Not all investors are the same. Who can back you depends on fund type, check size, and stage focus — not how much they like your idea.

Type	Check Size (INR)	Stage	India Examples
Angel	₹5L–₹50L	Pre-Seed / Seed	Rajan Anandan, Kunal Shah
Super Angel	₹25L–₹2Cr	Pre-Seed / Seed	Aprameya Radhakrishna
Micro-VC	₹50L–₹3Cr	Pre-Seed / Seed	Titan Capital, Gemba, Huddle
Early-Stage VC	₹2Cr–₹15Cr	Seed / Series A	Blume, 3one4, Elevation
Multi-Stage VC	₹15Cr–₹150Cr+	Series A–C	Sequoia India, Accel, Matrix

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A Micro-VC writing ₹1Cr cheques cannot lead your ₹10Cr Series A — even if they love you. Fund size is structural, not personal.

VCs invest to return their entire fund. One investment must return the fund multiple times over. This is the most important concept in investor targeting.

Min Exit Required = (Fund Size × 3x) ÷ Ownership %
Example: Fund = $100M · Ownership = 10% → Min Exit = $3 Billion

Fund Size	Min Deal Must Return
< $100M	50% of fund
$100M–$499M	25% of fund
$500M–$1.99B	15% of fund
$2B+	10% of fund

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Before you pitch any VC, run this formula. If your market ceiling can't return their fund, they mathematically cannot invest — no matter how much they like you.

Your exit ceiling is the realistic maximum your startup could sell or list for. TAM is NOT your exit ceiling.

1 Calculate SAM — apply geography, company size, price point, and digital readiness filters to TAM.
2 Estimate peak market share — 5–15% at Seed is realistic.
3 Apply sector revenue multiple — see table below.

Exit Ceiling = (SAM × Peak Market Share %) × Revenue Multiple

Sector	Multiple	Metric
B2B SaaS	4x–8x	ARR
Enterprise SaaS	5x–10x	ARR
Fintech – Lending / Payments	3x–7x	Revenue
Consumer Internet / Marketplace	2x–5x	Revenue
D2C / Consumer Brand	1x–3x	Revenue
Edtech	1x–3x	Revenue
Healthtech / Diagnostics	3x–6x	Revenue
Deep Tech / IP-heavy	4x–8x	Revenue

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B2B SaaS with ₹500Cr SAM, 10% peak share → ₹50Cr ARR. At 6x multiple → ₹300Cr exit ceiling (~$36M).

Run the formula in reverse. Your exit ceiling tells you exactly which fund sizes are rational to pitch.

Max Fund Size = (Exit Ceiling × Ownership %) ÷ Min Threshold

Exit Ceiling	Ownership	Max Fund Size	Who to Target
$10M–$30M	20%	Up to ~$6M	Angels, Super Angels only
$30M–$100M	15–20%	Up to ~$20M	Micro-VCs, small seed funds
$100M–$500M	10–15%	Up to ~$60M	Early-stage VCs
$500M–$2B	8–12%	Up to ~$160M	Series A/B funds
$2B+	8–10%	No ceiling	Top-tier multi-stage VCs

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Pitching a $500M fund when your exit ceiling is $30M wastes everyone's time. The math will never work — they know this even if you don't say it.

A precision list of 30 investors built with the right filter outperforms a spray-and-pray list of 200 every time. The IIP has 4 qualifying questions. Any "No" = remove.

Q1 — Lead vs Follower

Does this partner set terms and commit the first 40–50% of the round? Followers cannot give you a term sheet.

Q2 — Check Size Match

Does their typical ticket match your round size? Size mismatch = instant disqualify.

Q3 — Portfolio Conflict

Do they already back a direct competitor? Legal and competitive reasons make it impossible.

Q4 — Recent Activity

2+ investments in last 18 months? Pre-2021 funds (~90% deployed) take meetings to learn — they rarely write new cheques.

Tier I — Approach last

Passes all 4 + top-tier brand. Your pitch will be battle-hardened by the time you reach them.

Tier II — Approach second

Passes all 4, strong track record, less brand recognition.

Tier III — Approach first

Lead status unknown, passes Q2/Q3/Q4. Use as practice rounds.

You now have the full framework.

Know which investor types match your stage and check size
Can calculate your realistic exit ceiling
Know which fund sizes are rational to approach
Can apply the IIP filter to qualify and disqualify
Know how to sequence outreach (Tier III first → Tier I last)

Find the right investors for your raise.