Sameer Nusrat

Building the future of fundraising at @metalraise. Previously @DeloitteUK @Airlift_pk. Alumni @lifeatlums

[Usman Gul @usmangul]

💥 New Product Launch 💥

After two years of development, @metalraise is launching Autopilot -- our automation platform that draws on proprietary intelligence to run the round process for founders.

Our thesis is simple -- in the future, founders that are best positioned to raise will not run the round process themselves. Instead, they will use the right tools to automate in ways that create unique advantages.

From research, round collateral and pipeline formation to building calendar density, Metal Autopilot brings precision via proprietary intelligence and speed via AI-driven automation.

Link to join the waitlist below.

[Usman Gul @usmangul]

Before you can get a meeting, you have to get a reply.

So what response rate should a founder actually expect from cold intro requests?

We tracked thousands of intro requests sent via @metalraise.

Pre-Seed founders hear back 36% of the time, Seed 31%, Series A 27%. So if you're at Series A and roughly a quarter of your intros get a reply, you're likely doing well.

While typically you'd expect response rates will increase with the round size, it's actually opposite i.e. as the round size grows, response rates fall.

Later-stage investors write fewer checks into fewer companies, so the funnel is naturally tighter. And by Series A or later stages, the benchmarks have shifted — your traction, your numbers, and who you've already raised from carry a lot of weight. It's simply a harder stage to break into cold.

B2B Software founders hear back 41% of the time — nearly double Fintech at 24%. This may be because Fintech and Healthcare carry regulatory and capital-intensity baggage that makes investors slower to engage.

In every case, founders should know what benchmark they're playing against — by stage, and by sector.

[Usman Gul @usmangul]

New Product Launch -- Introducing MCP Access

Customer expectations are evolving rapidly. And so is @raisemetal.

Starting today, all founders can get MCP access to the Metal platform — and use the depth of our platform's capabilities using Claude.

Investor discovery. Pipeline management. Warm intro paths. All from a single prompt.

In the video below, we show what this looks like in practice — going from zero to a fully built investor pipeline in under 15 minutes.

Metal MCP is now live at https://t.co/lNIrs7wCpS

[Usman Gul @usmangul]

➡️ New Product Feature — New Funds

Hundreds of new VC funds hit the market every year with fresh capital to deploy, a new thesis, and a drive to prove out their approach.

Today, there is no sophisticated mechanism for founders to see what new funds are entering the market, and which ones are most relevant for their Company.

That changes today.

New Funds on @metalraise surfaces investors that recently started a new firm, or that raised a new fund, filtered to your sector, stage, and geography.

New Funds is now live at https://t.co/lNIrs7wCpS

See it in action in the video below →

[Usman Gul @usmangul]

Getting a 2nd meeting with an investor often may feel like momentum. But what does it actually predict?

We looked at 24 months of data across hundreds of raises on @metalraise.

Healthcare and Consumer founders get the most follow-on meetings — 44% and 41% conversion from 1st to 2nd. AI founders are at 25%.

But here's the counterintuitive part: when AI founders do get a 2nd meeting, they're 2× more likely to close a round than Consumer founders.

Our theory: AI is oversaturated at the top of funnel. Investors are seeing hundreds of pitches a week, so the bar to earn a 2nd meeting is just higher. But when they say yes to a follow-on, they're already more convinced.

A 2nd meetings with an investor can mean something different depending on your sector.

[Usman Gul @usmangul]

For the longest time, founders have struggled to figure out who in their network can intro them to VCs.

Today, @metalraise changes that.

Introducing Paths.

Connect your network data (Gmail, calendar, etc.) and instantly see who can introduce you to which investors on your pipeline.

Granular filters and AI-drafted intro requests give you a level of efficiency and precision that 2x-es calendar density across your raise.

Paths is now live at https://t.co/lNIrs7wCpS →

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

Exciting times - super thrilled to introduce Metal’s very own datadesk.

As @MetalRaise grows, we’re building an immense amount of proprietary intelligence in the world of VC.

Soon, Metal will be the default place to get the most up-to-date & nuanced data on each investor making the world of fundraising less opaque!

[Usman Gul @usmangul]

Introducing the Metal Data Desk.

Over the past two years, I've personally spoken with 1,000+ founders that were actively raising venture rounds. One consistent theme was the absence of data and insights on the raise process itself.

Today, we're changing that.

The Metal Data Desk will publish regular insights on venture fundraising — starting with success rates.

Only 1 in 7 founders that attempt to raise venture capital successfully close a round.

In the below visual, we show how this varies across sectors and stages.

@metalraise

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

So thrilled for this shoutout - thanks a lot! @Nik_Quinn

[Nicole Quinn @Nik_Quinn]

No need for any more cold emails!!

I am not an investor (so no biases) but am a huge fan of
https://t.co/aWvTFGtElh.

It shows founders who's actively investing in your space, at your stage and who is the best to speak to. They have ~170k investors in their database and also map the warm intro path (maybe most important!).

This is how fundraising should work.

[Jared Friedman @snowmaker]

Would fund.

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

@lilyyang169 Community!

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

@MeekMill You might wanna check out @MetalRaise

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

“The best founders hold two conflicting beliefs at once. They respect the current system enough to understand why it works. They disrespect it enough to believe it doesn’t have to, and there are better ways.”

[Alfred Lin @Alfred_Lin]

https://t.co/d31hFe7w3O

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

@TakoTreba I think there are quite a few startups that built on lovable & are doing well. There was a time there were examples on their site though can’t find them anymore! (But I do get your point!)

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

@MetalRaise 3/ The question now is whether consumer ever bounces back.

Or have founders and investors permanently decided it's just too risky to build in today's market?

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

Consumer VC is dying. And it's not AI's fault 🧵

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

@MetalRaise 2/ The real reason? Consumer is just harder and risky.

Higher acquisition costs. Lower retention. Harder to be profitable. Investors got burned post-2021 and likely reduced writing cheques.

AI didn't cause this.

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

@andrewchen Great time to build a property tech startup?

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

I just switched to @claudeai from @ChatGPTapp for writing and ideation and oh boy, I can feel huge bumps in quality...

For context, I've found GPT to give super generic, GPT-toned long answers. Ones that I find hard to read, let alone repurpose in writing.

Claude on the other side, is simply catching up to my tone super quickly and is cutting out fluff.

In a world where originality is the new currency, I'm not sure if GPT's winning that.

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

All from a conversation hosted by @MetalRaise with Jenny Fielding (@jefielding) of @EverywhereVC and Alex Iskold (@alexiskold) of @2048vc.

Mega rounds and overnight success stories are great but fundamentally, you need to build something real. Know your numbers. Move with intention.

Follow @MetalRaise for more cool conversations

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

5 things I learned from two leading seed investors that most founders won't hear: 🧵

[Sameer Nusrat @sameernusrat]

5/ The bar is higher than it was even 3 years ago.

Bigger milestones. Shorter timeframes. Less room for vague ideas