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Knowledge base

Finding investors

An overview of how we support founders through the fundraising process, clarify our role and explain the tools available to help founders to prepare for and reach investors.

Max Heal

Finding investors is founder-led. We’re not a broker or an investor match-making service. What we do is run your funding round end to end: we produce all the legal paperwork and guide you through the whole fundraising process. We also don’t arrange deals between companies and individual investors, because that is an FCA-regulated activity we aren’t authorised to carry out. We take no commission or kickbacks from any investor or partner we point you to.

We do help you get ready and reach investors by offering customers free access to these features:

  1. FounderCatalyst Verified is included with every funding round product and subscription. It covers four things:
    Pitch review: our partner The Startup Foundry gives you a free, investor-grade review of your pitch deck and financial model.
    Investor Letter: we prepare an investor letter, so you can apply for advance assurance before you have investors lined up.
    Company and founder checks: we run a series of checks on your company and its founders.
    Verified badge: Once you pass the checks, you receive the FounderCatalyst Verified badge, which you can share publicly to give investors confidence in your company.

  2. Boost, a branded page for your round showing your deck, deal terms and SEIS/EIS status. You can see who has viewed it, and investors can register interest or book a call directly.

  3. Sources of Funding guide: This is our practical guide to finding investors. It covers angel networks and private equity clubs across the UK, with their fees where we know them, and includes a shortlist of vetted brokers you can contact directly. It also lists investor search tools and databases such as ShipShape. You’ll also find platforms where you can list your company for investors to discover, including FundMyPitch, the Barclays Eagle Labs Demo Directory, Invest West and our own showcase page on Envestors. Beyond these, the guide covers equity crowdfunding and points you to Swoop for debt and grant options. Customers also get exclusive discounts, such as 20% off Republic Europe’s fundraising fee.

Examples of the FounderCatalyst network
Visibility comes mainly through our partners, rather than through a closed FounderCatalyst investor pool:

  • UKBAA DealShare: as UKBAA members, we can refer you to DealShare, UKBAA’s deal-sharing platform. It now runs on Dealum and is seen by UKBAA’s 590+ member organisations, including angel groups, early-stage VCs and family offices.
  • FundMyPitch: Setting it up takes about 20 minutes, and FundMyPitch charges a 5% success fee on money raised through its platform.
  • Envestors: we can list you for free on the FounderCatalyst showcase page of this FCA-regulated platform.
  • Brokers: we can refer you to brokers we know. They typically charge 5–8% on the funds they bring in.
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FundMyPitch logoFemale Founders Rise logoSyndicateRoom logoThe Startup Foundry logoAntler logoFuel Ventures logoSFC Capital logoRepublic Europe logoInnovate UK logoAngel Groups logoSETsquared Partnership logoEnvestors logoshipshape.vc logoDigital Catapult logoJumpstart logoColorintech logoFocused for Business logoAscension logoAngel Investors Bristol logoCrowdcube logoSwoop Funding logo