1,227 investors |
Geography | Checks | Stages | Investment thesis | Open rate | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Donatello Bianco
| ![]() | $25k to $100k | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue | I invest in innovative technology startups (AI, SaaS, digital platforms) based in Italy, primarily at seed or... | 33% | Submit deckView profile |
![]() | 10X Venture Partners
| ![]() | $20k to $200k | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+1 | We invest in SaaS, AI, Artificial Intelligence, CV, Computer Vision SportsTech, CyberSecurity, mobile, internet,... | 25% | View profile |
Hartmann Metaverse Ven...
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $100k to $1M | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+1 | We invest in projects spanning Spatial Computing, AI, and Deep Tech valued between... | View profile | ||
![]() | Movens VC
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $250k to $500k | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+2 | We invest in seed and series A rounds. The main investment categories that we are looking at are AI-driven companies,... | View profile | |
![]() | Jaiatech Ventures
| ![]() ![]() | $100k to $500k | 3. Early Revenue 2. Prototype+3 | We invest in disruptive innovation | View profile | |
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![]() | Garden District Ventur...
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $100k to $500k | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+1 | We invest in companies that simplify daily life, boost livelihoods and commerce, and contribute to a more resilient... | View profile | |
![]() | Startup Sherpas
| ![]() | $50k to $50k | 3. Early Revenue 4. Scaling+1 | We accelerate innovative and scalable Consumer Brands and D2C Startups with signs of strong early adoption. We enable... | Submit deckView profile | |
![]() | Cusp Capital
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $1M to $10M | 3. Early Revenue 4. Scaling | We invest in early stage companies based in Continental Europe, no Hardware companies / products. Our investment... | Submit deckView profile | |
![]() | Elia Mssawir
| ![]() ![]() | $10k to $200k | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+1 | I invest in Tech, AI, Entertainment but also companies that are interesting. | View profile | |
![]() | Orion Bridge Capital
| ![]() ![]() | $50k to $500k | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+1 | We invest into early-stage startups aiming to address critical issues and inconveniences at scale. We have no... | View profile | |
![]() | Demium Capital
VC firm | ![]() | $100k to $500k | 1. Idea or Patent 2. Prototype+3 | We invest in talent. We invest in the earliest stages of a startup –pre-seed and seed stages–, when the co-founding... | Fill formView profile | |
![]() | LBBW Venture Capital
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $500k to $3M | 3. Early Revenue 2. Prototype | We invest in brilliant entrepreneurs raising a late seed, Series A or Series B round within the DACH region. We invest... | View profile | |
![]() | Whales Ventures
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $50k to $500k | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+3 | We invest in the Future of Healthcare, ClimateTech, AI & Robotics for Enterprise, UAV, MarTech and many others... | View profile | |
![]() | Courtside Ventures
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $500k to $3M | 2. Prototype 3. Early Revenue+1 | We invest in early-stage companies across sports, collectibles, media, fitness, wellness and gaming.... | View profile | |
![]() | RevTech Ventures
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $100k to $250k | 3. Early Revenue 2. Prototype | We invest in brands and retail technologies creating the future of retail. Specifically, we look for: 1. BREAK-THROUGH... | View profile | |
![]() | Momenta
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $500k to $2M | 3. Early Revenue 4. Scaling+2 | We invest in energy, manufacturing, smart spaces and supply chain. Momenta is the leading digital industry venture... | Fill formView profile | |
![]() | Active Impact Investme...
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $500k to $1.5M | 4. Scaling 3. Early Revenue | We invest in seed stage companies companies facilitating the transition from finite to infinite sources of energy,... | View profile | |
![]() | Yara Ventures
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $10k to $250k | 3. Early Revenue 4. Scaling | We invest in startups with tech focus, mainly DeepTech and FoodTech. Seed / early... | Fill formView profile | |
![]() | Crypto Kingdom Venture...
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $10k to $75k | 3. Early Revenue | We invest in projects that solves real world problems using blockchain technology. We prefer DeFi... | View profile | |
![]() | CapHorn
VC firm | ![]() ![]() | $300k to $5M | 3. Early Revenue 4. Scaling | We invest in B2B startups that drive digital transformation. We mainly focus on Seed and Series A in rounds ranging... | View profile |
Raising Capital for Your AI Startup? Here’s What You Need to Know.
Venture capital is pouring into AI, but that doesn’t mean getting funded is easy. Hype alone won’t cut it anymore, as investors are looking for startups with real data moats, scalable infrastructure, and sustainable business models.
What AI Investors Look for in a Startup
AI investors aren’t funding just any startup with “GPT” in the pitch. Here’s what actually moves the needle:
Proprietary Data \= Competitive Edge: Your model is only as good as the data it’s trained on. If you don’t have exclusive, high-quality data, you don’t have a moat. Consider licensing exclusive datasets, collecting user-generated data, or leveraging transfer learning with fine-tuning for niche applications.
Actual AI, Not Just Marketing Fluff: It was clear in 2024 – too many startups are “faking” into being AI-first, when in reality it’s just a nice add-on to their existing product. If your pitch boils down to “We use AI” without a clear edge, you’ll get ignored.
Capital Efficiency (Especially for Compute Costs): LLMs and deep learning models burn cash fast. Solutions like model optimization, on-device inference, and strategic compute allocation will make your startup more investable.
Clear GTM Strategy: Building an AI model is hard. Selling it is even harder. Investors want to know who your customers are, how you’ll acquire them, and how sticky your product is. AI-native distribution strategies like API-first adoption, vertical integration, or enterprise partnerships can help win investor confidence.
Regulatory Preparedness: Privacy concerns, bias, and compliance regulations can kill AI startups before they scale. Investors will ask, "How do you avoid legal and ethical landmines?" Ensure your compliance strategy accounts for GDPR, AI bias mitigation, and upcoming AI Act regulations.
AI Startup Macro Trends Affecting Fundraising
It seems like the AI landscape is turned upside down nearly every single week. Investors are becoming more selective, and startups must adapt to these macro trends to secure funding:
📉 Investor Caution Amid Market Uncertainty – With rising interest rates and economic volatility, VCs are more focused on capital efficiency. Startups burning excessive cash on compute without a clear revenue path face funding challenges.
📈 The Rise of Corporate & Government AI Investment – While some VCs are pulling back, corporate players (Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft) and government initiatives are ramping up AI funding.
⚖️ Regulatory Scrutiny Intensifying – AI startups in high-risk sectors (biotech, finance, security) face growing compliance hurdles. Investors are prioritizing startups that proactively address AI ethics, bias mitigation, and data privacy regulations.
🛠️ Shift Toward AI Infrastructure & Compute Efficiency – Investors are doubling down on companies solving fundamental AI scaling problems. MLOps, model compression, decentralized compute, and custom AI chips are hot areas for investment.
🔄 From Hype to Real-World AI Applications – Generative AI startups raised billions in 2024, but investor appetite is shifting toward applied AI—models that drive productivity gains in healthcare, logistics, finance, and other sectors.
How to Raise Capital from AI Investors
Who Invests in AI?
- Tech-Heavy VCs Betting Big on AI: (a16z, Sequoia, Y Combinator)
- Corporate & Strategic Investors: (Google Ventures, NVIDIA Inception, Amazon’s Alexa Fund)
- Generalist VCs Exploring AI Deals: (Lightspeed, Accel, Bessemer)
What’s Expected at Each Stage?
💰 Pre-seed: A working prototype, proprietary data strategy, and a founding team with AI expertise.
💰 Seed: Early adoption, scalable data pipelines, and a clear commercialization plan.
💰 Series A+: Strong retention, a well-defined pricing model, and signs of repeatability.
AI Investment Trends: Where the Money is Flowing
YC recently released their latest Requests for Startups for Spring 2025, and amongst the list was a plethora of ideas for critical AI solutions, including:
- A Secure AI App Store
- Browser & Computer Automation
- Devtools for AI Agents
- AI Commercial Open Source Software (AICOSS)
- AI Coding Agents for Hardware-Optimized Code
- Vertical AI Agents
- Inference AI Infrastructure in the World of Test-Time Compute
❄️ What’s Cooling Off?
So, what are investors tired of seeing already?
📉 "Yet another AI-powered SaaS tool" – AI-enhanced SaaS isn’t an investment thesis. If AI is just a feature, investors aren’t biting.
📉 Text-to-image & generative AI startups – Hard to differentiate, high competition, and expensive to scale.
📉 Startups without a strong data moat – If OpenAI can build it better, you’re not getting funded.
How to Pitch AI Investors and Win Funding
📊 Proprietary data advantage – If you don’t have one, investors will pass.
🚀 Scalability & cost efficiency – Running models at scale without bleeding money.
💡 A clear path to revenue – No more “we’ll figure out monetization later.” Show unit economics that makes sense.
🚫 Common AI Pitch Mistakes That Kill Investor Interest:
- Overhyping “AI” without real differentiation. Simply saying "We use AI" isn’t enough. Investors want to know what makes your approach unique and defensible.
- Weak data strategy & compliance issues. If your deck lacks a clear plan for sourcing, cleaning, and protecting proprietary data, investors will see risk, not opportunity.
- Ignoring compute costs & efficiency. AI is expensive to run—investors want to see a slide detailing infrastructure costs and scalability solutions.
- Unclear monetization strategy. Your financial model slide should clearly outline how your AI product makes money and at what scale it becomes profitable.
- Neglecting key AI info. Your AI pitch deck should include a slide on "Data & Model Advantage"—how your AI is trained, the uniqueness of your data, and why competitors can’t easily replicate it.
Find the Best AI Investors and VC Firms on OpenVC
🚀 Ready to raise? Here’s how OpenVC helps AI/ML founders like you:
- Find AI investors fast – Filter by stage, check size, and more.
- Browse investor insights – See which VCs are actively investing.
- Submit your pitch deck directly – Connect with AI investors in just a few clicks.
- Get replies – Automatically receive scheduled meetings from investors.
- Close your round – Meet with investors and secure the funding your project needs to scale.
🔥 Join OpenVC today for free and start connecting with top AI investors instantly.