Frontfundr and Round Funded serve different fundraising needs: we at AI Perks looked at FrontFundr and chose Round Funded, where we raised our round. Submit your startup on Round Funded to explore investor matching and founder outreach tools.
What is FrontFundr, and how does it work?
FrontFundr is a Canadian equity crowdfunding platform and registered exempt market dealer. It was created in Vancouver in 2013 and describes itself as Canada’s first equity crowdfunding platform. As an exempt market dealer, it provides advice about the suitability of opportunities listed on its platform. Business in Vancouver reports that it operates across most of Canada, rather than the entire country.
Its process centers on a company campaign. A business applies through a form, completes due diligence and is assigned a campaign coach. If listed, it offers securities to investors on the platform. The securities can include equity, debt, convertible notes and SAFEs.
That model differs from founder-led investor outreach. With a campaign listing, a company presents an opportunity to a platform’s investors. With direct outreach, founders identify investors and contact them themselves. These approaches address different fundraising workflows, so it helps to decide which one fits the job you need to do.
How do FrontFundr and Round Funded differ?
Round Funded is a workspace for founders to find investors, send pitches and track replies. It covers 60,000+ active VCs, angels, family offices and accelerators. Founders can search by stage, industry, geography and check size. Investors are filtered to recent activity, meaning a check in roughly the last 6 months, and emails are verified.
| Comparison | FrontFundr | Round Funded |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | Equity crowdfunding and campaign listings | Investor search, founder outreach and fundraising pipeline |
| Investor access | The platform’s own investors | 60,000+ active investors, funds and accelerators |
| Initial workflow | Apply, complete due diligence and prepare a campaign | Search investors and organize outreach |
| Outreach tools | Campaign process with an assigned coach | AI-drafted emails and follow-ups, sent from the founder’s Gmail |
| Tracking | Campaign listing model | Pipeline, Data Room and per-investor tracked links with Round+ |
Round Funded’s pipeline keeps investors, fundraising stages and next steps together. Teammates can be invited into the startup’s workspace. Its Data Room puts a deck, traction, team and ask behind one link, and it is free to build and share on every plan. Per-investor tracked links and engagement analytics, including views, deck opens and meeting clicks, come with Round+.
The difference is not simply a question of which platform has more features. It is a question of whether you want to run a campaign for platform investors or manage investor research and outreach from a founder workspace. We compared the options and chose Round Funded for our own raise.
What does FrontFundr cost compared with Round Funded?
FrontFundr’s investor processing fee is 3.0%, with a $10 minimum and a $350 maximum. Paying by credit card adds 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. Companies also pay a due diligence and listing fee upfront, followed by a trade fee when a campaign closes. The amounts of those company fees are not published.
A 2019 Trustpilot reviewer reported a listing fee of 6-8% of the amount raised. That is one older review, not a published price, so it should not be treated as a current or standard fee. The article’s cited public information did not identify a FrontFundr free plan or trial.
Round Funded publishes these prices:
- Round+: $99 a month, with up to 2,500 investors in the pipeline, emails to up to 2,000 investors a month and 2,500 AI credits a month.
- Round Pro: $249 a month, with up to 5,000 investors in the pipeline, emails to up to 10,000 investors a month, up to 6 connected inboxes and 5,000 AI credits a month.
- Lifetime: $899 one-time, including everything in Round Pro.
Round+ and Round Pro include a 3-day free trial for first-time accounts. Round Funded does not have a free tier. To compare the published plans with your fundraising needs, submit your startup on Round Funded.
What do public reports say about FrontFundr?
We at AI Perks are not describing FrontFundr from personal use. The points below are reports from other people, not a complete assessment of the platform.
- A Reddit commenter who had invested in 7 deals said the platform suited smaller investors who probably did not expect to do much after investing. That is one investor’s view, not a measure of every investor’s engagement.
- In response to a Trustpilot complaint about lock-ups, FrontFundr said private investments are typically held for about 5 years and can extend beyond 10.
- A Trustpilot reviewer said Gmail marked FrontFundr emails as spam and that they did not receive a receipt or tracking number after investing.
- A 2019 one-star Trustpilot reviewer described an offering as “very poorly executed” and referred to differences between a prospectus and an agreement.
Individual reviews do not establish what every founder or investor will experience. They do, however, show why we wanted tools centered on our own investor research and outreach. We chose Round Funded because its database, AI email drafting, workspace and tracking tools fit the way we wanted to manage our raise.
Why did we at AI Perks choose Round Funded?
We raised our round through Round Funded. Six features shaped our decision:
- Investor search: We could search a clean investor database by stage, industry, geography and check size, with investors filtered to recent activity.
- AI-written emails: The AI agent drafts a personalized email and follow-ups for each investor, giving us a starting point for outreach.
- A convenient interface: The fundraising pipeline keeps investors, stages and next steps in one place.
- Shared workspace: We could invite teammates into the startup’s workspace.
- Data Room: We could place our deck, traction, team and ask behind one link. Building and sharing the Data Room is free on every plan.
- Tracking links: Round+ includes per-investor links and engagement analytics for views, deck opens and meeting clicks.
Outreach is sent from the founder’s own Gmail, so replies arrive in the founder’s inbox and the conversation thread belongs to the founder. Round Funded’s site and product work in 12 languages. Those capabilities made it our pick over FrontFundr for the approach we wanted to take.
How Round Funded helps founders manage outreach
- Search the investor database by stage, industry, geography and check size.
- Review active VCs, angels, family offices and accelerators, with verified emails and recent activity.
- Use AI to draft a personalized email and follow-ups for each investor.
- Send outreach from your own Gmail, and organize investors, stages and next steps in the fundraising pipeline.
- Build a Data Room with your deck, traction, team and ask, then invite teammates to the workspace. Submit your startup on Round Funded.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is FrontFundr?
FrontFundr is a Canadian equity crowdfunding platform and registered exempt market dealer. Companies apply, go through due diligence and, if listed, offer securities to the platform’s investors.
How much does FrontFundr cost?
Investors pay a 3.0% processing fee, subject to a $10 minimum and $350 maximum. Companies pay due diligence, listing and trade fees, but those company fees are not published.
Does FrontFundr have a free plan or trial?
The public information cited here did not identify a free plan or trial for FrontFundr. Round Funded has no free tier, but first-time accounts can get a 3-day free trial on Round+ or Round Pro.
What did AI Perks choose for its raise?
We at AI Perks raised our round through Round Funded. We chose it for its investor database, AI email agent, interface, teammate access, Data Room and tracking links. Explore investor matching on Round Funded.
Can teammates use Round Funded?
Yes. Teammates can be invited into a startup’s workspace. The Data Room can be built and shared for free on every plan.