The Challenge

Odys is a sustainable aviation company building vertical take-off and landing aircraft to cut travel time in half on the world’s busiest routes. With $15m+ in prior financing, the team has built a strong network with a concentration of top-tier VCs on the cap table.

Given the disruptive potential of the company’s value proposition, Odys receives significant inbound from investors during and in-between rounds. For Odys, the central challenge was to identify portfolio founders of target investors in their network (to learn about the investor's process and to get a warm introduction).

Portfolio Founders via Metal

With Metal, James (Founder, Odys) is able to plug in his connections data via Gmail and LinkedIn integrations. Subsequently, he can search for a given investor, and immediately see all of their portfolio founders, in the following categories:

• Connected (Green): All portfolio founders that James is directly connected are marked with a green tag (along with details on how James is connected with him/her)
‍• Accessible (Orange): All portfolio founders that have raised from the same investor as James has are marked with an orange tag (with details on their common investor)

The above categorization helps the Odys team identify meaningful mutual connections with a given investor. These individuals have raised capital from the investor, and are able to share insights on the process and the overall experience.

Additionally, the Odys team is also able to filter portfolio founders for a given investor based on sector or geography. This allows them to identify a given investor’s portfolio founders that are most relevant to their specific purpose.

Impact on the Fundraising Process

For a given investor, Odys has found immense efficiency with the ability to identify the most relevant portfolio founders that they are connected with. This has turned a previously opaque, inefficient and research-intensive process into one that is quick, efficient and seamless.

Executive Summary

•    Tapping relevant founders is immensely useful during or in-between rounds
•    Identifying relevant portfolio founders for a given investor can unlock key learnings
•    Portfolio founders for a given investor often serve as a conduit for introductions