Pre-Seed Fundraising Checklist: Investor-Ready Signals

Pre-seed fails less because "the market is tough" and more because founders raise before they have investor-grade signals.

Here's the clean definition: pre-seed is the earliest outside capital, often before revenue, used to turn an idea into proof (prototype, validation, early users).

This pre-seed fundraising checklist is a decision tool. It answers five questions:

1. Am I ready to raise now?
2. What traction matters for my model?
3. What cheque sizes are realistic?
4. Who invests at pre-seed?
5. What should I emphasize in the pitch?

1) Readiness Assessment

Score each pillar: 0 = weak, 1 = partial, 2 = solid
Total: 10

Interpretation

• 8-10: Raise now.
• 6-7: Raise in a small batch while you fix one weak pillar.
• 0-5: Don’t run cold outreach yet. Run a milestone sprint first.

Pro Tip:
If you scored 0-5, write a 30-45-day sprint plan with one output per weak pillar (e.g., "3 LOIs," "prototype benchmark," or "ICP + channel test"). Then re-score.

2) Traction Milestones That Count (Pick 2-3 That Fit Your Model)

At pre-seed, traction is not "scale." It's de-risking.

The pre-seed goal is to build a prototype, validate the idea, and prove that founders can often execute on SAFEs or convertible notes because valuations are hard this early.

B2B SaaS (sales-led)

Good milestones:

• Design partners with success criteria (not vague interest)
• Pilot with a champion + scope + timeline
• Early usage pattern (repeated use by the target role)

PLG / self-serve SaaS

Good milestones:

• A clear activation ("aha") event
• Retention by cohort (direction matters, even on small n)
• One channel that repeatedly brings qualified users

Marketplace

Good milestones:

• One side is solved in a narrow niche (supply or demand)
• Repeat behaviour (repeat listings/orders/bookings)
• Evidence expansion won't break unit economics

Deep tech / biotech / hardware

Good milestones:

• Technical risk reduction (prototype, benchmark, validation step)
• A credible plan to the next de-risk milestone (often more valuable than early revenue)

Example:
A B2B founder stops pitching AI for operations and pitches reducing manual reconciliation for mid-market clinics. They run 20 interviews, get 4 LOIs, ship a narrow demo, and convert 2 LOIs into a pilot. That's a fundable story because it's measurable.

3) Typical Cheque Sizes, Round Size Reality, and SAFEs

Stripe frames pre-seed rounds of a few hundred thousand to a million dollars, often done via SAFEs or convertible notes. Stripe also cites a median pre-seed SAFE raise amount of about $700,000 in 2025.

Carta's U.S.-based dataset (Q3 2025) shows startups raised $965M across 5,660 instruments (SAFEs + convertible notes), and that most pre-seed fundraises occur on post-money SAFEs.

How to build the round

Don't plan around one hero cheque. Plan a composition that still closes without it.

Example composition:

• 10 angels at $25K
• 4 angels at $50K
• 2 micro funds at $100K

That's $650K without needing a single "save-the-round" investor.

Dilution, valuation cap, and why post-money matters

Pre-seed terms are where founders accidentally lose future flexibility. Stripe notes it's not unusual to give up 10%-20% at pre-seed, even when using SAFEs/notes.

You don't need to guess dilution. With a post-money SAFE, you can model it directly: If you raise $500K on a $5M post-money valuation cap, that's roughly 10% ownership sold (500K/5M).

4) Who Invests at Pre-Seed

Different investor types filter for different signals. Most wasted fundraising happens when you pitch the right story to the wrong filter.

• Angels / operators: founder credibility, insight, speed, early customer pull.
• Angel groups / syndicates: a clear champion + a story that's easy to share.
• Pre-seed funds / micro-VCs: "Will this become seed-ready with this money?"
• Accelerators: velocity + clarity + coachability (plus a network effect).

Time-saving rule: If you can't write a "why this investor" note in one sentence, don't send the first email.

5) Pitch Focus Points: What To Emphasize

Your pre-seed pitch deck is not a feature tour. It's a structured argument that your next milestone is likely to happen.

The pitch hierarchy

1. Insight + why now
2. Wedge (who you start with and why you win there)
3. Proof (your best 1–2 signals)
4. GTM plan (first channel + why it's credible)
5. Economics (pricing logic; show you understand the business)
6. Use of funds (what this round buys + timeline)
7. Team (founder–market fit, specific)

Cut unless it's firm

• Bloated TAM slides
• Generic competitor grids
• Feature lists that don't map to a buyer's pain

6) The Investor Materials Checklist

Investors may move fast at pre-seed, but they still expect basic diligence readiness.

Pre-seed data room checklist (starter set)

• Incorporation docs + cap table (clean, current)
• Founder equity split, vesting, IP assignment (signed)
• Product demo + roadmap to the next milestone
• Traction evidence (LOIs, pilot scope, cohort retention snapshot, benchmarks)
• SAFE/convertible templates + key terms (cap, discount if any)

Investor CRM minimum viable fields

• Investor type (angel / micro-VC / fund), stage focus, cheque size
• "Why them?" note
• Current stage (contacted / meeting / DD / soft commit / committed)
• Next action date + owner (so nothing rots)

This is the unsexy part that quietly wins rounds.

Where Evalyze.ai fits

Once your signals are real, the bottleneck is usually clarity + targeting + iteration.

Evalyze.ai helps with three things:

• Pitch deck analysis: find weak signals, missing logic, and investor-style objections fast
• AI investor matching: build a stage-fit list (so you stop pitching seed funds that don't do pre-seed)
• Pitch deck coach: tighten narrative + structure with guided feedback

Use it to sanity-check readiness and sharpen your deck before you go wide.

FAQ

1. What is a pre-seed round?
Pre-seed is the earliest outside capital, often before revenue, used to build a prototype and validate the idea.

2. SAFE vs convertible note at pre-seed: what's common?
Most pre-seed fundraises occur on post-money SAFEs, with notes also used.

3. How much dilution happens in early rounds?
It varies. It's not unusual to give up 10%-20% at the pre-seed stage. For priced seed rounds, Carta reports median seed dilution around 20.1% (Q1 2024).