9 Tools For Successful Startup Fundraising

Raising your first round can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re juggling a dozen other founder tasks. That’s why we’ve pulled together this free toolkit: to give you the resources, templates, and tools that actually help you move faster, pitch better, and stay focused.

If you’re building your first pitch deck, emailing investors, or organizing your outreach, this guide has something for you. Many of these tools offer free trials or starter plans just enough to help you get going without paying upfront.

In fact, top startup teams around the world use them to kickstart their fundraising process.

🔧 P.S. Tool #1 was made with you in mind—an all-in-one fundraising assistant built by founders, for founders.👇

1. Evalyze.ai – AI-Powered Pitch Deck Analyzer & Investor Matching

Evalyze is your all-in-one fundraising assistant. Just upload your pitch deck and get an instant Investor Readiness Score, a clear, data-backed assessment of how your deck stacks up. You’ll also receive tailored feedback to help improve your story, traction slides, and investor appeal.

But that’s just the start. Evalyze matches you with thousands of global investors, filtering by industry, stage, geography, and check size, so you’re not wasting time pitching the wrong people.

Why it’s in this toolkit?

Because Evalyze saves founders hours of research, outreach, and second-guessing. It takes the guesswork out of early fundraising and gives you a faster path to investor conversations.

👉 Try Evalyze for free and see how ready your pitch really is.

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2. Y Combinator’s SAFE Financing Template

If you’re raising money at the pre-seed or seed stage, chances are you’ve heard of the SAFE, Simple Agreement for Future Equity. Created by Y Combinator, it’s a lightweight legal document that lets you raise funds without negotiating a full-priced round or dealing with complex legal terms.

Why is it helpful?

Because it’s founder-friendly, widely accepted by early-stage investors, and free to use. You won’t need to spend thousands on legal fees just to start raising capital.

✅ Use it when you're closing early checks from angels, accelerators, or friends and family.

🔗 Check out the YC SAFE template and get familiar with how it works.

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3. Slidebean’s Pitch Deck Templates

Need a pitch deck that looks great and gets to the point? Slidebean offers dozens of beautifully designed templates, used by startups like Airbnb and Uber, to help you build a professional-looking deck fast.

If you're pitching at the pre-seed stage or preparing for a Series A, you'll find templates tailored to your startup’s phase and style. Just plug in your content and go—no design skills needed.

It’s a great way to get investor-ready without starting from a blank slide.

🎯 Pro tip: Once your deck is done, you can upload it to Evalyze.ai for instant feedback.

🔗 Browse Slidebean’s templates and get inspired.

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4. Visible Connect – Curated VC Database for Building Your Outreach Strategy

Visible Connect is a searchable database of 1,000+ active VC firms, built into the Visible.vc platform. It helps founders filter investors by check size, funding stage, industry, and location so that you can focus on the right investors from the start, not just any investors.

Some features may be available via a free trial, but full access to the investor database and CRM tools typically requires a paid Visible.vc subscription.

💡 Once you’ve built your list, use Evalyze.ai to tailor your pitch deck and outreach strategy for the investors you're targeting.

🔗 Explore Visible Connect and start building your investor pipeline.

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5. Notion Startup OS (All-in-One Fundraising & Operations Dashboard)

Notion’s Startup OS is a pre-built workspace designed to help early-stage founders organize everything from fundraising to team operations. It includes dashboards for managing your investor CRM, tracking runway, and organizing pitch materials, all in one place.

Built with insights from hundreds of startups that have raised capital from firms like Y Combinator and Sequoia, this template helps you stay focused and avoid reinventing the wheel.

It’s conducive for solo founders or small teams who need structure without the overhead of complex tools.

🔗 Explore Notion Startup OS and get started in minutes.

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6. Airtable Investor CRM Template (Streamline Your Fundraising Outreach)

Managing investor relationships can quickly become overwhelming without the right system in place. Airtable's Fundraising CRM Template offers a user-friendly solution to organize your investor pipeline efficiently.

With this template, you can:

• Track investor details: Maintain records of names, contact information, and interaction history.
• Monitor outreach status: Keep tabs on who you've contacted, meeting outcomes, and next steps.
• Attach essential documents: Store pitch decks, term sheets, and other relevant files for easy access.

Setting up your personalized CRM takes less than 10 minutes, allowing you to focus more on building relationships and less on administrative tasks.

🔗 Access the Airtable Fundraising CRM Template and start organizing your investor outreach today.

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7. OpenVC – 90% Free, Filterable Global Investor Database

OpenVC is a free, open platform that helps founders connect with over 5,000 verified investors worldwide. You can filter by geography, vertical, stage, and check size to build a highly targeted outreach list.

Unlike many investor databases, OpenVC allows cold outreach—no warm intro required. Each investor profile includes contact preferences, making it easier to personalize your approach.

It’s ideal for global founders, offering strong coverage across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA), and Asia.

💡 Pro tip: Use OpenVC to build your investor list, then upload your deck to Evalyze.ai to assess your pitch and match with aligned investors.

🔗 Explore OpenVC and start building your investor pipeline today.

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8. DocSend – Smart Pitch Deck Sharing with Real-Time Analytics

DocSend is a secure document-sharing platform that empowers founders to track how investors interact with their pitch decks. By uploading your deck to DocSend, you can generate unique links for each recipient, enabling you to monitor:

• Who viewed your deck
• Time spent on each slide
• Whether the deck was forwarded

This granular insight helps you identify which investors are genuinely interested and tailor your follow-up communications accordingly. Additionally, DocSend offers features like password protection, email verification, and the ability to disable downloads, ensuring you maintain control over your sensitive materials.

For founders seeking to enhance their fundraising process, DocSend provides a 14-day free trial, allowing you to experience its benefits firsthand.

🔗 Start your free trial with DocSend and take control of your fundraising journey.

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9. Crowdfunding Platforms – Test Traction Before Raising VC Capital

If you're looking to validate your startup idea and build early traction without incurring upfront costs, several crowdfunding platforms offer accessible options:

1. IFundWomen (IFW) by Honeycomb Credit

IFundWomen is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform designed to help entrepreneurs, particularly women and underrepresented founders, raise capital. It allows you to offer products, services, or experiences in exchange for funding, enabling you to retain full ownership of your company. Additionally, IFW provides access to grants, expert coaching, and a supportive community to guide you through the fundraising process.

🔗 Start your campaign on IFundWomen

2. Wefunder

Wefunder is an equity crowdfunding platform that enables startups to raise funds from a broad base of investors, including non-accredited individuals. With a minimum investment as low as $100, it's an excellent way to engage your community and customers as investors, providing both capital and a vested interest in your success. Wefunder is particularly beneficial for early-stage startups seeking to raise between $5,000 and $25,000.

🔗 Explore Wefunder

By using these platforms, you can test market interest, build a customer base, and gather valuable feedback, all of which can strengthen your position before approaching venture capitalists.

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Bonus: Want to Save Time? Use a Toolkit That Brings It All Together

Most tools do one thing. Evalyze.ai brings your fundraising essentials into one simple platform:

✅ Analyze your pitch deck with AI-powered scoring and actionable feedback
✅ Match with 10,000+ global investors based on your sector, stage, and geography
✅ Plan your outreach strategy with personalized insights and recommendations

Whether you're just starting your raise or fine-tuning your pitch, Evalyze helps you focus your energy where it counts—on the right story and the right investors.

📌 Join founders around the world using Evalyze to fundraise smarter. Try it for free and take your next step with confidence.