If you're raising your first institutional round, knowing which investors are actively deploying and what they're looking for can save you months of wasted outreach. This guide breaks down the 11 most important early-stage investors in the US based on deal activity, portfolio strength, and founder reputation.
1. Y Combinator (YC)
Website: https://www.ycombinator.com
Focus: Pre-seed, Seed (AI, developer tools, fintech, SaaS, healthcare, consumer)
Notable Portfolio: Stripe, Airbnb, Coinbase, DoorDash, Brex
Typical Check: $500K (standard YC SAFE)
Y Combinator is less a fund and more an ecosystem. Beyond the initial capital, YC’s real value is its alumni network, credibility signal, and fundraising acceleration. YC-backed startups often raise seed rounds faster and attract stronger follow-on investors. They heavily prioritise founder quality, speed of execution, and clarity of thinking over polished storytelling.
2. First Round Capital
Website: https://firstround.com
Focus: Seed (B2B SaaS, fintech, marketplaces, developer tools)
Notable Portfolio: Uber, Square, Notion, Roblox, Warby Parker
Typical Check: ~$500K–$2M
First Round is known for being the “first institutional believer”. They often lead seed rounds and are deeply hands-on with founders around hiring, product clarity, and GTM. Their internal founder community is one of the strongest in venture, which becomes a long-term advantage beyond capital.
3. Sequoia Capital (Seed Practice)
Website: https://www.sequoiacap.com
Focus: Seed, Series A (enterprise, fintech, SaaS, AI, infrastructure)
Notable Portfolio: Stripe, Canva, Snowflake, Notion, Nubank
Typical Check: ~$1M–$5M
Sequoia’s seed investments are rare but highly conviction-driven. When they invest early, they tend to stay for the long journey and often help shape company strategy, narrative, and fundraising positioning. A Sequoia seed check carries strong signalling power for future rounds.
4. Accel (Seed & Early Stage)
Website: https://www.accel.com
Focus: Seed–Series A (SaaS, fintech, marketplaces, consumer platforms)
Notable Portfolio: Slack, Dropbox, Facebook (early), Atlassian
Typical Check: ~$500K–$3M
Accel has a long track record of backing category-defining companies early. They are particularly strong in enterprise software and developer ecosystems. Founders often value Accel’s help around scaling GTM, hiring strong early executives, and preparing for Series A.
5. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Website: https://a16z.com
Focus: Seed, Growth (AI, crypto, fintech, bio, consumer, infrastructure)
Notable Portfolio: Coinbase, Instagram, GitHub, Airbnb
Typical Check: ~$500K–$4M
a16z is known for thesis-driven investing and a large platform team that supports portfolio companies with recruiting, comms, and partnerships. They are particularly active in frontier areas like AI infrastructure and crypto but increasingly selective at seed.
6. Benchmark
Website: https://benchmark.com/
Focus: Seed, Series A (consumer tech, marketplaces, SaaS)
Notable Portfolio: eBay, Twitter, Uber, Instagram
Typical Check: ~$500K–$3M
Benchmark is a classic Silicon Valley seed firm with a reputation for deeply partnering with founders early. They often lead initial rounds and are highly involved in refining strategy, narrative, and go-to-market — especially for consumer and network-driven products.
7. Greylock Partners
Website: https://greylock.com
Focus: Seed, Series A (enterprise, SaaS, AI, consumer)
Notable Portfolio: LinkedIn, Airbnb, Dropbox, Discord
Typical Check: ~$500K–$2M
Greylock frequently backs companies at the idea or product-in-beta stage. They are particularly strong in enterprise SaaS and developer ecosystems and tend to be highly engaged in shaping early product strategy and executive hiring.
8. Union Square Ventures (USV)
Website: https://www.usv.com
Focus: Seed, Series A (networks, platforms, crypto, marketplaces)
Notable Portfolio: Coinbase, Etsy, Twitter, Tumblr
Typical Check: ~$500K–$2M
USV invests around strong network effects and platforms that benefit from user participation. They are highly thesis-driven and selective, but when aligned, they tend to support founders for many years with strategic clarity rather than operational micromanagement.
9. Lightspeed Venture Partners
Website: https://lsvp.com
Focus: Seed, Growth (enterprise software, fintech, infrastructure, consumer)
Notable Portfolio: Snap, Affirm, Rubrik, AppDynamics
Typical Check: ~$500K–$3M+
Lightspeed is active across many tech categories and frequently participates in seed rounds that later become breakout growth stories. They are particularly strong in enterprise infrastructure and fintech and are known for strong follow-on support.
10. Kleiner Perkins
Website: https://www.kleinerperkins.com
Focus: Seed, Growth (AI, healthcare, climate, enterprise)
Notable Portfolio: Google, Amazon, Figma, Genentech
Typical Check: ~$500K–$5M
Kleiner Perkins has re-emerged strongly in early-stage investing in recent years, particularly in AI and healthcare. They back companies with long-term ambition and often support founders on storytelling, hiring, and strategic positioning.
11. Antler (US Presence)
Website: https://www.antler.co
Focus: Pre-seed, Seed (AI, SaaS, fintech, global founders)
Notable Activity: 400+ investments globally in 2024–2025
Typical Check: ~$125K–$500K initially, with follow-ons
Antler operates differently from traditional funds. They invest extremely early — often before a company is fully formed — and provide structured founder support, co-founder matching, and venture building. In the US, they’ve become increasingly active in backing technical founders building in AI and infrastructure.
What These Investors Look For in 2026
The fundraising environment has shifted dramatically. Pre-seed has become the last stage where vision alone can secure a round if the insight is sharp enough, while seed now requires real customer behaviour, real retention, and a real distribution strategy.
The split between traction and narrative: Investors are evaluating seed-stage companies in two completely different buckets: Traction seeds showing early repeatability with revenue, usage, and LTV/CAC signals, versus Narrative seeds where high-conviction teams are building ambitious infrastructure, deep tech, or AI models.
AI gets different treatment: The boldest AI bets now happen before traction, where investors underwrite talent, insight, and defensibility rather than usage curves. If you're building in AI, especially infrastructure or foundational models, investors will back you earlier, but they'll scrutinise your technical capabilities and unique insights heavily.
Everyone else needs proof: For non-AI companies, the bar has risen. Investors want to see that customers actively want what you're building. Early revenue, strong retention metrics, or waitlists of potential customers all serve as proof points. Can you show that you're solving a problem people care about enough to pay for?
How to Approach These Investors
Getting meetings with top early-stage funds requires more than cold emails. Here's what actually works:
Warm introductions are essential: Every fund on this list receives thousands of pitches annually. Having a warm intro from a founder in their portfolio, another investor they respect, or an industry expert they know dramatically increases your chances of getting a response.
Show, don't just tell: The best way to get investor attention is to build something people want and demonstrate traction. Weekly growth numbers, customer testimonials, and usage metrics speak louder than pitch decks. Launch your product, get it into customers' hands, and let the data tell your story.
Understand fund preferences: Research recent investments from each fund. Are they backing companies at your stage? In your sector? With your business model? Sending a fintech pitch to a fund that exclusively backs biotech wastes everyone's time.
Track engagement to prioritise smartly: When you're reaching out to multiple investors from this list simultaneously, you need to know who's actually interested versus who's being polite. Use Pitchwise to share your deck and data room materials; you'll see exactly who viewed what, when, and for how long.
In all, the US early-stage funding landscape in 2026 is both competitive and opportunistic. Focus on building something customers genuinely want, demonstrate consistent execution velocity, and be strategic about which investors you target.
The best founders use seed capital to prove out their business model, build incredible products, and create value for customers. Do that well, and these top early-stage funds will be competing to back you.
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