List VC firms by city or sector
Get the venture firms behind a market as a clean directory, then optionally enrich each one with firmographics and funding data.
When to use
Use this when the ask is about firms rather than people: a list of VC firms in a city, the firms active in a sector, or a directory to import into a CRM. Use the investor-level skill instead when the user needs named partners and cheque sizes.
What it returns
Per firm: firmName, firmSlug, firmUrl, sourceListSlug, sourceListStage, sourceListVertical. With enrichment on: linkedinIndustry, linkedinSize, linkedinFollowers, linkedinUrl, crunchbaseRank, crunchbaseEmployees, crunchbaseStatus, crunchbaseUrl.
Prerequisites
The Actor
NFX Signal Investor API
Run it with the Apify CLI
Geographic directory, for example the San Francisco Bay Area:
apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \
--input '{"mode":"firms","listSlugs":["san-francisco-bay-area"]}' \
--json \
--user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-list-vc-firms-by-city \
2>/dev/null
Sector directory with firm enrichment:
apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \
--input '{"mode":"firms","listSlugs":["ai-seed"],"maxItems":50,"enrichWithCrunchbase":true}' \
--json \
--user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-list-vc-firms-by-city \
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 firms mode for the list you want.
Workflow
- Establish whether the user wants a place or a sector.
- For a place, use one of the 14 geographic lists:
san-francisco-bay-area, new-york-city, london, boston-new-england, los-angeles-southern-california, israel, midwest, raleigh-durham-southeast-us, austin, latam-latin-america, seattle-portland, canada, colorado-utah, british-columbia.
- For a sector, run
mode: "lists" and pick a <sector>-<stage> slug.
- Run
mode: "firms" on the chosen slugs.
- Offer enrichment only if the user needs size, industry, funding, or status per firm, and explain that it bills per firm.
- Hand back a table keyed on
firmName with firmUrl, ready to import.
Inputs
| Field |
Type |
Default |
Notes |
mode |
string |
investors |
Set to firms for this workflow |
listSlugs |
array |
none |
Required. One or more list slugs. |
maxItems |
integer |
0 |
0 means no limit |
enrichWithLinkedIn |
boolean |
false |
Industry, size, followers, page link |
enrichWithCrunchbase |
boolean |
false |
Funding, rank, employees, status |
Cost guardrails
Billing is per delivered row, and a large geography can return thousands of firms, so set maxItems on a first pass. Enrichment bills per unique firm and adds minutes; unresolved firms are never charged.
Honest limits
- The public firm record is a name and a profile link. Depth comes from the enrichment toggles.
- Name-based enrichment does not resolve every firm, so expect some rows without enrichment fields.
- Only the 14 geographies above exist as lists. Places outside them cannot be served.
Troubleshooting
- Empty result: check the slug against
mode: "lists" output.
- Missing enrichment on some rows: the firm name did not match a company record. The row still ships, and you are not billed for the miss.
- A run takes several minutes: that is enrichment doing name lookups. Turn it off for a fast directory.
Related
1---2name: apify-list-vc-firms-by-city3description: Export a list of VC firms for one city, region, or sector, ready for a CRM import. Use this when someone asks for a list of VC firms, venture capital firms in San Francisco or New York or London, which firms invest in a sector, or wants a firm directory rather than individual investors. Returns firm name, firm profile link, and the stage and sector context of the list it came from, with optional LinkedIn and Crunchbase enrichment adding industry, size, followers, funding, rank, and operating status per firm. Trigger phrases include list of vc firms, vc firms in san francisco, venture capital firms list, vc firm directory, firms investing in a sector, build a VC target list, and export VC firms to CSV.4license: MIT5---67# List VC firms by city or sector89Get the venture firms behind a market as a clean directory, then optionally enrich each one with firmographics and funding data.1011## When to use1213Use this when the ask is about firms rather than people: a list of VC firms in a city, the firms active in a sector, or a directory to import into a CRM. Use the investor-level skill instead when the user needs named partners and cheque sizes.1415## What it returns1617Per firm: `firmName`, `firmSlug`, `firmUrl`, `sourceListSlug`, `sourceListStage`, `sourceListVertical`. With enrichment on: `linkedinIndustry`, `linkedinSize`, `linkedinFollowers`, `linkedinUrl`, `crunchbaseRank`, `crunchbaseEmployees`, `crunchbaseStatus`, `crunchbaseUrl`.1819## Prerequisites2021- An Apify account and API token. Free account: https://apify.com?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=skillrepo22- The Apify CLI, authenticated: `apify login`2324## The Actor2526[NFX Signal Investor API](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=skillrepo)2728## Run it with the Apify CLI2930Geographic directory, for example the San Francisco Bay Area:3132```bash33apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \34 --input '{"mode":"firms","listSlugs":["san-francisco-bay-area"]}' \35 --json \36 --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-list-vc-firms-by-city \37 2>/dev/null38```3940Sector directory with firm enrichment:4142```bash43apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api \44 --input '{"mode":"firms","listSlugs":["ai-seed"],"maxItems":50,"enrichWithCrunchbase":true}' \45 --json \46 --user-agent apify-awesome-skills/apify-list-vc-firms-by-city \47 2>/dev/null48```4950## Run it from Claude (MCP)5152Point 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 `firms` mode for the list you want.5354## Workflow55561. Establish whether the user wants a place or a sector.572. For a place, use one of the 14 geographic lists: `san-francisco-bay-area`, `new-york-city`, `london`, `boston-new-england`, `los-angeles-southern-california`, `israel`, `midwest`, `raleigh-durham-southeast-us`, `austin`, `latam-latin-america`, `seattle-portland`, `canada`, `colorado-utah`, `british-columbia`.583. For a sector, run `mode: "lists"` and pick a `<sector>-<stage>` slug.594. Run `mode: "firms"` on the chosen slugs.605. Offer enrichment only if the user needs size, industry, funding, or status per firm, and explain that it bills per firm.616. Hand back a table keyed on `firmName` with `firmUrl`, ready to import.6263## Inputs6465| Field | Type | Default | Notes |66|---|---|---|---|67| `mode` | string | `investors` | Set to `firms` for this workflow |68| `listSlugs` | array | none | Required. One or more list slugs. |69| `maxItems` | integer | `0` | 0 means no limit |70| `enrichWithLinkedIn` | boolean | `false` | Industry, size, followers, page link |71| `enrichWithCrunchbase` | boolean | `false` | Funding, rank, employees, status |7273## Cost guardrails7475Billing is per delivered row, and a large geography can return thousands of firms, so set `maxItems` on a first pass. Enrichment bills per unique firm and adds minutes; unresolved firms are never charged.7677## Honest limits7879- The public firm record is a name and a profile link. Depth comes from the enrichment toggles.80- Name-based enrichment does not resolve every firm, so expect some rows without enrichment fields.81- Only the 14 geographies above exist as lists. Places outside them cannot be served.8283## Troubleshooting8485- Empty result: check the slug against `mode: "lists"` output.86- Missing enrichment on some rows: the firm name did not match a company record. The row still ships, and you are not billed for the miss.87- A run takes several minutes: that is enrichment doing name lookups. Turn it off for a fast directory.8889## Related9091- [NFX Signal Investor API](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api?fpr=9n7kx3&fp_sid=skillrepo)92- Python and MCP examples: https://github.com/johnisanerd/Apify-NFX-Signal-Investor-API
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