You're seeing founders too late
Crunchbase, LinkedIn, and accelerator demo days show you founders who've already been discovered. You're competing with 20+ other funds for the same deals.
for investors
Discover founders before they appear in Crunchbase.
Track 70% of startup activity that happens before public announcements. Get early signals on founder readiness, community validation, and regional ecosystem trends across markets.
10,000+ founders tracked · 20+ regional ecosystems · 6–12 months early visibility
the deal flow problem
By the time founders appear in your traditional deal flow channels, the best opportunities are already oversubscribed.
Regional opportunities are invisible
Exceptional founders in Porto, Valencia, or Krakow don't show up in San Francisco-centric platforms. You're missing entire ecosystems of talent.
No validation signals
Pitch decks and metrics can be polished. But you can't fake 6 months of consistent community engagement, mentor relationships, and peer validation.
Cold outreach doesn't work
Founders get 100+ investor emails per week. Without a warm introduction through their trusted ecosystem, your message goes ignored.
What if you could discover founders 6-12 months before everyone else?
pre-public intelligence for smart capital
local.foundation partners with startup ecosystems worldwide to track founder activity before it becomes public. You get early signals on who's worth watching.
Early Discovery
Track founders at idea stage, first event, pre-MVP. See who's engaging with accelerators and ecosystems 6-12 months before funding announcements.
Readiness Scoring
Engagement patterns, milestone completion, mentor feedback, and peer validation give you signals that pitch decks can't fake.
Regional Depth
25+ ecosystems across Europe. Discover exceptional talent in overlooked markets where competition is lower and valuations are reasonable.
Privacy-first, founder-controlled, GDPR compliant
how the intelligence works
We work with accelerators and ecosystem builders who use our platform to run their communities. With founder consent, we surface anonymized signals to investors.
1
Founders Opt-In
Founders explicitly choose to share signals with investors. They control disclosure level: anonymous (signals only), semi-public (industry + stage), or full profile.
- Privacy-first by design
- Founders can revoke access anytime
- No contact info shared without consent
2
We Track Engagement
As founders participate in their local ecosystem, we capture signals that indicate readiness, commitment, and community validation.
- Event attendance patterns
- Mentor relationship depth
- Milestone completion rate
- Peer feedback scores
3
You Discover Early
Filter by region, industry, stage, and readiness score. Set alerts for founders matching your thesis. Request warm intros through trusted ecosystem partners.
- See founders 6-12 months early
- Warm intros via ecosystem partners
- Lower competition, better terms
intelligence features for investors
founder discovery dashboard
-
Filter by region, industry, stage
-
Readiness score ranking
-
Anonymous or semi-public profiles
-
Saved searches & alerts
engagement signals
-
Event attendance history
-
Workshop participation patterns
-
Mentor session frequency
-
Community contribution score
readiness indicators
-
Milestone completion rate
-
Peer validation feedback
-
Traction trajectory analysis
-
Investment readiness score
regional ecosystem insights
-
25+ ecosystem deep dives
-
Emerging cluster identification
-
Regional activity trends
-
Local ecosystem health scores
warm introduction system
-
Request intros via ecosystem partners
-
Track introduction status
-
Founder consent workflow
-
Meeting coordination tools
deal flow management
-
Pipeline tracking & stages
-
Founder note-taking & sharing
-
Team collaboration features
-
Investment decision workflows
built for different investment strategies
Seed Funds
Discover founders at idea and MVP stage before they raise
- Early-stage founder pipeline
- Pre-valuation negotiating power
- Regional opportunity access
- Lower competition for deals
Corporate VCs
Scouting for innovation and partnership opportunities
- Industry-specific founder filters
- Partnership potential screening
- Innovation trend spotting
- Ecosystem relationship building
Regional Investors
Deep local ecosystem intelligence and founder access
- Local founder discovery
- Regional pattern insights
- Ecosystem health monitoring
- Community integration
0K+
Founders tracked across ecosystems
0+
Regional ecosystems covered
0-12
Months earlier than traditional deal flow
“local.foundation gives us visibility into founders 6-12 months before they hit our traditional deal flow channels. The regional ecosystem depth is unmatched—we're discovering exceptional founders in overlooked markets.”— Anonymous Seed Fund Partner, European Seed Fund
questions investors ask
How do you track founders before they're public?
We partner with 25+ regional startup ecosystems and accelerators who use our platform to manage their communities. Founders participate anonymously in local events, workshops, and programs. We track engagement patterns, milestone progress, and community validation signals—all with founder consent and privacy protection.
Do founders know their data is visible to investors?
Transparency is core to our model. Founders explicitly opt-in to investor visibility and control their profile disclosure level. They can choose anonymous (engagement signals only), semi-public (industry + stage), or full profile. Founders can revoke access anytime.
What regions do you cover?
We currently track 20+ startup ecosystems across Europe, with depth in Portugal, Spain, Germany, UK, and expanding to Eastern Europe. We focus on regional ecosystems often overlooked by traditional deal sourcing platforms.
How is this different from Crunchbase or AngelList?
Crunchbase and AngelList track public announcements (funding, launches, hiring). We track pre-public signals: event attendance, mentor engagement, workshop participation, community validation, and founder readiness indicators. Our data shows up 6-12 months BEFORE companies appear in traditional databases.
What is 'founder readiness scoring'?
We analyze engagement patterns, milestone completion, community feedback, and program progress to assess how investment-ready a founder is. Factors include: consistent attendance, mentor relationship depth, peer validation, traction milestones, and ecosystem integration.
Can I filter by industry, stage, or geography?
Yes. Our platform allows filtering by: industry/vertical, founder stage (idea, MVP, traction, scaling), geography (city/region), engagement level, and readiness score. You can also set alerts for founders matching your thesis.
How do I reach founders I discover?
You can request warm introductions through the ecosystem organizations the founder is connected to. We facilitate intros but never share contact information without explicit founder consent. Most intros happen through accelerators, community builders, or mutual connections.
Is this GDPR compliant?
Yes. We're fully GDPR compliant with explicit opt-in consent, data minimization, and founder control over their information. All data processing agreements are in place with partner ecosystems. Founders can export or delete their data anytime.
What does it cost?
Starting at €599/month for individual investors and seed funds. Custom plans available for corporate VCs, multi-partner firms, and regional investment programs. All plans include unlimited founder discovery, regional insights, and warm introduction facilitation.
Ready to discover founders before everyone else?
See the intelligence platform trusted by seed funds, corporate VCs, and regional investors to discover exceptional founders 6-12 months early.
Starting at €599/month · Custom plans available · GDPR compliant. Questions? Email [email protected]