What is the difference between ThatRound, angel investment networks and other fundraising platforms

Fundraising is often framed as a simple hustle: polish your deck, email investors, maybe launch a crowdfunding campaign.

But if you’re a UK founder raising pre-seed, seed, or Series A, you already know the reality is very different.

The early-stage funding market is fragmented, opaque, and noisy. There are thousands of investors out there; angels, syndicates, networks, funds, but very little clarity on who is active right now, and relevant to your stage, sector, and geography.

Most platforms promise access. Few provide signal. And almost none help you answer the first, most important question in any raise: Which investors should I actually be speaking to, and why?

The real problem: too many investors, not enough signal

There’s no shortage of ways to reach investors. Founders are told they can:

• Cold-email angels found on LinkedIn or Google
• Apply to angel networks or syndicates
• Upload a deck to investor databases
• Pitch through crowdfunding platforms like Crowdcube or Republic
• Work with brokers, introducers, or fundraising consultants
• Attend founder networking events

Each of these routes can work, in the right context but every route comes with hidden costs:

• Time spent researching who’s relevant
• Separate onboarding and admin
• Cold outreach with low response rates
• Little to no feedback when investors pass
• No clear way to compare outcomes across options

Most founders don’t fail because they can’t find investors. They struggle because they can’t tell which investors are a fit, which are active, and which route gives them the best chance of meaningful conversations. The result is familiar for many; scattered outreach, wasted effort, slow responses and a round lacking momentum.

ThatRound comes before your pitch

Most platforms are places where you pitch your round. ThatRound is where you figure out where and who to pitch to first.

We sit one step earlier in the fundraising journey. Before applications. Before outreach. Before guesswork.

Think of ThatRound as your round's intelligence layer, the place where you identify investor fit, compare options, and decide how to approach your raise with intent.

Instead of guessing which platform or network might work, ThatRound lets you see the full early-stage investor market in one place. Using ThatRound you can compare networks, syndicates, and funds side by side and quickly understand who is relevant to your stage, sector, and raise size.

Thanks to ThatRound’s matching process, you can get warm introductions to decision-makers where there’s a clear match and receive actionable feedback when there isn’t.

What do we mean by “investor platforms”?

The term investor platform is used loosely, and that’s part of the confusion.

Some platforms focus on angel investors. Others are built around VC discovery, helping founders find institutional funds. Crowdfunding platforms focus on retail investors, usually once significant traction or lead capital is already committed.

These are all valid paths to capital, but each one only covers only part of the investor market and offers limited visibility into outcomes or fit. Databases of angels are notoriously challenging because for many angels, investing is a side-hobby and they simply don’t want to be found online.

Crucially, most platforms don’t tell you whether you should be using them in the first place.

Founders are left to apply, pitch, and wait, often without knowing if the investor was ever a realistic target, or if they’ve even received the pitch.

Why ThatRound is different

ThatRound isn’t another place to upload a deck and wait. We sit above individual platforms and networks as the decision layer in early-stage fundraising, helping founders make smarter investor choices before they commit time, and money.

Where most platforms give you access to a narrow pocket of investors, ThatRound gives you visibility across the entire early-stage landscape and helps you identify which investors are genuinely worth engaging. We combine structured market data with AI-assisted onboarding and matching to surface where your company fits, and just as importantly, where it doesn’t.

Through AI-led analysis of your pitch, stage, sector, traction, and raise parameters, ThatRound compares you against investor criteria across angel networks, syndicates, and funds. This allows you to see alignment upfront: who is relevant, what they expect, how they operate, and what it will cost to engage. Instead of guessing or learning through rejection, you get clarity early.

When there’s a strong match, we replace cold outreach with warm, relevant introductions to decision-makers. And when there isn’t, our process is designed to generate feedback rather than silence — helping you improve your pitch and focus your efforts where they’re most likely to convert.

This isn’t about maximising the number of applications you send. It’s about fast-tracking the right ones, using data and AI to turn a fragmented market into a clear, focused fundraising strategy.

One place to access the full early-stage investor market

Through ThatRound, founders can explore and compare:

• Angel networks
• Investor syndicates
• Early-stage VC funds open to pre-seed and seed
• Institutional brokers, fundraising services and introducers

These are different paths to investors, each with different strengths.

ThatRound brings them together in one place, with transparency, structure, and signal, so you can decide what makes sense for your round.

ThatRound vs Investor Platforms vs Crowdfunding

More than a platform: infrastructure for fundraising strategy

Rather than forcing founders down a single path, ThatRound helps you build a fundraising roadmap:

• See which investors exist, beyond your network
• Compare investor fit, responsiveness, and expectations
• Focus your outreach where there’s real alignment
• Get warm introductions where possible
• Learn from structured feedback when you don’t

This replaces spray-and-pray with targeted, intelligent fundraising. Inspired by marketplaces like Moneysupermarket and Rightmove, ThatRound is building the infrastructure to make UK fundraising more transparent and less wasteful.

Founders save time and avoid dead ends. Investors see fewer, more relevant startups. Capital flows more effectively to teams that are ready.

Start your raise without the guesswork

The hardest part of fundraising isn’t finding investors. You’ll find plenty. The hard part is knowing which ones are worth your time, and how to reach them with credibility.

ThatRound helps you answer that, clearly and confidently. Whether you go on to raise through angel networks, syndicates, funds, crowdfunding, or a combination of all of them, we help you start in the right place:

With investor fit, not guesswork.

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