Pre-seed and seed sound similar, but investors judge them very differently. Pitching a seed fund with a pre-seed story, or the other way round, is one of the most common reasons founders hear "too early".
Pre-seed
- Typical round: $250K to $1.5M, often on a SAFE.
- Who invests: angels, angel syndicates, pre-seed funds and accelerators.
- What they back: the team and the insight. Early signals help: a waitlist, design partners, letters of intent, a working prototype.
- What to show: why this problem, why you, why now, and what you will prove with the money.
Seed
- Typical round: $1.5M to $4M, priced or on a SAFE.
- Who invests: seed VCs, often with one lead and several followers, plus angels.
- What they back: early traction and a credible path to Series A. Revenue, usage growth, retention and a clear go-to-market.
- What to show: the numbers, the repeatable motion, and the 18 to 24 months of milestones the round funds.
Angel rounds
An angel round is a set of individual investors, usually writing $10K to $100K each. It can be your whole pre-seed or sit alongside a fund. Angels decide quickly and personally, so a short, warm email works well.
How to tell which one you are raising
Ask yourself: could you show a seed investor the metrics they need for a Series A plan? If not yet, raise pre-seed and target investors who say so publicly. Use pre-seed investor lists and seed investor lists to find funds that match.
Finding the right investors fast
In EasyFundraise you can filter the investor database by stage, sector, cheque size and geography, and every profile shows whether the investor leads rounds. Try it free.