Find pre-seed investors actively deploying now
Pick your sector and city to see which pre-seed VC funds fit — ranked by their most recent SEC Form D filing or tracked deal, from 146 pre-seed funds tracked through SEC Form D filings and news signals.
How it works
- Choose your sector and city. Sectors are listed only where DryPowder has enough pre-seed funds to search.
- See the top 3 funds. Funds with the most recent Form D filing or tracked deal come first.
- Run an AI fund match. Free, with no account: see your top match and how many funds fit. The full ranked list is on a paid plan.
What pre-seed investors look for
Pre-seed is the earliest institutional stage — before a product is fully built or revenue is demonstrated. Check sizes typically range from $150K to $1.5M, often from micro-funds, scouts, or angel syndicates. Investors at this stage are backing founder-market fit: deep domain expertise, a clear problem worth solving, and early evidence of customer demand.
Pre-seed rounds often close faster than seed (4–8 weeks) because they involve smaller checks and simpler terms. A SAFE or convertible note is the most common instrument. Focus your outreach on funds with under $50M AUM that specialize in your sector — larger funds rarely lead at this stage.
Why deployment timing matters at pre-seed
A fund between vehicles can love your pitch and still not write a check. A recent Form D filing or fund close is the clearest public sign that a fund has fresh capital to deploy, so the finder puts those funds first. Each result links to the fund's public profile with its thesis and check size.
Frequently asked questions
How does the pre-seed investor finder work?
It searches the 146 pre-seed funds that have a public profile on DryPowder, filters them by the sector and city you choose, and ranks them by their most recent public signal: a SEC Form D filing or a tracked deal. You see the top three for free; a paid DryPowder plan runs the full fund match against your startup.
What does "actively deploying" mean?
The finder puts funds with the most recent dated public evidence of fresh capital or new checks first: a SEC Form D filing on EDGAR, which a fund files when it raises or has just closed capital, or a deal DryPowder has tracked. Each result shows those dates, and each fund page shows the last deal DryPowder has tracked for it. For seed funds with a Form D filing or news signal in the last 60 days, see the seed funds deploying now page.
How much do pre-seed investors typically invest?
Pre-seed check sizes typically range from $150K to $1.5M, often from micro-funds, scouts, or angel syndicates. Each DryPowder fund profile shows that fund's own check size range where it is known.
Is the pre-seed investor finder free?
Yes. The finder and every public fund profile are free. Without an account, an AI fund match shows your top match and how many funds matched; the full ranked list needs a plan. Partner contact details are part of DryPowder's paid plans: Starter at $39/month, Signal at $99/month, and Raise at $199/month, with annual pricing available.
Where does DryPowder's investor data come from?
DryPowder tracks 550+ venture funds, built from SEC Form D filings and news signals and enriched with each fund's stated thesis, stages, sectors, and check sizes. Only funds that pass DryPowder's data-quality bar get a public profile and appear in this tool.
Related tools
- AI fund matching — rank every fund by fit with your startup
- All pre-seed investors — the full pre-seed list by sector and city
- Seed funds deploying now — funds with a dated Form D or news signal in the last 60 days
- Recent Form D filings — venture funds that just raised
- Connect to AI assistants — query DryPowder from Claude or ChatGPT