Back in 2004, “professional people search 2.0.” was the way a company pitching for their series B without a dime of revenue sought to be funded. Less than a decade later, Microsoft would be the one acquiring it for $26.2B. Contrary to common - or older - thought, social networks are an important part of job hunting, especially those built explicitly as job listings or platforms for work exchange. And this is our account at how to find investors on LinkedIn. 

By the way, if you haven’t yet seen it, check out our improved version of Reid Hoffman’s pitch deck for LinkedIn. There are tons to learn from it, we can assure you that.

LinkedIn is not just another social media channel.

LinkedIn is undoubtedly the most popular channel for professionals in all areas right now. Yet, using it is definitely not the same as posting on Facebook or sharing a story on Instagram. And we’ll get to the difference of interaction for startup matters on Facebook in a bit, too. 

It can actually be challenging to navigate how to get the best out of LinkedIn for business purposes. And there are lots of opportunities to further your career on that platform. It can even help your business grow! 

Knowing we must make a difference when we go into LinkedIn than we would Snapchat or other tools is the first step. And let’s move on to further entrepreneurial and startup tips on how to find investors on LinkedIn.

Connecting with startup investors

Knowing how to connect with an investor can be as tricky as any other professional from all walks of life. And that knowledge changes when we move online, too. To learn how to connect with investors, however, building a reliable network can help. We’ll shortly see why. 

Before you act upon this need, we first need to know exactly what we’re looking for. 

Related: How to make a pitch deck for investors

How to find angel investors in an industry

Knowing what our startup needs are and what we want for it entails having an idea of what that looks like. Let’s go over an example together. 

Say you’re looking for an angel investor. The recommendation here is that you first focus on defining how that person even looks. And typically, that means someone between the ages of 40 to 60 on an income above $100K. We also know it tends to represent someone with a vast and meaningful entrepreneurial experience on their shoulders. And what’s best, if you can imagine this on someone who enjoys giving startup advice and getting involved as part of business processes, all the better!

A clear image or objective makes it easier to go after people. In this case, it helps to know the kind of investors who fit our business needs. Keep this in mind as it will be the base to all of what we do when we hunt for investors or VCs and even VC firms. 

How to use LinkedIn to interest investors in a startup

One of the main rules about using LinkedIn to interest investors in a startup is to keep an updated profile. Don’t just worry about what you or potential investors share on their profile. Look at your latest information on your personal and company links to mold what they say about you and your business. 

You certainly want investors to switch on over to your profile and be wowed or at least very interested in finding out more about you and what you do. And this is managed by having precisely that for which they’re looking.

Help yourself some. You can be a step ahead by describing your project in a way that’s appealing to the audience you’re seeking to attract.

How to connect with investors if you don’t know anyone

Social networks such as LinkedIn help connect us to friend circles and extended parties amongst people we know. Use the platform’s connection suggestions to your advantage. Skim and scan them. Take closer looks at those relations and the people with whom they interact and what they post.  

The more thorough you are in your search, the better you’ll get at seeing the kind of content people share and excerpt clues as to their interests, views, and where they stand. 

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Using keywords to draw our target audience

Another good practice in learning how to use LinkedIn to interest investors into your startup is to use keywords on your bio to respond to what investors are searching for. Think especially for keywords related to any new projects on which they might be interested in investing. 

If the precise keywords make you hesitant, check what others in the field are using. Filter them by those that would more closely apply to you for similar projects. Read up until you find the right terms to use. 

Stay active to be relevant.

And we haven’t stressed this before, but an obvious and critical aspect of using LinkedIn to interest investors in a startup is to be very active on that platform. Your activity helps people find you, know more about your offer, what you do, and that in which you believe. There’s tons of room here for marketing and advertising in very subtle ways. 

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Tapping into social connections

It’s also important to understand that angel investors operate as a pool. Take that into account when doing research on any given party, and pay attention to the people they interact with.  

Usually, angel investors focus on industries they know and from which they come. That information alone can help you find an angel investor for your startup. Go back to their roots, the projects they’ve funded, the companies they’ve started… All of that can give you great and valuable insight.  

How to Use Tech to Find Investors for Your Startup

Using tech to find investors can be as easy as running a search on LinkedIn with the word “investor.” As results come up, they’ll already be placed in order by the number of connections in common. Use that as a filter. 

You can always ask a mutual connection to introduce you, too, if you think that’s necessary. Doing so might certainly help an investor develop an interest in what you’re pitching. 

After this initial search, join groups and use other features, such as LinkedIn Answers. With it, you can post questions you want investors to help with, which is a great way to create new relations with people interested in the same area. Also, look at other peoples’ questions and answers. You might find tons of affinity and business-related opportunities there.

How to contact investors

Now, once you’ve identified potential matches, how do we contact investors on LinkedIn, right? Fortunately, it’s become an excellent tool for conversations regarding the industry to which you belong. 

Share articles and news, for example. Or comment on what other people share. Even send a private message if it comes to that. All of these are tools available on LinkedIn to get to know potential investors. Don’t be afraid to make the best of them to reach out. 

How to use Facebook and LinkedIn to find investors

Both LinkedIn and Facebook can help fundraise for your company. Yet, to do so successfully, be active on each platform. Look for groups that contain the investors you’re hoping to attract. And engage in conversation to make sure they notice what you have to say. It’s a way of showing that you want to be a part of that kind of dialogue and community. Beware of just commenting for the sake of it, right? The idea is to be relevant and stand out for your market contributions and business view. 

As you can see, there’s a lot you can do through social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, which can be vital in finding investors in this new era. 

Once you’ve got a top-notch pitch deck and financial model, with which our design agency can help anytime, you can start raising funds like the pros! But, before you do, we want to give you insight on the best investor finder tool out there right now.

Slidebean Investor Finder Tool

Imagine chatting with a company to which you can tell all about your business and the investment you’re after for them to send you a list of vetted investor contacts within 48 hours. Sounds like a seed fund lifesaver, right?

Slidebean’s investor finder tool has come in to do just that, and you can get 5 investor contacts free of charge as a sample, too. Devoted to finding vetted investors and angels across all industries, we’re aggregating and scrubbing 25,000+ angels, VCs, and investor profiles. We list the contact information and give you data on prior investments. The list grows each month, too! And a customized list is possible with the talent of our Investor Search Experts who can locate key investors for your industry in no time!

Defining investors’ interest areas and their working contact info is crucial to finding a good startup match. Make the best of our investor finder tool asap and get full access to our team’s expert assistance.

Try our Investor finder