What a warm introduction is
A warm introduction is when an investor hears about a founder from someone they already trust, rather than from the founder cold. That person is often a portfolio founder the investor has already backed, a co-investor, an advisor, or an existing investor in the company making a connection for a future round.
Because the introduction comes from someone the investor already trusts, it carries a form of vouching that cold outreach can't replicate. The investor treats the opportunity as pre-filtered to some degree, which is usually why warm introductions get read and responded to faster. For an investor, a steady flow of warm introductions is often their best source of deal flow, since it arrives pre-filtered by people whose judgement they already rely on.
A warm introduction doesn't guarantee interest from the investor. It gets the founder a fairer hearing than reaching out with no context behind them, which matters most in the early part of a fundraising round, before an investor has any other way to judge who's worth their time.
How a warm introduction differs from cold outreach
- A warm introduction comes through someone the investor already trusts. Cold outreach comes directly from the founder with no such backing.
- The person making a warm introduction has usually done some filtering already, since their own credibility is attached to it. Cold outreach hasn't been filtered by anyone else.
- Warm introductions depend on the founder, or someone helping them, already having a connection into the investor's network. Cold outreach doesn't require one.
Where warm introductions typically come from
- Other founders. Especially founders the investor has already backed, since they know what the investor looks for.
- Co-investors and advisors. People who already work with the investor on other deals or portfolio companies.
- Investor networks and syndicates. Groups such as an angel network often pass deals between trusted members.
- Existing investors. An investor already in the company introducing the founder to someone else in their network, usually ahead of a follow-on round.
