Fundraising is how you raise your next fund. After you’ve invested Fund I and shown results, you need to convince LPs to commit capital to Fund II. This involves identifying potential LPs, preparing materials that demonstrate your track record, managing relationships over months of conversations, and closing commitments.Most of the infrastructure you need for fundraising already exists in tools we’ve covered in previous chapters. Fund operations software generates your track record materials. Your CRM tracks LP relationships. Sourcing-type tools can help identify potential LPs. There’s no separate “fundraising platform” and there probably shouldn’t be.The reason is that fundraising is fundamentally relationship-driven. LPs are making long-term commitments based on trust in you and your team. The relationship between a fund and its LPs is delicate and requires personal attention. Building too much LP-facing technology risks making the process feel impersonal and potentially damaging those relationships.This chapter covers what fundraising actually involves from a technology perspective, what tools you already have that support it, and why you should focus on being organized internally rather than building LP-facing platforms.
From a technology and data perspective, fundraising has a few key components.Identifying potential LPs: Before you can raise money, you need to know who to talk to. This is like sourcing, but for LPs instead of companies. You want to identify institutional investors, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and fund-of-funds that invest in your stage, geography, and strategy.You can use datasets from PitchBook, Specter, and similar platforms to research potential LPs. Look at who invested in similar funds. Track which LPs are active in your space. Understand their investment criteria and portfolio construction. This is reconnaissance work that helps you target the right prospects.Preparing materials: LPs want to see your track record, fund strategy, team backgrounds, and portfolio performance. Fund operations software generates much of this automatically. Portfolio summaries, performance metrics (IRR, TVPI, DPI), realized and unrealized returns. You’re synthesizing this into pitch decks and fund memos, but the underlying data comes from your operations platform.Managing the process: Fundraising takes months. You’re talking to dozens of potential LPs at different stages. Some are in early conversations. Others are doing diligence. Some have committed. You need to track where everyone is, what materials they’ve seen, what questions they’ve asked, and what the next steps are. This is CRM work. The same system you use for tracking founder relationships works for tracking LP relationships.Data rooms: When LPs do diligence, they want access to detailed fund information. Legal documents, portfolio company details, historical performance data, compliance materials. You typically use a data room tool like Docsend to organize and share these materials. Docsend shows you who’s accessed what and how much time they spent on each document. This helps you understand which LPs are seriously engaged.Ongoing communication: Throughout fundraising, you’re sending updates, answering questions, and staying in touch with prospects. This is mostly email and meetings, supported by your CRM to ensure you don’t lose track of conversations.
You might notice there’s no dominant platform specifically for fundraising in the same way Affinity dominates for CRM or Carta dominates for fund administration. This is intentional, or at least revealing.The relationship between a fund and its LPs is built on trust and personal connection. LPs are committing significant capital for 10+ years based on their belief in you. This requires extensive personal interaction: dinners, meetings, introductions to your portfolio companies, conversations about strategy and performance.Technology should help you be organized and prepared for these conversations. It shouldn’t replace them or make them feel automated. If you build too much LP-facing technology, you risk making fundraising feel impersonal. An LP who gets automated emails, standardized updates, and is directed to web portals might feel like they’re one of many rather than a valued partner.This is different from portfolio company support where founders might appreciate self-service tools. LPs expect white-glove treatment. They’re used to high-touch relationships with fund managers. Inserting too much technology into this process can actually hurt.What this means practically: Focus on internal tools that help you be more organized, responsive, and prepared. Better CRM so you never forget an LP conversation. Better operations software so you can generate track record materials quickly. Good data room organization so LPs can find what they need during diligence.Don’t build LP portals where LPs log in to see fund updates. Don’t automate LP communication. Don’t create platforms where LPs interact with your fund through software rather than through you. The personal touch matters enormously in fundraising.
Since most of fundraising is covered by tools you already have, here’s what to use for each piece.LP sourcing: Use the same sourcing tools you’d use for finding companies, but apply them to finding LPs. PitchBook has good data on institutional investors and their investment activity. Specter can help identify active LPs in your space. You’re researching who invests in funds like yours and building a target list.This is less systematic than company sourcing because LP lists are smaller and more relationship-driven. But the same research principles apply: understand the landscape, identify targets that fit your criteria, research their preferences and past behavior.Track record materials: Your fund operations platform (Carta Fund Forecasting, Vestberry, Standard Metrics) should generate the performance data and portfolio summaries you need. Export this into your pitch deck and fundraising materials. Don’t build separate systems for fundraising collateral. It should come directly from your operations data.LP relationship tracking: Use your CRM (Attio, Affinity) to track LP prospects and conversations. Treat it like deal flow: LPs move through stages (initial contact, meeting, diligence, committed). Track what materials they’ve seen, what questions they’ve asked, and when you need to follow up. This is exactly what your CRM is for.Some funds maintain separate systems for LP relationships versus company relationships. This usually isn’t necessary unless you have very different workflows. The same CRM that tracks founder relationships can track LP relationships with different pipelines.Data rooms: Docsend is the standard. Organize your fund documents, portfolio information, and legal materials into a clean structure. Grant access to LPs as they enter diligence. Track what they’re looking at to understand their concerns and interests. Docsend analytics show you which documents get the most attention, which helps you prepare for their questions.Communication: Email and calendar, same as everything else. The key is using your CRM to track the conversations so you maintain context over months of fundraising.Answering standard questions: LPs often ask similar questions across diligence processes. Questions about fund structure, investment strategy, fee structure, portfolio construction, team backgrounds, past performance. You can use technology internally to track these common questions and prepare responses efficiently.Maintain a document with standard questions and your answers, with links to relevant documents in your data room. When an LP asks about your investment process, you’re not starting from scratch - you’re customizing a response you’ve already refined. When they ask about fees, you can quickly point them to the relevant section of the LPM in your data room.This is internal efficiency that helps you be responsive without making it feel automated. LPs still get personalized communication, but you’re not reinventing answers to common questions every time.
Fundraising is covered by tools you already have. Use sourcing tools to identify potential LPs, fund operations software to generate track record materials, your CRM to manage relationships, and Docsend for data rooms.Don’t build LP-facing platforms or try to automate the fundraising process. The relationship between a fund and its LPs is built on trust and personal connection. Technology should help you be organized and prepared internally, not replace the human touch that fundraising requires.Focus your engineering time on tools that improve your investment process (research, deal flow, operations). Fundraising happens episodically (every few years) and is relationship-driven. The tools you already have are sufficient if you use them well.In the next chapter, we’ll look at your fund’s website and public presence, which is often simpler than you think but still important to get right.