OpenVC

What is OpenVC

OpenVC is a fundraising platform designed to connect startup founders with potential investors. Its main purpose is to make the process of raising capital more transparent, efficient, and accessible, especially for early-stage companies. The platform provides a large, searchable database of verified investors, along with a suite of tools to manage the entire fundraising workflow. Founders can find suitable investors, send their pitch decks, track engagement, and manage communications all in one place. The company was founded by Stéphane Nasser and Tom Wilson to help founders overcome the traditional barriers of fundraising. OpenVC operates as a bootstrapped, community-driven platform, emphasizing its commitment to providing core services for free.

OpenVC Features

• Robust Investor Database: Access a list of over 6,000 verified investors. You can filter them by check size, investment stage, industry, geography, and lead preferences to find the best match for your startup.
• Direct Outreach: Send your pitch deck to investors directly through the platform. This method reports a high reply rate, making cold outreach more effective.
• Intro Finder: Connect your email account and the tool automatically scans your network to identify mutual connections who can introduce you to your target investors.
• Deck Tracking & Analytics: Get detailed insights on how investors interact with your pitch deck. Track who viewed it, when they viewed it, and how much time they spent on each slide.
• Fundraising CRM: A built-in Customer Relationship Management system to organize your fundraising efforts. Centralize your investor pipeline, track conversations, and manage follow-ups.
• Automatic Follow-Ups: The system can automatically send follow-up emails to investors you have contacted, saving you time and ensuring persistence.
• AI-Powered Emails: Use artificial intelligence to help personalize your outreach emails for each investor, increasing the chances of getting a positive response.
• Team Collaboration: Invite co-founders and team members to collaborate on the fundraising process within the platform.
• Educational Resources: Access playbooks, checklists, and a video masterclass to learn the best practices for fundraising, from creating a pitch deck to understanding valuations.

OpenVC Pricing Plans

OpenVC offers two main tiers for its users. The first is a comprehensive Free plan that provides access to the majority of the platform's core features. This plan is designed for all founders and includes unlimited investor searches, deck sharing, analytics, and CRM functionalities. The second tier is the Premium plan, which is a paid subscription. This plan is aimed at founders who want to accelerate their fundraising process. It includes advanced features such as a higher daily outreach limit, more detailed investor filters, the intro finder tool, and access to exclusive partner discounts and in-depth educational content like the fundraising masterclass.

OpenVC Free Plan

OpenVC offers a very generous "Free Forever" plan. This plan is not a trial and provides substantial value to founders. It includes unlimited searching of the investor database, unlimited pitch deck sharing, complete access to deck analytics, a fully functional fundraising CRM, and the ability to add unlimited team members. Additionally, free users get access to automatic follow-ups, fundraising webinars, and a fundability test. The company states that 90% of its features are available for free.

How to use OpenVC

1. Sign Up: Create a free account on the OpenVC website. The initial setup is quick.
2. Complete Onboarding: Follow the onboarding checklist to set up your startup's profile and upload your pitch deck. This ensures you are ready to start reaching out to investors.
3. Build an Investor List: Use the investor database and its powerful filters (industry, stage, check size) to search for investors who are a good fit for your company. Add them to your shortlist.
4. Start Outreach: Begin sending your pitch deck to the shortlisted investors directly through the platform. You can use the AI-powered email feature to customize your message.
5. Track Progress: Use the dashboard and CRM to monitor your outreach activities. Check the deck analytics to see which investors are engaging with your materials.
6. Manage Follow-ups: Let the platform handle automatic follow-ups or manage them manually through the CRM to maintain momentum in your conversations.
7. Find Intros: If you upgrade to Premium, connect your email to use the Intro Finder to discover warm introduction opportunities within your network.

Pros and Cons of OpenVC

Pros:

• Extensive Free Plan: The core functionality is available for free, making it highly accessible for early-stage startups with limited budgets.
• Large, Verified Database: Provides access to thousands of active investors, saving founders time on research.
• Integrated Toolset: Combines investor discovery, outreach, CRM, and analytics in a single platform.
• Actionable Analytics: Deck tracking provides valuable feedback on investor interest.
• Founder-Friendly Resources: Offers educational content to guide founders through the complex fundraising process.

Cons:

• Outreach Limits on Free Plan: While powerful, the free plan has limits on the number of direct outreaches you can do per day.
• Focus on Early Stage: The platform is most beneficial for pre-seed, seed, and Series A startups. It may be less suitable for later-stage companies.
• Success is Not Guaranteed: The platform is a tool; success still heavily depends on the quality of the startup, the pitch, and market conditions.

OpenVC integrations

OpenVC primarily functions as a standalone platform and does not offer direct, API-based integrations with third-party applications like Salesforce, Slack, or other CRMs. However, it supports data portability. Users can import their own data into the OpenVC CRM and also export data as a CSV file, allowing for manual integration with other tools and spreadsheets.

OpenVC Alternatives

• AngelList: A comprehensive platform for startups that includes fundraising, hiring, and investor syndicates. It has a larger ecosystem but can be more complex to navigate than OpenVC's focused toolset.
• Crunchbase: A leading database for information on private and public companies, investors, and funding rounds. It is more of a research tool, whereas OpenVC is an active fundraising management platform.
• FounderSuite: A dedicated set of tools for fundraising, including an investor CRM and reporting features. It is a strong competitor but may not have the same extensive free plan as OpenVC.
• DocSend: A tool for securely sharing documents and tracking engagement. While many founders use it for pitch decks, it lacks the investor discovery and CRM features that are integrated into OpenVC.

OpenVC API

OpenVC does not currently offer a public API for developers. The platform is designed as a self-contained web application, and there is no documentation available for programmatic access to its investor data or CRM features. Founders must use the web interface to access and manage their fundraising activities.

OpenVC Affiliate program

There is no public information available regarding an official affiliate or referral program for OpenVC. The platform's growth model appears to be focused on community engagement and word-of-mouth. For those interested in partnership opportunities, it is recommended to contact the OpenVC support team directly to inquire about potential collaboration or becoming a partner.