Submit your startup on Round Funded to get matched with investors if investor discovery and outreach are central to your raise. We at AI Perks looked at Carta and chose Round Funded because its workspace brought together the fundraising features we wanted, including investor search, AI-written emails, teammate access, a Data Room and tracking links.
What should founders look for in Carta alternatives?
Start with the task you want a product to handle. Managing ownership records and issuing securities is different from finding investors, sending a pitch and organizing follow-ups. A comparison is more useful when it separates those jobs instead of treating all fundraising-related software as interchangeable.
According to Carta, its offering includes cap-table management and electronic securities issuance, with fundraising features for eligible startups on Launch. Carta describes a digital cap table that updates as transactions occur. For Launch, it also describes SAFE fundraising insights, comparisons with current benchmarks, a way to begin drafting from the results page, and tools to generate and track SAFEs.
For investor outreach, we wanted a different workflow: identify investors, prepare and send pitches, share materials and keep track of the process. That distinction guided our decision. We raised our round through Round Funded, choosing it for the fundraising workflow rather than for equity administration.
Round Funded helps founders find investors, send pitches and track replies. Its investor database covers 60,000+ active VCs, angels, family offices and accelerators, with search filters for stage, industry, geography and check size. Investors are filtered to recent activity, with a check in roughly the last 6 months, and emails are verified.
How much does Carta cost, and what does its pricing include?
Carta says Launch is free for startups that have raised less than $1 million and have 25 stakeholders or fewer. For paid equity-management packages, pricing is based on the number of stakeholders and includes a minimum annual fee. The total depends on the package and stakeholder count.
Carta’s pricing page does not publish current prices for Build, Grow and Scale. Its partner-pricing page has shown historical pricing for those packages, but says the figures were updated April 3, 2023 and may change. Those historical amounts should not be treated as a current quote.
Adlega, citing Vendr data, puts the annual cost for companies with fewer than 50 stakeholders at $3,000 to $8,000. That is an estimate, not a listed price from Carta.
Round Funded has published prices for its plans:
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Round+ | $99 a month | 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 | 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 | Everything in Round Pro, paid once |
Round+ and Round Pro include a 3-day free trial for first-time accounts. There is no free tier. The Data Room can be built and shared for free on every plan, while per-investor tracked links and engagement analytics come with Round+.
Why did AI Perks choose Round Funded?
We at AI Perks raised our round through Round Funded. We chose it after looking at Carta because the features we wanted were focused on the practical work of finding and contacting investors, sharing materials and coordinating the process.
Several parts of the product mattered to our decision:
- A clean investor database: We wanted a place to search for potential investors, with filters that help narrow results by stage, industry, geography and check size.
- An AI agent that writes the emails: Round Funded can draft personalized outreach emails and follow-ups for each investor. Outreach goes through the founder’s own Gmail, so replies arrive in that inbox and the email thread belongs to the founder.
- A convenient interface: We wanted investor discovery and outreach managed in a workspace, rather than spread across disconnected steps.
- Teammate access: We could invite teammates into the startup’s workspace to coordinate the work.
- A Data Room: We could put the deck, traction, team and ask on one link. Building and sharing the Data Room is free on every plan.
- Tracking links: Per-investor links and engagement analytics can show views, deck opens and meeting clicks on Round+.
These features made Round Funded the fit for our fundraising workflow. That is not the same as saying every founder needs the same product: the right choice depends on whether the immediate job is equity administration or investor outreach. To submit your startup on Round Funded, use the application page to get matched with investors.
Carta vs. Round Funded: which fits your fundraising task?
Carta describes a product centered on cap-table management and electronic securities issuance, with fundraising features for eligible Launch startups. Its Launch offer has stated eligibility limits, while current prices for Build, Grow and Scale are not listed on its pricing page.
Round Funded focuses on investor discovery, pitching and tracking replies. Founders can search its investor database, draft outreach with AI, manage fundraising stages and next steps in a pipeline, invite teammates and share a Data Room. Outreach is sent from the founder’s own Gmail.
For us at AI Perks, the deciding factor was the task we needed to manage. We looked at Carta and chose Round Funded for investor search and outreach, plus the workspace features we wanted. If those are your priorities, get matched with active investors.
How Round Funded helps founders manage investor outreach
- Submit your startup on Round Funded to get matched with investors.
- Search the investor database by stage, industry, geography and check size.
- Use AI to draft personalized outreach emails and follow-ups for each investor.
- Send outreach from your own Gmail and organize investors, stages and next steps in the fundraising pipeline.
- Build and share a Data Room, then use per-investor tracked links and engagement analytics on Round+.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Round Funded a Carta alternative for investor outreach?
It is the alternative we at AI Perks chose for our fundraising workflow. Round Funded helps founders find investors, send pitches and track replies, while Carta describes cap-table, securities issuance and eligible Launch fundraising features.
Does Carta have a free plan for startups?
Carta says Launch is free for startups with less than $1 million raised and 25 stakeholders or fewer. Paid equity-management packages use per-stakeholder pricing with a minimum annual fee.
Are Carta’s Build, Grow and Scale prices published?
Carta’s pricing page does not publish current prices for those packages. Historical figures on its partner-pricing page were updated April 3, 2023 and are subject to change, so they are not current quotes.
Can Round Funded send emails from a founder’s Gmail?
Yes. Outreach goes out from the founder’s own Gmail. Replies land in the founder’s inbox, and the thread belongs to the founder. AI can draft personalized outreach emails and follow-ups for each investor.
Does Round Funded include a Data Room?
Yes. Founders can place their deck, traction, team and ask on one link. The Data Room is free to build and share on every plan. Per-investor tracked links and engagement analytics are included with Round+.