Free tool
How many investors do you need
to contact?
Enter your target raise and cheque size. You get the number of investors to contact, and the replies and meetings it takes, worked backwards from the money. Free, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
A work email reserves 5,000 credits ($50).
$2,000,000
What you want to close this round.
$250,000
The blended average across the round.
Mixed outreach. Cold runs nearer 8%, warm introductions nearer 25%.
How many replies become first meetings.
How many meetings end in a committed allocation.
2 or 3 if a lead brings follow-on cheques.
Build this list in Ishara
Your list: 1,667 investors. Ishara ranks the 32,822 investors in its directory against your raise, with a reason beside every name and the warm path to each.
Join the waiting listA work email reserves 5,000 credits ($50).
Every stage, worked backwards
At your rates: 200 replies, 80 first meetings, and 8 committed closes stand between the first email and 8 cheques.
| Stage | Needed | Assumption |
|---|---|---|
| Investors contacted | 1,667 | worked backwards |
| Replies | 200 | 12% of contacts reply |
| First meetings | 80 | 40% of replies become meetings |
| Committed closes | 8 | 10% of meetings end in a close |
| Cheques | 8 | 1 cheque per close |
| Amount closed | $2,000,000 | 8 cheques at $250,000 average |
Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
The funnel maths, worked backwards
A raise is four conversions stacked together. Start at the money and divide backwards:
- Cheques needed = target raise ÷ average cheque
- Closes needed = cheques ÷ cheques per close
- Meetings needed = closes ÷ meeting-to-term-sheet rate
- Replies needed = meetings ÷ reply-to-meeting rate
- Investors to contact = replies ÷ reply rate
Every stage rounds up. Small changes compound: doubling the reply rate halves the list. Terms are in the glossary.
What moves each rate
Warm paths beat cold. An introduction from someone the investor trusts is the difference between contacting hundreds and contacting dozens, and Ishara shows the warm paths from your own network for every investor.
Fit beats volume. Investors whose cheque and thesis fit your raise reply more often. The directory of 32,822 investors filters by cheque size, stage and sector.
Follow-ups count. Many replies arrive on the second or third touch. Ishara email reminds you when nobody has replied and ranks your templates by the reply rates they earn.
Then run the list as a pipeline
The number only becomes a raise if every name moves through stages you can see. Find my investors ranks the directory against your raise with a reason beside every name and sends the shortlist into a staged pipeline in one step. Every reply, meeting and call lands on the investor's record, so the whole team sees where each conversation stands.
Raising is one job. Ishara for founders shows the rest: the directory, matching, the pipeline and the context from your own mail and calls in one workspace. Selling to governments instead? The bid pipeline calculator runs the same arithmetic for tenders.
Frequently asked questions
How many investors should I contact when fundraising?
Work backwards from the money. Divide your target raise by your average cheque to get cheques needed, then divide by your meeting-to-term-sheet, reply-to-meeting and reply rates in turn. At a 12% reply rate, 40% reply-to-meeting and 10% meeting-to-term-sheet, a $2M raise at $250k cheques means contacting about 1,700 investors. At a 25% reply rate the same raise needs about 800 investors, not 1,700, which is why warm introductions and a well-targeted list matter so much.
Where do the default conversion rates come from?
They are starting points for a mixed list of cold emails and introductions. Your real rates depend on how warm the path is, how well each investor fits your cheque and sector, and whether you follow up. Replace them with your own as replies come in.
Does the calculator store or send what I type?
No. All of the maths runs in your browser on this page, including the two charts. Nothing you enter is stored, transmitted or logged.
What do the three presets do?
They set the reply rate only: Cold sets 8%, Mixed sets 12% and Warm intros sets 25%. The funnel, the curve and the table then recompute from your other inputs.
Keep exploring
Where to go next.
Bid pipeline calculator
How many tenders to pursue for the revenue you need.
For founders
Find the investors who fit your raise, and run it in one place.
Investor matching
A ranked list for your raise, with the reason beside every name.
Early-access pricing
Free, Pro and Business per seat. Enterprise is scoped with the team.
You have the number.
Now build the list.
Ishara ranks 32,822 investors against your raise, with a reason beside every name and the warm path to each, then runs the shortlist as a pipeline.
Early access in waves · A work email reserves 5,000 credits ($50) · Arabic and English