The most reliable free source for recently funded US startups is the SEC's EDGAR database. A company that raises money through a private placement files a Form D within 15 days of its first sale, and the filing is public, dated, and lists the officers by name. Funding news and demo-day lists are quicker to read but miss many rounds. Use both.
A funding round is a buying trigger. New cash means hiring, new tools and vendors replaced because the old ones did not scale. This page covers where to look in order of effort, how to read a Form D, who to write to, and a message that fits the moment. It does not use scrapers or bought lists.
Why a round is a good moment to write
A startup with a month-old raise has money it must spend and promises it made to investors about growth. It is hiring, setting up payroll and benefits, buying software, and picking an accountant, a lawyer and a recruiter. The window for a vendor to be considered is open for weeks to a few months, and it closes as the first choices are made. That is why a dated list beats a static one.
Source 1: funding news and demo days
Startup news sites, a company's own blog post, and the posts founders make on professional networks announce rounds, usually the day they close. Accelerators publish their demo-day company lists, which are a ready list of 20 to 80 companies, all recently backed. Read these first, they take 20 minutes, and note the company, the founder and the date. The limit: many seed rounds are never announced.
Source 2: local business journals
Regional business papers run weekly roundups of local funding. If you sell to companies in one city, a roundup gives you 5 to 10 names a week with the amount and the lead investor. Search "[your city] raises seed round" and read the last month.
Source 3: Form D filings on EDGAR, step by step
- Go to the SEC's EDGAR site (sec.gov) and open the latest-filings search, which can be filtered by form type. Choose form type D. Allow 10 minutes to learn the screen the first time.
- Set a date range of the last 30 days. Each row is one filing: the company name, the date, and a link.
- Open a filing. The notice shows the issuer's name and address, the industry group, the date of first sale, the total amount offered and sold, and a list of related persons, which means executive officers, directors and promoters, each with a name and role.
- Skip the funds. Filings with the industry group Pooled Investment Fund are investment vehicles, not operating businesses.
- Keep filings that fit your buyer: amount sold in your range, a state you serve, an industry you sell to.
- Copy company, officer names, role and date into a sheet. Find the website by name.
Reading a filing takes about two minutes. Anyone may read them; the SEC publishes them for the public, and bulk collection with automated tools is limited by its fair-access rules, so read by hand.
Reading a filing and choosing the person
For a team under about 20, write to the chief executive or founder listed. For 20 to 100 people, look for the finance lead, head of operations or head of people, depending on what you sell. The related persons list names directors and promoters as well, who are usually investors, so do not write to them. How to find the decision maker at a company helps match job to product, and how to cold email a CEO covers the short style founders answer.
Treat the form's address with care. It is sometimes a law firm's address or a founder's home. Use the company website for where to write, and do not mail or visit a residence.
A worked month
Northfield Recruiting is a two-person firm in Minneapolis that places finance staff at young companies. In October they search Form D filings from the last 30 days with Minnesota as the state. There are 90 filings. Forty are investment funds, which leaves 50 operating companies. Twenty report between $1 million and $10 million sold, which is their range. Twelve of those have a working website and a named finance or operations lead. Reading and logging each takes about 4 minutes, so close to an hour for the whole list. They add 6 names from the local business journal and 8 from an accelerator demo day. That gives 26 names, a list of real, dated, named buyers with no purchase.
A first message that fits the moment
Subject: Congratulations on the round
"Hi Anika, I saw that Lumen Row filed a Form D this month, so congratulations. Companies at your stage often need their first finance hire within a few months, and I place finance people with young companies in Minneapolis. If that is on your list, I would be glad to share what I see other teams paying and how long searches take. If not, no reply needed. Dev, Northfield Recruiting, [address]. Reply STOP and I will not write again."
It says what was seen, why it matters, one offer, and an exit. Change the offer for your trade: an accountant offers a first-year bookkeeping setup, a software vendor offers a 15-minute look at one workflow. The message is for a company that has not asked to hear from you, so the CAN-SPAM basics apply: accurate From and subject, a physical address, and a working opt-out. This is general information, not legal advice.
How long the window stays open
Write within two weeks of the filing, while the decisions are still being made. After about three months, the first vendors have been picked and you are asking for a replacement, which is a harder sale. Add the date to your sheet and sort by it. For other triggers to run alongside, how to find companies that are about to buy and what intent data is list the public signals, how to build a lead list turns them into a working sheet, how to use Google Alerts for leads sets up a daily watch for funding news, and how to use NAICS codes to find customers sizes the wider market.
A list of 26 names is only worth something if the emails go out this month. Rocketship finds the buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and both Launch and Frontier start with a 7-day free trial, card required.