Business Angels: Network or Warm Introduction, Which Tool?

Two paths, two tools

A founder preparing a raise from business angels first chooses a path. The first goes through a network that reviews projects. The second targets a specific investor, with an introduction from someone they know. They do not require the same work, and the question "Apollo or Lead Intelligence?" only makes sense for the second. This is not another guide to the investor list: to build the list itself, see Finding individual investors with Lead Intelligence.

The network path

France Angels tells entrepreneurs to prepare a file that must include an executive summary and a fully developed business plan, with monthly financial projections over two years. The network approached studies the project and answers within three weeks at most. According to its investment process page, the pre-selection stage checks that the project fits the network's positioning (geography, sector, amounts, potential), before an oral presentation of 15 to 45 minutes, then due diligence. The network states more than 5,500 active business angels spread across several networks. Here a prospecting tool adds almost nothing: the work is a good file and the right choice of network.

The warm introduction path

You target an investor whose thesis matches your project. Three separate tasks: map the people whose published thesis is close, find the connector who can introduce you, then write a message the connector or the investor can forward with no effort. A contact record is not an introduction, and a compatible thesis is not proof of interest.

What a contact database does

Apollo states on its site, read on September 29, 2026, "240M+ verified contacts" and more than 65 filters. The pages we read describe commercial prospecting; they do not describe search by investment thesis or an introduction path. For a founder who already knows which names to look for, the database can supply contact details. It does not tell you who in your network knows the investor.

What the Lead Intelligence Fundraising mission does

Lead Intelligence offers a mission dedicated to fundraising. It starts from the Project and Finance context in Fund Your Growth, replaces the Offer and ICP fields with My round and Target investor, and searches for the people behind funds or angel activity by investment thesis. You review every prefilled field before any search starts. A person's record keeps their distance in your LinkedIn network (1st, 2nd or 3rd degree), which shows whether a direct contact exists or whether you need to go through someone; the proposed channel adapts: an invitation for a 2nd or 3rd degree contact, a direct message for a 1st degree contact. You review each action before sending.

This mission covers one of the two paths; it does not replace your file, your relationship with the connector or the check that the investor is currently active.

How to record interest

Mark "interested" only after a move from the investor: a reply, a request for a document, a meeting. A matching thesis alone does not count. Keep in your log the source of each name, the action taken and the date, to see which path produces replies.