Who takes investor meetings 948 times an investor said yes to spectup.
One light for each first meeting, spread in line with the 681 whose country is known. Only the US and the UK are placed; the rest sit somewhere in their region.
- 37client raises, from seed rounds to growth rounds and funds
- 20first meetings in a typical raise (the median)
- about680different investor firms, about 1 in 5 of them in more than one raise
- 5countries behind the first meetings of a typical raise (the median)
Who takes investor meetings: three in four are with VCs
Of the 753 first meetings where the investor type is known, 555 were with VC firms. Growth equity and private equity firms took about 10%, and every other type together took 17%. VCs outnumber growth equity and private equity about eight to one.
All 753 first meetings with a known investor type in one bar, split by type. Shares are rounded
- VC74%
- Growth equity and private equityabout 10%
- All other types together17%
Chart data as a table
| Investor type | Meetings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| VC | 555 | about 74% |
| Growth equity and private equity | not given | about 10% |
| All other types together | not given | about 17% |
Nearly six in ten first meetings are with investors in the US
Of the 681 first meetings where the investor's country is known, about 58% were with US-based investors. The UK is the second-largest single country, at somewhere between 7 and 10%.
- North AmericaThe US alone took most of it.63%
- of which the USThe only single country this large.about58%
- EuropeOne first meeting in five.20%
- of which the UKThe largest country in Europe. We can place it between 7 and 10%, not closer.7to10%
- Asia PacificRoughly one first meeting in ten.about10%
- Middle EastFewer than one meeting in twenty, too few to say more.under5%
Chart data as a table
| Country or region | Meetings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| US | 398 | about 58% |
| UK | not given | 7 to 10% |
| All other countries together | not given | 32 to 35% |
| North America | not given | about 63% |
| Europe | not given | about 20% |
| Asia Pacific | not given | about 10% |
| Middle East | not given | under 5% |
About 680 firms said yes, and one in five came back
The first meetings were spread over about 680 different investor firms. About one in five took first meetings in more than one raise, and those firms account for about four in ten of all the meetings.
- +670more firms, rounded
A selection of the firms that took a first meeting in these raises. A meeting is not an investment and says nothing about the raise it was booked for.
of the firms took first meetings in more than one raise.
of all 948 meetings were with those returning firms.
raises had first meetings with investors in three or more countries.
VCs and US investors came to 36 of 37 raises
No single raise drives the result: the largest one accounts for 11% of the VC meetings and 12% of the US ones. Other kinds of investor are more selective: growth equity and private equity firms came to 25 raises, angels to 18, corporates to 15 and family offices to 12.
Each bar shows in how many of the 37 raises that kind of investor took at least one first meeting
- VCLargest single raise: 11% of these meetings36of 37
- US-based investorsLargest single raise: 12% of these meetings36of 37
- Growth equity and PE25of 37
- Angels and syndicates18of 37
- Corporates and CVCs15of 37
- Family offices12of 37
Chart data as a table
| Investor type | Raises with a meeting | Largest single raise's share |
|---|---|---|
| VC | 36 of 37 | 11% |
| US-based investors | 36 of 37 | 12% |
| Growth equity and PE | 25 of 37 | not given |
| Angels and syndicates | 18 of 37 | not given |
| Corporates and CVCs | 15 of 37 | not given |
| Family offices | 12 of 37 | not given |
A typical raise had 20 first meetings, the largest 81
The 948 first meetings were not spread evenly across the 37 raises. Half of the raises had 20 or fewer. The middle half had between 10 and 37, and the range ran from 2 in the smallest raise to 81 in the largest.
948first meetings, added up raise by raise
first meetings in the typical raise: half of the 37 raises had fewer, half had more.
first meetings in the middle half of raises. The darker bars are those raises.
first meetings in the smallest and the largest raise. A raise's count says nothing about how it ended.
Chart data as a table
| Measure | First meetings |
|---|---|
| Typical raise (median) | 20 |
| Middle half of raises | 10 to 37 |
| Smallest raise | 2 |
| Largest raise | 81 |
The 37 raises: mostly seed stage, 57% US-based
To read the shares above against the clients: of the 30 raises with a known company country, 57% were US-based companies and 33% European, the UK included. Of the 35 with a known stage, 63% were seed stage.
Country: where the companies are, and where the investors are
Top bar: the 30 client raises with a known company country, one count per raise. Bottom bar: the 681 first meetings with a known investor country, one count per meeting. Europe includes the UK. The US share is about the same on both bars; Europe is 33% of the companies and 20% of the investors.
- US
- Europe, including the UK
- Rest of the world
Sector
Share of the 35 raises with a known sector. Sectors with fewer than one raise in ten are grouped.
- Healthcare and life sciences
- AI, software and data
- Consumer and media
- All other sectors together
Stage
Share of the 35 raises with a known stage, as the raise was framed when it began.
- Seed
- Growth
- Other stages
Chart data as a table
| Group | Raises (companies only) | Share of raises, or of meetings for investors |
|---|---|---|
| Company country: US | 17 of 30 | about 57% |
| Company country: Europe, including the UK | 10 of 30 | about 33% |
| Company country: rest of the world | 3 of 30 | about 10% |
| Investor country, for comparison: US | not given | about 58% |
| Investor country, for comparison: Europe, including the UK | not given | about 20% |
| Investor country, for comparison: rest of the world | not given | about 21% |
| Sector: healthcare and life sciences | 8 of 35 | about 23% |
| Sector: AI, software and data | 8 of 35 | about 23% |
| Sector: consumer and media | 4 of 35 | about 11% |
| Sector: all other sectors together | 15 of 35 | about 43% |
| Stage: seed | 22 of 35 | about 63% |
| Stage: growth | 6 of 35 | about 17% |
| Stage: other | 7 of 35 | about 20% |
How each number is counted and cited
948 first meetings, counted from the booking mails of 37 client raises. Shares are shares of the meetings where the investor type or country is known, and are rounded.
First meetings booked for 37 client raises, counted from the booking mails spectup's outreach team sent each client. Cancelled and duplicate bookings and meetings with advisors are removed.
Investor type known for 753 meetings and country for 681, taken from the firm's own description, its website or public profile, or what is publicly known about it.
A second pass checked 44 firms blind against public sources: the type agreed for 41 of 44, the country for 39 of 41. The misses were mostly VCs typed as another type.
All definitions and limits
- First meeting
- A first investor meeting booked through spectup's outreach for a client raise, counted from the booking mails the outreach team sent each client. Cancelled and duplicate bookings and meetings with advisors are removed.
- Sample
- 948 first meetings across 37 client raises. No client or raise is named, and no investor is tied to a raise. The Capital Access Index counts meetings from a different source, so its total differs.
- Investor type
- Known for 753 of the 948 meetings (79%). The type came from the firm's own description in the booking mail, from its website or public profile, or from what is publicly known about the firm. A second pass checked 44 firms blind against public sources: the type agreed for 41 of 44, and the misses were mostly VCs typed as another type. Types: VC, growth equity and private equity, angel or syndicate, corporate or corporate venture, family office, private debt, government, other.
- Country
- Known for 681 of the 948 meetings (72%), found the same way: the country the investor is based in. The same check agreed for 39 of 41. Regions add up the countries in them.
- Where a match is soft
- Some matches rest on a description or on what is publicly known, not on a page that names the firm. Counting only the matches with a public source, VCs come to about two thirds instead of three in four, the UK to the top of its 7 to 10% range, and Asia Pacific to a little under one in ten instead of a little over. The picture stays the same: a pool led by VCs and by the US, which is why the shares here are given as about.
- What is missing
- About one in five meetings have no known investor type and about three in ten no known country. Every share on this page is a share of the meetings where that field is known, rounded, so regions may not add to 100.
- What the data cannot say
- Anything under 10% as a precise share, single countries beyond the US and the UK, change over time, and which stage or sector an investor focuses on.
- Client mix
- Company country, sector and stage come from spectup's own records of each client raise. Sector and stage are known for 35 of the 37 raises and the company country for 30. Shares are of the raises where each is known, and groups under one raise in ten are merged, so no small group is shown on its own.
- Firms
- Firms are counted by the website or name given in the booking mail, which gives about 680 different firms. A firm is returning when it took first meetings in two or more different raises. Countries per raise use the meetings where the country is known.
- Source
- spectup's booking mails for the 37 raises. No client or raise is named, and no investor is tied to a raise.
spectup (2026). Who takes investor meetings: investor type and country. https://www.spectup.com/research/who-takes-investor-meetings
Published . Keep a credit link to this page under any figure you reuse. Press and data questions go through the contact page.
How many decks it takes to book such a meeting is in the Capital Access Index; its 904 meetings come from the weekly outreach reports, so its total differs from the 948 counted here.
What earns a first meeting with an LP, and how often LPs pass at once, is in LP Sentiment 2026.
Related research on investor outreach
This study counts who takes the meeting. The Capital Access Index counts how many decks it takes to book one, and LP Sentiment 2026 covers what earns an LP's first meeting.
- 7decks sent per meeting booked Research, quarterly indexHow many decks it takes to book a meetingMeetings per 100 decks sent, from spectup's weekly outreach reports, updated every quarter. Read the research
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Study, 2026How LPs pick emerging managersFund decks a month, what earns a first meeting, instant passes and time to commitment. 18 pages, free.
Read the study - 1Target list2Warm or cold3The approach4Pipeline GuideInvestor outreach, step by stepBuild the target list, choose warm or cold within the rules, write the approach and run the pipeline to commitment. Read the guide
