A cold email to investors works when the partner can tell, in the first two lines, why you wrote to them and not to everyone. Then one plain sentence on what you do, your single strongest piece of evidence, and a small ask. That is the whole email. It should take under a minute to read.
What changes between pre-seed, seed and Series A is not the shape. It is the proof and the ask. Below are three templates, one per stage, with the reasoning behind each line.
When I worked in venture capital in London, I read founder emails by the hundred. The ones that got forwarded to a partner were rarely the cleverest. They were the ones where I could see, before the end of the second line, that the founder knew who we were.
Who this is for
Founders raising pre-seed, seed or Series A who are about to write to investors they have never met. You should already have a target list with a reason for each investor. If you do not, build that first: the "why you" line in every template below comes straight from it.
If you have a warm path to an investor, use it. At Series A especially, an introduction from an existing backer beats any cold email. Cold email is for the investors you cannot reach any other way, which for most first-time founders is most of them.
What most templates get wrong
Search for a cold email template and you get one email for every stage, written with gaps for your name and product. Two problems.
First, a pre-seed investor and a Series A partner are asking different questions. One wants to know whether this team can find something real. The other wants to know whether this is a company that can lead a market, and whether they should be the one to lead the round. The same email cannot answer both.
Second, partners have seen the popular templates. An email that follows a well-known blog post line for line reads like it. Use the structure below. Write every word yourself.
The five lines
Every cold email to an investor needs five things, in this order.
- Why them. One sentence that could only be sent to this person. A deal they led, a view they have written about, a portfolio company that sells to your buyer. This is the line that gets the rest read.
- What you do. One plain sentence: who you sell to, and the job you do for them. No adjectives doing the work of facts.
- Proof. Your single strongest piece of evidence, with a number and a time frame where you have one. Pick one. Three weaker facts dilute the strong one.
- The round. How much, what stage, and, if it is true and helps, who is already in.
- The ask. One small thing. A call, or permission to send the deck. Not "any feedback". Not an in-person meeting in the first email.
Sign it with your name, your role and one link. Send it from your own company address, with your name in it, from your own inbox.
Three templates, one per stage
The text in curly brackets is yours to fill. If you cannot fill a field with something specific, the email is not ready to send.
Pre-seed
Subject: {Company}: {what it does, in under eight words}. Raising pre-seed
Hi {first name},
I am writing because you backed {portfolio company} at pre-seed, and it sells to {the same buyer} we do.
{Company} helps {specific buyer} {do one job}. Today they do it with {the current workaround}.
Where we are: {one piece of evidence, e.g. a pilot, a waitlist with a number, a design partner, a technical milestone}.
We are raising {amount} at pre-seed. Could I send you the deck?
{Your name}
{Role}, {Company} · {one link}
At pre-seed the proof is usually about the team and the insight, not the numbers. One concrete sign that real buyers care beats a market size slide.
Seed
Subject: {Company}: {what it does}. {One proof point}. Raising seed
Hi {first name},
You led the seed round in {portfolio company}, and your post on {topic} describes the problem we work on.
{Company} helps {specific buyer} {do one job}.
Since {month}, {proof with a number and a time frame, e.g. revenue, paying customers, usage}.
We are raising {amount}. {Who is already in, only if true and useful.} Would a 20-minute call in the next two weeks suit you?
{Your name}
{Role}, {Company} · {one link}
At seed, the investor wants to see that the thing is starting to work. Put the number in the subject line if it is strong enough to stand on its own.
Series A
Subject: {Company}: {revenue figure} {growth over a stated period}. Series A, looking for a lead
Hi {first name},
You led {portfolio company}'s Series A, which sells to {the same buyer} in {a different category}. I am writing to you rather than the firm's general inbox for that reason.
{Company} helps {specific buyer} {do one job}.
{Revenue, growth over a stated period, and one quality signal such as retention or a named type of customer.}
We are raising {amount} and are looking for a lead. {Existing investors} are participating. We plan to close by {month}.
Could we find 30 minutes in the next two weeks?
{Your name}
{Role}, {Company} · {one link}
At Series A you are asking one partner to sponsor you inside their firm. Give them the numbers they would need to make that case, and say plainly that you want a lead. If you have an existing investor who knows the partner, ask them for the introduction before you send this. How Series A outreach works with RaiseRunner covers choosing the partner in more detail.
What changes by stage
| Stage | What the reader needs to believe | Your proof line | The ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | This team understands a real problem and can build the answer | A pilot, a design partner, a waitlist with a number, a technical milestone | Permission to send the deck |
| Seed | It is starting to work and money will speed it up | Early revenue or usage, with a number and a time frame | A 20-minute call |
| Series A | This can be a large company, and this partner should lead the round | Revenue, growth over a stated period, one quality signal, who is already in | A 30-minute call with the partner, and a clear statement that you want a lead |
A worked example (illustrative)
This example is made up to show the method. The company ("Company C"), fund, partner, founder and numbers are not real.
A founder is raising a seed round for software that plans staff rotas for independent care homes. Here is their first draft to "Partner B" at "Fund A":
Subject: Quick question
Hi,
I hope this finds you well. My name is Alex and I'm the founder of Company C.
We are disrupting workforce management in the care sector using AI.
The care market is worth billions and is growing fast. I started Company C after my mother worked in a care home for 20 years and...
Four lines in, the partner still does not know why they got it, who buys it or whether anyone does. Here is the rewrite, built from one row of the founder's target list:
Subject: Company C: rota planning for care homes. 31 paying homes. Raising seed
Hi Partner B,
You led the seed round in a scheduling company for dental practices.
We sell to the same kind of buyer: small, owner-run and regulated.
Company C plans staff rotas for independent care homes, so managers stop building them by hand each week.
Since March, 31 homes have started paying, all from referrals.
We are raising a seed round. Would a 20-minute call in the next two weeks suit you?
Alex
Founder, Company C · companyc.example
Same founder, same company. The rewrite is not much longer, but every line can be checked and the first sentence tells the partner it was written for them.
The follow-ups
Silence after one email is not a no. It usually means the email was missed or put aside. Send two follow-ups, then stop.
First follow-up, about a week later, in the same thread:
Hi {first name}, one update since my note: {one new fact}.
Happy to send the deck if useful.
Second follow-up, about a week after that, in the same thread:
Hi {first name}, last note from me on this round. If the timing or fit is wrong, a one-line reply saying so is genuinely helpful.
If there is someone better placed at {firm} or elsewhere, I would be grateful for the name.
Each follow-up needs one new piece of information or a clear exit. "Just bumping this" gives the reader no reason to reply now rather than later. And when an investor does reply, even with a no, answer it. A polite pass is often a useful name.
What to link and what to attach
One link in the signature is enough for a first email: your website, or a short product page.
On the deck, investors disagree. Some want it attached, some prefer a link, many would rather be asked. That is why the pre-seed template offers to send it. If you do send it, use a view-only link you can update, or a PDF that opens on a phone and stays under a few megabytes.
Where cold emails go wrong
- The life story. How you came up with the idea can wait for the meeting. In the email it pushes the proof below the fold.
- A subject that says nothing. "Quick question" and "Intro" get opened last, if at all. The subject should tell the partner what the company is and what stage it is at.
- Three partners at the same firm. Pick one. Emailing several at once looks like a mail merge, and partners talk to each other.
- Template giveaways.
Hi {first name}left in the greeting, a firm name that does not match the address, a "why you" line that would fit any fund. One of these and the rest of the email does not matter. - Asking for too much. A meeting in person, feedback on the deck, introductions to other investors and a call, all in one email. Ask for one thing.
- Following up after two days. Partners are not ignoring you after 48 hours. Give it a week.
- Cold at Series A when a warm path exists. If one of your angels knows the partner, a cold email first can make the later introduction awkward. Ask for the introduction.
- Sending to the whole list at once. Send in batches of ten or so. If the first batch gets no replies, fix the email before you send the next.
- Promising what you cannot show. If the number is a forecast, say so. Partners check, and the second email they get from you will be read with that in mind.
Worth your time
How To Cold Email Investors, Michael Seibel, Y Combinator (YouTube, 2019). A short talk from YC's CEO at the time, on what partners look for in a cold email and the mistakes that sink one, including sending follow-ups too quickly and asking for an in-person meeting up front. The chapter list is on YC's blog if you want to skip to a point.
A next step
Take your top five investors and write the "why them" line for each before you write anything else. If you cannot write it for one, they are not ready for an email yet.
If you would rather not run the outreach yourself, see how RaiseRunner works: we research the investors, write personal emails in your voice and send them, with the follow-ups, from your own inbox. You confirm the facts, approve week one before anything goes out, answer real investor questions and take the meetings.