Sitting on the other side of the table as a venture capital analyst, reviewing pitches and meeting founders, gave Sean Sanders a genuinely rare vantage point before he switched seats to build his own fintech company. That insider view shaped how he raised early funding, and it holds lessons for any founder trying to stand out from a crowded pool of pitches.
Use your network before you use the website
A warm introduction to a potential investor consistently beats a generic application submitted cold. Investor inboxes are flooded, and a cold application can take far longer to reach anyone who actually makes decisions, time most early-stage founders don’t have to spare.
Be prepared to be persistent
If your network doesn’t produce a lead, research the right people directly and think beyond typical venture capital players. Sanders’s own early funding came from a JSE-listed investment holding group rather than a conventional VC. A well-researched, personalised message, followed by genuine persistence when the first attempt goes unanswered, consistently outperforms giving up after one try.
Do the real work behind your pitch deck
No serious investor commits capital based on a slide deck alone. Put the real effort into a detailed business plan, budget, forecast and market research behind the pitch. Even knowing your projections may not play out exactly as planned, investors need to see that the underlying thinking is genuinely sound.
Sharpen your storytelling as much as your numbers
The numbers matter, but a strong, credible narrative often carries more weight in an investment decision than the spreadsheet behind it. Being able to communicate your venture’s potential clearly, and the value you can unlock, is a distinct skill worth deliberately developing alongside the financial case.
Think beyond South Africa’s borders
Venture capital doesn’t suit small, purely local opportunities. Investors are looking for businesses that can scale well beyond a single, relatively small domestic market, so an idea that only works within South Africa’s borders is a harder sell to VC-style investors specifically.
What happened to Sanders’s own venture
The fintech platform Sanders built off the back of this advice, Revix, later merged with two other platforms to form Altify, a broader alternative investment platform with tens of thousands of clients and offices spanning London, Vienna and Cape Town. Sanders now leads that combined business as CEO, a reminder that even a well-funded startup’s path often runs through further consolidation, not a straight line from launch to exit.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cold application through an investor’s website worth submitting?
It’s rarely the fastest path. A warm introduction through your own network consistently reaches decision-makers faster than a cold application into a crowded inbox.
Does a strong pitch deck alone convince serious investors to invest?
No. A credible pitch deck matters, but investors expect a detailed business plan and market research behind it, not just polished slides.
Should a South African startup pitch itself as a purely local business to investors?
Generally not to venture capital investors specifically. VC-style funding suits businesses with a credible path to scale well beyond a single domestic market.
Standing out in a crowded pool
Sanders’s own path, from VC analyst to founder to CEO of a merged, larger platform, illustrates that fundraising success is rarely a single pitch meeting. It’s persistent, well-prepared outreach combined with a business built to scale beyond its home market.
Further reading: Playbook for Raising Venture Capital Funding in South Africa | Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association for current investor listings
Originally published in September 2019. Updated September 2026 to confirm Revix’s 2023 merger into Altify and refresh this venture capital fundraising guidance. The underlying pitching lessons remain durable.
