Short answer: at pre-seed and seed, an advisor is worth it if they prepare you, not if they talk to investors in your place. An early-stage fund invests in the team, so it wants to hear the round from the founder; an intermediary selling on your behalf takes away. What does add is walking into the first meeting with your story, your numbers and your investor list reviewed by someone who has sat on the side that decides. If you have raised before and have a network, you probably do not need one.
We write this from Senda Partners, which does this work and invests at pre-seed. That is why we know what shows from inside the committee when a founder arrives prepared, and when they arrive with someone who speaks for them.
Why early-stage investors distrust intermediaries
In a pre-seed or seed round there are almost no metrics to analyse. The investor is betting on how the team thinks, how it handles an uncomfortable question and whether it knows its market better than anyone. If a third party presents, negotiates or answers, the investor loses exactly what they came to evaluate.
That is why models sold as "we raise your round" have a bad name: high fees on the money that comes in, mass emails to lists of funds and a pitch that does not come from the founder. To a fund, a startup that needs someone else to sell it is a warning sign.
When it is worth it
- It is your first round. You do not know the order meetings follow, what a fund expects at each stage or when the real negotiation happens. Getting it wrong costs months.
- Your round is not moving. You have meetings, but nobody takes the next step. It is almost always the story: you explain what you do, not why it is an investment.
- You do not know which funds to approach or in what order. Writing to all of them at once burns the market. A short, well chosen and well ordered list closes more rounds than a long one.
- You get a term sheet and cannot read it. Today's clauses shape your next round. It pays to have it reviewed by someone who has negotiated them from both sides.
When it is not worth it
- You have raised before and know investors. A second opinion on the deck is enough.
- You do not yet have a team or a validated problem. No advisor fixes that. Build first.
- You want someone to get the money for you. Nobody can raise your round in your place, and whoever promises it is selling you something else.
What separates a good advisor from a bad one
| Prepares you | Sells your round for you |
|---|---|
| Works on the story, deck, model and data room with you | Presents your startup to funds themselves |
| Helps you pick a few investors and the order to approach them | Sends your deck to hundreds of contacts |
| Prepares every meeting, but you run it | Speaks in meetings on your behalf |
| Charges for the work and explains what happens if the round does not close | Charges mainly a percentage of the money raised |
| Has invested or sits on investment committees | Has never been on the side that decides |
Five questions to ask before signing
- Have you invested, or do you sit on a committee? It is the best way to know whether they understand how a round is decided.
- What do you do and what do I do? The right answer leaves the selling in your hands.
- How do you charge, and on what base? Be wary of high success fees also calculated on public money.
- How many rounds do you work on at once? If it is many, yours will not get the attention it needs.
- Which rounds like mine have you seen close? Stage and sector matter more than the total number.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a fundraising advisor to raise a pre-seed round? Not always. It makes sense if it is your first round, if the round is not moving or if you do not know which funds to approach. If you have raised before and have a network, a second opinion is enough.
Do funds distrust startups that come with an advisor? They distrust whoever sells the round instead of the founder. An advisor who prepares you and does not speak for you in meetings does not take away: it shows in how clear your story and numbers are.
Can an advisor raise the round for me? No. The founder sells the round; the advisor prepares you and stays with you through the process.
On how each model charges, see how much a fundraising advisor costs, and to compare firms, the best fundraising advisors in Spain.
Nacho Sánchez is an early-stage investor at Archipélago Next and Suda. At Senda, he helps founders raise their round from the investor's side. Before that he was at Antler, Adara Ventures and Demium.