What VCs Actually Count as “Traction” at Pre-Seed
Early-stage founders often ask:
“We don’t have revenue yet - can we still raise?”
Yes. But only if you show traction that feels real.
Here's what investors actually look for at pre-seed:
- A waitl
I raised 10 Lac INR for my startup with just an Instagram story
But now, raising funds is much more difficult.
I was reading the Pre-Seed Playbook by Eximius Ventures (BTW a great read for early-stage founders)
I realised, I was making a lot of mi
Some Indian-based VC Firms that do Pre-Seed funding!
- 100X.VC
- Eximius Ventures
- IndiaQuotient
- All In Capital
- Huddle Ventures
- 8i Ventures
- Signal Ventures
- Golden Sparrow
(US based fund focused on Indian Pre-Seed & Seed)
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Top 10 accelerators that you can apply at a super early stage 👇
1. Y Combinator | Pre-Seed, $500k for ~10%
2. Entrepreneur First | No team, $250k for ~9%
3. South Park Commons| Pre-Idea, $1M
4. Antler Global | Pre-Seed, $250k for 9%
5. Sequoia
When A VC firm is investing capital in your startup, how much money do they expect in return?
I was having a talk with a very senior VC recently, I asked him the same question. He gave me the following data:
Pre-seed/seed - 100x returns
Series A -