How to Use Data to Fundraise: Learnings from Metal’s $4.5m Seed Round
The best founders today treat fundraising as a data problem — identifying which investors actually matter for their company and round, finding the warmest path in, and running a tight process from first conversation to close.
In this session, Jess Lynch (GP & Co-Founder @ FoundersEdge) and Usman Gul (Founder/CEO @ Metal) dive deeper into how Metal raised its recent $4.5m Seed Round (led by YC & a16z) — and how founders are using investor and network intelligence to cut their time-to-close.
We focus on the questions that matter most:
Finding the Right Investors — Filters on stage, sector and check size aren't enough. How do you turn raw investor data into company-specific intelligence on which investors matter, why, and when — and stop drawing conclusions about "the market" from investors who were never in your lane?
Getting In the Room — Venture still runs on warm intros. How are founders systematically mapping their networks to find the shortest, strongest path to any investor — and what does high-precision, relationship-led outreach look like in practice?
Running a Tight Process — How do the best founders manage a live raise: tracking every conversation, keeping momentum, reading investor signals, and knowing when to push and when to wait?
The session will leave time for a brief Q&A at the end. It's most useful for founders across all stages who want to bring more structure and intelligence to their fundraising process.
Speakers
Jess Lynch (Founding General Partner @ FoundersEdge) — Exited founder turned pre-seed investor. Built and sold Wishroute (acquired 2023), started her career in financial forensics at PwC, and now backs experienced founders building AI-native companies.
Usman Gul (Co-Founder & CEO @ Metal) — Gul raised $120M for his first startup (including from First Round Capital). He then built Metal as the platform he wished had existed when he was raising VC himself.
Our Background
Metal: Backed by a16z and Y Combinator, Metal is the AI-native operating system for founders raising venture capital. Built on a proprietary investor memory layer, Metal turns investor data into company-specific intelligence — identifying the right investors, surfacing warm intro paths, and automating the mechanics of a raise. 1,000+ founders raise via Metal each year.
In Collaboration With
This session is hosted in collaboration with FoundersEdge -- a hands-on data-driven pre-seed fund investing in exceptional founders using technology to change the world.