When it comes to finding investors, the most obvious and accessible ways are through your network and through social networks like Linkedin.
These two channels are not only important for finding potential investors but for engaging with them as well. There are a variety of sites that you can use to find potential angel investors, but the key is to target specific niches or industries so that it’s easier to find people who specialize in those fields.
For example, if you want to invest in software startups then there are many angel investors on LinkedIn targeting those companies specifically.
Angel investing has become a popular way for venture capital firms to get access to promising startups earlier than they would normally be able.
This article will help you find angel investors on LinkedIn, engage with them and get funding when the time comes.
Find Angel Investors on LinkedIn
From observations we have made so far, LinkedIn is one of the most underutilized social networks by founders when it comes to finding angels. There are dozens of groups on LinkedIn dedicated to finding and finding investors.
Moreover, we are sure that if you think hard, you can find several angel investors on LinkedIn particularly in your 1st or 2nd degree of LinkedIn networks.
You can target investors based on industries, regions or categories. For example, if you are looking for the best angel investors in technology, then you can select the “tech” category and then filter by location.
Then you can select a specific city like Silicon Valley or New York City or any other nearby location. This is one of the great advantages of LinkedIn as it has made it easy to search by profession, industry, country and city to find angels that are relevant to your startup.
Once you’ve selected your target, then you have a variety of options for finding angel investors on LinkedIn. You can search for investors based on their profile information or you can search for potential investors based on their connections.
Once you found them, you can request connection and briefly introduce yourself in a note and why you have requested to be connected.
Reach out to Angel Networks and Co-Investing Groups
Another way to find angel investors on LinkedIn is through angel communities and angel groups .
You can create your own group on LinkedIn and invite your existing connections. If you already have a group, then you can create a group focused on helping people find investors.
Once the group is created, then you can use it to invite members to post about investing. There are a large number of groups focused on investing, so you can create a group that focuses on the type of investors that you are looking for.
Once the group is created, you can then share articles related to investing or invite members to post about investing. You can also find angel networks by searching for networks that are focused mostly on investing or by searching for groups that are listed as being devoted to investing.
Engage with Investors and Get to know them
All founders are looking for is some type of exposure with interested investors, so one of the best ways to do this is through LinkedIn groups. If you find groups that are focused on investing, then you can join them and start posting.
When you start posting, it’s important to remember that you want to discuss investing. You want to talk about what your company does and why you think it will succeed.
You can also try to reach out to investors who post in these groups and invite them to connect with you. You don’t have to be friends with investors to reach out and invite them to connect. You can just share their profile information and invite them to connect with you.
You can take this connection a step further and exchange messages with the investors to see if they are interested to know more about your startup. Ideally from this network, you can find a few angels who are more interested to learn about your startup and your story.
You can invite them for a face-to-face or online meeting and present your pitch deck to them and ask their opinion.
Get Funding from Angel Investors When the Time Comes
When you finally get to meet your investors, there are two important things that you want to remember. The first is to take good notes and the second is to be on time.
Remembering all of the details of your pitch and your plan is key to planting the seed of funding in your investors’ minds. It could be weeks, months or even years between meeting your investors and getting funding, so you should be patient, work on your connection and remember everything.
If you’ve been leaving notes and taking good notes, then you’ll be in a better position to remember everything. When it comes to being on time, all investors are nervous.
They may be meeting you for the first time and they are likely worried about their presentation. You don’t want to add to that nervousness. If you are on time and ask diligent questions to investors, then you will project confidence and you will project professionalism.
Conclusion
Finding angel investors on LinkedIn is possible since it is a professional network many people are a member of and actively check. What you need to do is to fully utilize this platform as you have built some credibility and social capital over the years in this network. So this can be indeed considered your asset particularly when you need resources for your startup.
You can use LinkedIn for other activities of your startup such as finding a co-founder or contacting customer or other potential business partners. You can also post about your startup activity and progress to make potential stakeholders curious about your work.
Yet, LinkedIn is not the only social media platform and some entrepreneurs actively use Instagram, YouTube, Twitter or even TikTok to find customers, investors and business partners. So you can indeed consider other social media platforms.
