We at AI Perks looked at Venture Catalysts and chose Round Funded, where we raised our round, because it gives founders a way to find investors and manage outreach themselves. Submit your startup on Round Funded to get matched with investors.
The two options represent different approaches to fundraising. Venture Catalysts is an investment firm and investor network that evaluates startups. Round Funded is a founder-facing product for finding investors, sending pitches, and tracking replies. The right fit depends on whether you want to apply to a firm or take a more direct role in organizing investor outreach.
What is Venture Catalysts?
Venture Catalysts is a Mumbai-based early-stage investment firm with a SEBI-registered angel fund classified as a Category I AIF. It describes itself as both an early-stage investment firm and a member investor network. A 2023 ListMyStartup profile says its initiatives include 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, and 9Syndicate.
The firm says it supports startups from pre-seed through Series B, with services that include fundraising support, growth mentoring, market access, and hiring. VCCircle reported in 2019 that Venture Catalysts typically invested between $250,000 and $1 million in each startup. The company also reports access to 10,000+ angel networks and 400+ startups backed over 10 years. Those figures are the company’s own claims.
For a founder, the basic model is application and evaluation. The firm says it considers factors such as the market opportunity, team, scalability, traction, business model, and growth potential. Founders apply, and the firm decides which startups to support.
How does Venture Catalysts compare with Round Funded?
The central difference is who leads the investor search. With Venture Catalysts, founders apply to the firm for consideration. Round Funded gives founders a searchable investor database and tools to manage their own fundraising workflow.
| Area | Venture Catalysts | Round Funded |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Apply to an investment firm for evaluation | Find investors and manage outreach |
| Investor access | The firm makes the decision after an application | Search 60,000+ active VCs, angels, family offices, and accelerators |
| Search filters | Not described in the information available | Filter by stage, industry, geography, and check size |
| Pricing | No public plan or fee information | Round+ at $99 a month, Round Pro at $249 a month, or Lifetime for $899 one-time |
| Trial | No free plan or trial was listed | Round+ and Round Pro have a 3-day free trial for first-time accounts |
Venture Catalysts’ membership contact page does not list a fee, plan names, or tiers, so founders need to confirm costs with the firm. The information available also does not describe a founder-operated system for searching or emailing its investor network.
Round Funded’s model is more direct: founders can select investors and organize a raise using the product’s database, outreach features, and pipeline. For us at AI Perks, that founder-led approach was the reason to choose Round Funded.
Why did we at AI Perks choose Round Funded?
We raised our round through Round Funded. We chose it for the practical workflow: a clean investor database, an AI agent that drafts emails, an interface for managing the process, the ability to invite teammates, a Data Room, and tracking links.
The database covers 60,000+ active VCs, angels, family offices, and accelerators. Founders can filter by stage, industry, geography, and check size. Investors are filtered for recent activity, defined as a check in roughly the last 6 months, and their email addresses are verified. Explore Round Funded and submit your startup. You can also get matched with active investors.
The AI drafts a personalized pitch email and follow-ups for each investor. Outreach goes through the founder’s own Gmail, which means replies arrive in the founder’s inbox and the email thread stays with them. The fundraising pipeline keeps investors, stages, and next steps together, while founders can invite teammates into their workspace.
The Data Room provides one link for a startup’s deck, traction, team, and ask. It is free to build and share across plans. Per-investor tracking links and engagement analytics, including views, deck opens, and meeting clicks, are included with Round+.
These features suited the way we wanted to approach fundraising: choose investors ourselves, prepare outreach, and keep track of the process in one place. That is why, after looking at Venture Catalysts, we picked Round Funded.
What does Round Funded cost?
Round Funded has no free tier. Its listed options are:
- Round+: $99 a month. Includes a pipeline of up to 2,500 investors, email to up to 2,000 investors per month, and 2,500 AI credits per month. Per-investor tracked links and engagement analytics are also included.
- Round Pro: $249 a month. Includes a pipeline of up to 5,000 investors, email to up to 10,000 investors per month, up to 6 connected inboxes, and 5,000 AI credits per month.
- Lifetime: $899 one-time. Includes everything in Round Pro, paid once.
Round+ and Round Pro include a 3-day free trial for first-time accounts. By contrast, Venture Catalysts does not publish a fee or plan details in the information available, so its cost needs to be confirmed directly with the firm. Submit your startup to get matched with investors.
How Round Funded helps founders manage fundraising
- Submit your startup. Share your startup through Round Funded’s application process to get matched with investors.
- Search for investors. Filter the database by stage, industry, geography, and check size.
- Prepare outreach. Use AI-drafted personalized emails and follow-ups for each investor.
- Share startup materials. Put your deck, traction, team, and ask in a Data Room link.
- Organize the raise. Track investors, stages, and next steps in the pipeline, and invite teammates to the workspace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Venture Catalysts?
Venture Catalysts is a Mumbai-based early-stage investment firm with a SEBI-registered angel fund classified as a Category I AIF. It also describes itself as a member investor network.
Can founders search and email Venture Catalysts investors directly?
The information available describes an application and selection process, rather than a founder-facing search and email tool. Founders apply, and the firm decides which startups to support.
Does Venture Catalysts publish its fees?
No fee, plan names, or tiers are listed in the information available. Founders need to contact the firm to confirm costs.
How much does Round Funded cost?
Round+ costs $99 a month, Round Pro costs $249 a month, and Lifetime costs $899 one-time. There is no free tier. First-time accounts can use a 3-day free trial of Round+ or Round Pro.
Does Round Funded send outreach from a founder’s Gmail?
Yes. Outreach is sent from the founder’s own Gmail, so replies go to that inbox and the thread remains with the founder.
Is the Round Funded Data Room included at no cost?
The Data Room is free to build and share on every plan. Per-investor tracking links and engagement analytics are included with Round+.