As a general partner at a venture capital or private equity fund, you need access to capital, and limited partners (LPs) are the investors who can invest in your fund. Traditionally, raising money from LPs has been a very opaque process, and there is little information available for emerging GPs looking to raise their first funds.
Raising a private equity or venture capital fund can be more time-consuming and challenging than raising venture funding for a startup, especially for emerging GPs with limited track records or a lack of a vast professional network. Nonetheless, raising a fund has many parallels to raising capital as a founder.
Most emerging general partners raise funds from LPs by leveraging their existing networks supplemented by targeted cold outreach campaigns. This can be an arduous task, especially since finding the contact information of LPs that invest in emerging GPs takes work. However, cold outreach is 100% worth the effort since it can yield favorable results and help you expand your network within the ecosystem.
Cold outreach to potential LPs might be more complicated than traditional cold outreach to other audiences since institutional LPs or other investors who invest in private capital generally do not have websites and are harder to come across than VC firms looking to invest in entrepreneurs.
When raising a fund, feedback loops are much longer than in startups, where a founder can quickly show their investors growth metrics like the number of users, revenue, etc. For a GP, it can take years to measure their progress since metrics such as IRR and Distribution Paid-In Capital are not instantly available. Instead, LPs will closely examine your fund performance, ability to manage capital calls, and how your fund invests over time. Your investment decisions and eventual carried interest structure also become important indicators of your fund’s potential.
Here are our tips on how to get started with raising a fund.
Fundraising From Limited Partners- Getting Started
Before beginning the fundraising process, you must articulate your investment strategy and thesis, and ideally acquire experience as a general partner in PE or VC or as an angel investor. Crafting your investment strategy and creating your track record is beyond the scope of this article, but articulating your thesis effectively and having previous experience in the industry will increase your chances of landing meetings with potential LPs and other institutional investors.
In the same way VC firms are looking for portfolio companies in a specific segment, industry, or founder background, LPs are looking for fund managers with a unique advantage in sourcing, evaluating, and investing in companies that can deliver their desired level of returns. LPs are also interested in a manager’s motivations, decision-making style, and thoughtfulness in their portfolio decisions.
In general, LPs invest in committed fund managers with whom they’ve built longstanding relationships, demonstrated success in investing either through a previous fund or as angel investors, and have specific domain expertise that can add value to their portfolio companies.
Differentiation matters, and you must communicate your fund’s value to potential LPs, including clearly outlining your limited partnership agreement (LPA), management fees, and liquidity expectations.
Finding Limited Partners
If you are raising a small fund, it’s best to stick with High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNW) or family offices since these investors generally make decisions faster than other institutional LPs such as pension funds or sovereign wealth funds. Many of these investors will qualify as accredited investors, making them eligible to back private funds under SEC rules. The challenge becomes finding these potential LPs if they are not part of your network.
Introductions are the best way to get in front of HNW individuals or family offices. Relationship Intelligence platforms like 4Degrees have been designed to help GPs find the best way to connect with potential LPs. For example, you can use 4Degrees to see who in your network is connected with LPs from New York that invest in a specific asset class. This way, you will find a warm introduction and increase the odds of connecting with said LP.
LPs can be elusive, so targeted cold outreach is a very effective strategy to supplement your outreach. To help you get started, we’ve gathered a dataset of investors that invest in the private markets, including venture capital investments, private equity, and real estate, among other asset classes.
We have included the names and contact information of well-known pension funds, university endowments, family offices, and other investment management firms that have included venture capital and private equity in their investment opportunities.
Understanding LP Types and What They Care About
Different types of limited partners have different priorities and expectations. Understanding this segmentation helps you tailor your messaging, materials, and fund structure accordingly:
- Family Offices – Typically more flexible and faster-moving, family offices may value personal rapport, niche focus areas (like healthcare or climate), and opportunities for co-investment. They often pursue higher returns and may want involvement beyond just writing a check.
- Insurance Companies and Pension Funds- These institutional LPs care deeply about risk management, capital preservation, and long-term liquidity. They often have strict due diligence processes and rigid benchmarks and are drawn to funds with a strong compliance record and consistent fund performance.
- University Endowments – Known for backing top-tier venture capitalists, endowments often take a long-term view and may lean into sectors where they have domain insight (e.g., biotech, tech). They may request opportunities for co-investment.
- Sovereign Wealth Funds – These large entities are often conservative and prioritize stable valuation growth and strategic investment decisions aligned with national interests. They tend to back experienced fund managers with global reach and a proven track record.
- High-Net-Worth Individuals / Accredited Investors – These passive investors can be the most approachable early on, especially if they come from your network. Many prefer clear visibility into liquidity events, carried interest terms, and how your fund handles limited liability.
It's essential to know whether your prospective LP is hands-on or hands-off, what sectors they’re familiar with, and whether they prioritize IPO potential or stable cash flow. It’s also worth checking LinkedIn to learn more about individuals on the investment committee or to find mutual connections who can make warm introductions.
Messaging Potential LPs
The best way to use our dataset is to research each limited partner to determine if they are a potential LP candidate for your specific fund. For example, if you are a first-time manager raising a small VC fund of $10m to invest in early-stage companies, you would reach out to HNW individuals or family offices instead of government pensions.
Once you have determined the type of LPs you are targeting, it’s a good idea to conduct more detailed research on a platform such as Pitchbook before reaching out via email.
When writing your initial outreach message, keep it concise and to the point. Ensure that your investment thesis can be summarized in one sentence, and include information about your fund to see if your strategy aligns with the potential investor. It is also important to put some thought behind the email’s subject line since you want to increase the odds of the LP opening your email.
To raise your fund in less time, we recommend you can help you find warm introductions while also using our free LP database for your cold outreach!
The Appeal of Investing in Private Markets
Many LPs allocate funds to venture capital and private equity firms because these strategies offer exposure to private companies, which often grow faster and operate with greater flexibility than public companies. Investing in companies before they go public or before a major liquidity event can significantly enhance potential returns, assuming the GP demonstrates consistent sourcing and disciplined underwriting.
A standard private equity investment also gives LPs access to opportunities unavailable in traditional investments, such as public equities or fixed income. These private market assets are often illiquid, but the trade-off is the potential for outsized performance that compensates for the longer hold period.
LPs understand that PE and VC firms take an active role in guiding portfolio companies, helping management teams improve operations, refine strategy, and achieve scale. This hands-on support is a major reason why many institutions allocate an increasing amount of capital to private markets.
Why Diversification Matters for LPs
Most LPs look for exposure to a mix of opportunities. They want diversification across industries, business models, and growth stages. A well-constructed PE fund naturally provides this. A manager may invest in early-stage companies with significant potential, growth equity deals with momentum, and larger buyout investments that offer stability and stronger cash flow.
This blend works well for LPs who want something beyond traditional investments. Public markets can be volatile, but private markets often behave differently, which helps balance overall performance. Even though private assets are illiquid, many LPs view this as helpful rather than limiting. The longer holding period encourages discipline and allows value to build over time without the pressure of daily market swings.
Helping LPs Understand Your Day-to-Day Work
Many LPs want clarity on how a GP operates. They often want to understand how you find deals, what your evaluation process looks like, and how you support founders and CEOs after you invest. Giving LPs a clear picture of your day-to-day work builds trust and shows that you have a thoughtful approach to managing a private equity investment.
Explain how you screen opportunities, how you run diligence, and how your investment committee functions. Show them what your process looks like once you become a partner with a company. These details help LPs see that you are not improvising and that you run a consistent and repeatable process that can protect their capital and help the portfolio grow.
Transparency, Reporting, and Why Operations Matter
Strong communication and reliable reporting are critical for LP relationships. Many investors will evaluate you not only by your investment judgment, but also by the strength of your operations. Being able to explain how you manage capital calls, valuations, audits, and regular reporting helps build confidence from the start.
LPs also expect clear documentation, organized workflows, and consistent communication practices that make it easy for them to understand how the fund is performing. When your operational approach is structured and predictable, you show both large institutions and smaller individual investors that you can be trusted with long-term commitments.
Operational excellence is not optional for a fund manager. LPs want to see that you can identify strong companies and also manage the administrative responsibilities of a fund with equal care. Clear communication, well-documented processes, and strong internal controls help reinforce that confidence.
Setting Yourself Up for Long-Term Success
Raising a fund is not easy, especially for emerging managers who are still building their networks and track records. But with a clear thesis, a disciplined approach to outreach, and a strong operational foundation, you can build meaningful relationships with LPs and earn their trust over time.
The more intentional you are about how you communicate, source introductions, and present your process, the easier it becomes to stand out in a competitive fundraising environment. When you combine thoughtful relationship building with consistent execution, you put yourself in a much stronger position to close your fund and set yourself up for long-term success.
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