it off, or cut
maxItems.
- Duplicate people across lists: rows are deduplicated per run, so an investor on several lists appears once with
listMemberships showing the rest.
Related
1---2name: apify-find-investors-for-startup3description: Build a targeted investor list for a fundraise. Use this when someone asks how to find investors for a startup, needs pre seed or seed or Series A investors, wants investors filtered by sector and stage, or asks which investors write a given check size. Returns venture investors with their name, role, firm, min and target and max check size in US dollars, investment locations, and profile links, pulled from public Signal by NFX investor lists across 103 sectors and four stages. Trigger phrases include how to find investors, find investors for my startup, investor list for fundraising, pre seed investors, seed investors, Series A investors, who invests in my sector, investor check size, and build a target investor list.4license: MIT5---67# Find investors for a startup, by stage and check size89Turn a fundraise into a filtered list of real investors: who invests in your sector, at your stage, and the cheque size they actually write.1011## When to use1213Use this when a founder asks how to find investors for a startup, needs a target list for a raise, or wants to know which investors back a specific sector and stage. Use it when the answer needs names and cheque sizes, not general fundraising advice.1415Do not use it for company or funding lookups on a single startup; that is a company database job.1617## What it returns1819Per investor: `name`, `position`, `firmName`, `firmUrl`, `personUrl`, `headshotUrl`, `minInvestment`, `targetInvestment`, `maxInvestment` (US dollars), `investmentLocations`, `listMemberships`, `sourceListSlug`, `sourceListStage`, `sourceListVertical`.2021## Prerequisites2223- An Apify account and API token. Free account: https://apify.com?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=skillrepo24- The Apify CLI, authenticated: `apify login`2526## The Actor2728[NFX Signal Investor API](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=skillrepo)2930## Run it with the Apify CLI3132Step 1, discover which lists exist. There are 349 across 103 sectors and four stages.3334```bash35apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \36 --input '{"mode":"lists","maxItems":50}' \37 --json \38 --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-find-investors-for-startup \39 2>/dev/null40```4142Step 2, pull investors from the lists that match the raise.4344```bash45apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \46 --input '{"mode":"investors","listSlugs":["saas-seed"],"maxItems":100,"pageSize":50}' \47 --json \48 --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-find-investors-for-startup \49 2>/dev/null50```5152## Run it from Claude (MCP)5354Point an MCP client at `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api` and ask it to run the NFX Signal Investor API in `investors` mode with the list slugs you want.5556## Workflow57581. Ask for the sector, the stage, and the cheque size the founder is raising.592. Run `mode: "lists"` and pick the slugs whose `vertical` and `stage` match. Slug shape is `<sector>-<stage>`, for example `fintech-seed`, `ai-seed`, `saas-seed`, `fintech-pre-seed`.603. Run `mode: "investors"` on those slugs with a small `maxItems` first.614. Sort by `targetInvestment` and drop investors whose range does not cover the round.625. Present name, firm, position, cheque range, and `personUrl` so the founder can research each one.636. Offer to widen by adding an adjacent stage list, or narrow by `investmentLocations`.6465## Inputs6667| Field | Type | Default | Notes |68|---|---|---|---|69| `mode` | string | `investors` | `investors`, `firms`, or `lists` |70| `listSlugs` | array | none | Required for `investors`. Discover with `lists` mode. |71| `maxItems` | integer | `0` | 0 means no limit. Keep it small while exploring. |72| `pageSize` | integer | `50` | Investors requested per page |73| `stage` | string | none | `lists` mode filter: `pre_seed`, `seed`, `series_a`, `series_b` |74| `enrichWithLinkedIn` | boolean | `false` | Adds firmographics per firm, costs more |75| `enrichWithCrunchbase` | boolean | `false` | Adds funding data per firm, costs more |7677## Cost guardrails7879Billing is per delivered row. Always set `maxItems` while exploring; a single list can hold 8,000 investors. Leave both enrichment toggles off unless firm-level detail is genuinely needed, because they bill per firm and add several minutes.8081## Honest limits8283- Not every investor publishes a cheque range, so those fields come back empty rather than estimated.84- Coverage is what NFX publishes publicly. It is investor-centric, so it is not a substitute for a company funding database.85- Geography is modeled as a sector-style list (for example `san-francisco-bay-area`), not as a separate location filter on investors.8687## Troubleshooting8889- No rows: the slug is wrong. Run `mode: "lists"` and copy the exact `slug` value.90- A run feels slow: enrichment is on. Turn it off, or cut `maxItems`.91- Duplicate people across lists: rows are deduplicated per run, so an investor on several lists appears once with `listMemberships` showing the rest.9293## Related9495- [NFX Signal Investor API](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=skillrepo)96- Python and MCP examples: https://github.com/johnisanerd/Apify-NFX-Signal-Investor-API
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