List of VC Funds by Shai Goldman at Silicon Valley Bank: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar2jKST-_k4GdGlaRFltQlZVWDlNUkZ6VldoVzVicGc&usp=drive_web#gid=0
This should help first-time startup founders determine who they should start building relationships with. For a small seed round, which I define as less than $1.0M, I’d focus my energies on smaller funds. Though, you shouldn’t turn down a warm introduction to an investor at a large fund (which I am defining as current fund > $150M or so) or an invitation from someone who wants to connect for the future . . . Just know that they will be less likely to invest in a round that’s smaller than $5.0M or so. Funds that invest $50K – $500K in seed stage startups would be great to start speaking to now.
Series A startups should target funds that have $100M or more in their current fund, not in assets under management (AUM) across a number of funds.
Some large funds have initiatives to write small checks in startups they like that are too early for a “core-investment” . . . I do not understand the rationale behind the “non-core” designation for some investments. I think every investment should be analyzed with the same rigor. Every investment should be a core investment, irrespective of the amount of the investment.
Mapping Out Micro-VC by Samir Kaji at First Republic Bank – For your purpose; A “micro-VC” typically invests $50K – $250K in rounds that are less than $1.0M in size. Any fund under $25M in size probably fits the bill. Note that this may not match Samir’s definition. They’ll typically describe themselves using terms like “we want to be the first external capital you raise” or they might say things like “you should have raised less than $750,000” or some permutation of language like that.
AllRaise Founders for Change: Airtable Database of Angels and Venture Capitalists.
Business Insider: Complete List of Early Stage Investors in NYC (2012)
What do you need in order to get funded by a VC?
Note: I assume this answer does not take into account the seed stage VCs who want to be the first outside capital that a startup takes.
Note: These are heuristics used by early stage investors, not laws of physics or mathematics. There’s always an exception . . . The question is; how do you find that “exceptional investor” who will bet on you in the absence of the kind of evidence other investors need to see before they invest?
Finding Venture Capital