New Product Launch -- Introducing MCP Access Customer expectations are evolving rapidly. And so is @raisemetal. Starting today, all founders can get MCP access to the Metal platform — and use the depth of our platform's capabilities using Claude. Investor discovery. Pipeline management. Warm intro paths. All from a single prompt. In the video below, we show what this looks like in practice — going from zero to a fully built investor pipeline in under 15 minutes. Metal MCP is now live at metal.so

➡️ New Product Feature — New Funds Hundreds of new VC funds hit the market every year with fresh capital to deploy, a new thesis, and a drive to prove out their approach. Today, there is no sophisticated mechanism for founders to see what new funds are entering the market, and which ones are most relevant for their Company. That changes today. New Funds on @metalraise surfaces investors that recently started a new firm, or that raised a new fund, filtered to your sector, stage, and geography. New Funds is now live at metal.so See it in action in the video below →

Getting a 2nd meeting with an investor often may feel like momentum. But what does it actually predict? We looked at 24 months of data across hundreds of raises on @metalraise. Healthcare and Consumer founders get the most follow-on meetings — 44% and 41% conversion from 1st to 2nd. AI founders are at 25%. But here's the counterintuitive part: when AI founders do get a 2nd meeting, they're 2× more likely to close a round than Consumer founders. Our theory: AI is oversaturated at the top of funnel. Investors are seeing hundreds of pitches a week, so the bar to earn a 2nd meeting is just higher. But when they say yes to a follow-on, they're already more convinced. A 2nd meetings with an investor can mean something different depending on your sector.

💥 Partnership Announcement: @metalraise x Rebel Fund 💥 Rebel Fund has backed 300 YC startups — consistently identifying the top 10% of every batch through a data-driven investment theorem. Today, we're announcing a partnership that gives all Rebel Fund founders 25% off @Metalraise. Watch below.

💥 Partnership Announcement: Metal x Gaingels 💥 @gaingelsvc has spent over a decade backing founders from every background, identity, and walk of life — deploying $1B across 2,400 companies and 70 unicorns. The belief has always been that diverse founders deserve every advantage. Today, all @gaingelsvc founders get 25% off @metalraise.

For the longest time, founders have struggled to figure out who in their network can intro them to VCs. Today, @metalraise changes that. Introducing Paths. Connect your network data (Gmail, calendar, etc.) and instantly see who can introduce you to which investors on your pipeline. Granular filters and AI-drafted intro requests give you a level of efficiency and precision that 2x-es calendar density across your raise. Paths is now live at metal.so →

Introducing the Metal Data Desk. Over the past two years, I've personally spoken with 1,000 founders that were actively raising venture rounds. One consistent theme was the absence of data and insights on the raise process itself. Today, we're changing that. The Metal Data Desk will publish regular insights on venture fundraising — starting with success rates. Only 1 in 7 founders that attempt to raise venture capital successfully close a round. In the below visual, we show how this varies across sectors and stages. @metalraise

Investors are constantly "talking" — podcasts, blog posts, social media. Historically, founders have had no way to listen. That changes today. For all founders using @metalraise. Introducing Market Signals — scan 1m investor data points and find the ones aligned with your business model.

Most founders pitch the wrong investors. Here's how to find the right ones. 🎯

Your investor meeting ended. Now what? Metal tracks it for you. ⚡

We ran our own pitch through Richard. Here's the feedback we got. No filter, no edits — just what the AI actually said. Try it on yours at → metal.so

👉 On how to figure out what lands well with investors For early-stage rounds, very few founders know the exact narrative and vision that ultimately lands well. For most founders, fundraising ends up being an iterative process built around intelligent trial-and-error. One the most effective skills is the ability to recognize what is working and what is not. It is through this iterative process that founders ultimately figure out the right narrative arc and vision that gets funded. In the age of AI, founders don't need dozens of calls with investors to figure out the right iterations. With @MetalRaise, founders can use our native notetaker that provides super actionable post-meeting intelligence. Despite 7 years of experience in raising back-to-back venture rounds, I learn so much from the post meeting intelligence via Metal! 👇

If seed valuations feel irrational right now, you’re not crazy. In the same market: • Some founders are struggling to raise a pre-seed • There was a seed done at a $5B post Both are true. @alexiskold put it really well last week: the world is really split right now. Outliers are skewing perception. ~$20M post for a strong seed is still very fair.

Top Pre-seed VCs invest in ~1 out of every 100 meetings they take. That means 99 strong founders hear “no.” At a recent @MetalRaise event, Harris Stolzenberg (Partner @ @pearvc) shared that when investing, he asks himself the following: • Can they hire? • Can they sell? • Can they fundraise? • Would I go work for them? You don’t need to score 10/10 on all four. But you do need to be exceptional at something. When the bar is that high, most no’s aren’t about talent. They’re simply about fit.

Is revenue actually required to raise pre-seed? Last week, @MetalRaise invited Kate McAndrew (Founder & Partner @_baukunst ) and Harris Stolzenberg (Partner @pearvc) to speak with 250 founders about what pre-seed investors really look for. Kate challenged the common narrative that revenue is required to raise a pre-seed. In fact, 90% of Baukunst Fund I investments were in startups with no revenue. Clip below 👇 Full convo in the replies.

Webinar Announcement: This coming Friday, Metal is welcoming Jenny Fielding from Everywhere Ventures and Alex Iskold from 2048 Ventures to discuss investor expectations at Pre-seed and Seed. RSVP here: luma.com/14qrjw3c

Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A investors all ask about revenue — but they are asking different questions. Median revenue benchmarks: • Pre-Seed: $100k–$500k ARR • Seed: $500k–$2M ARR • Series A: $2M–$8M ARR Founders benchmark against the wrong stage. Revenue isn’t a checkbox. It’s a relative position in a stage-specific distribution. More benchmarks → metal.so

The biggest misconception in fundraising right now: “New funds are all micro-funds.” Per our research, 1,050 new VC funds launched in 2025 so far (~$250B). Most of that capital was in $100M vehicles. New funds are systematically under-targeted. Check out the data below 👇

This is what an "active" early-stage platform looks like. 96 new investments, programs operating in parallel, and real outcomes across the Techstars portfolio ⭐️

AI fundraising feels crowded - the data tells a more nuanced story. Across the past 12 months: • Thousands of investors have been active in AI • Deal volume is still concentrated at Pre-Seed & Seed • Activity is increasingly global (not just the US) The constraint isn’t capital. It’s targeting investors who are actually stage-aligned and active. — Data via metal.so