How to Raise a Pre-Seed Round in 2026 (The Australian Founder's Playbook)

How Much Should You Raise?

The answer is not "as much as possible." The answer is: enough to hit the milestones that will make your seed round easy, plus a 30% buffer.

For most pre-seed startups in Australia, that's somewhere between $200K and $750K. Some raise less. A few raise up to $1M. The number depends on what you need to build and how expensive your milestones are.

Work backwards from the milestones: - What do you need to prove before raising a seed round? - Typically: a working product, first paying customers, evidence of product-market fit - How much will it cost to get there? Salaries, tools, marketing spend, legal costs - How long will it take? Usually 12-18 months - Add 30% for reality being harder than your plan

Example: You need 12 months to get to 100 paying customers and $15K MRR. You and your co-founder need $8K/month each in salary. Your tools and hosting cost $500/month. Marketing spend is $1K/month. That's $17.5K/month x 12 months = $210K. Add 30% = $273K. Round up to $300K. That's your raise.

Don't over-optimise this. The point isn't to raise the perfect amount - it's to raise enough that you have a genuine runway to hit your next milestone without running out of cash and panic-fundraising.

Where to Find Pre-Seed Investors in Australia

You have more options than you think. Here are all the channels, roughly in order of how quickly they can close.

Friends and family

If you have the privilege of a network with capital, this is often the fastest path. Friends and family invest based on trust in you, not your pitch deck. The cheque sizes are usually $5-50K each. The process can be as simple as a conversation and a SAFE note.

Be careful here: only take money from people who can genuinely afford to lose it. Startups fail more often than they succeed. Taking your parents' retirement savings is a terrible idea even if they offer.

Angel investors and angel networks

Australia has a growing angel community. The major networks:

• Sydney Angels - one of the oldest and most active angel networks
• Melbourne Angels - strong network with regular pitch events
• Scale Investors - focused on female and underrepresented founders
• Angel networks on LinkedIn - increasingly, angels advertise on LinkedIn that they're actively investing. Search for "angel investor Australia" and you'll find dozens

Individual angels typically write cheques of $10-100K. Angel networks can syndicate larger amounts.

To find who's investing in your space, check out the investor directory at [batko.ai/founder-os/signal](https://batko.ai/founder-os/signal) - it lists VCs and investors across Australia and New Zealand with details on what they invest in.

Accelerators

Programs like Startmate provide $120K in funding plus mentorship, connections, and credibility. Getting into an accelerator is competitive, but if you get in, you get capital, a network of mentors who've done it before, and instant credibility with follow-on investors.

Other notable accelerators in Australia: Antler, HAX, Skalata, Remarkable (for disability tech), and various university-affiliated programs.

Pre-seed funds

A growing number of VC funds in Australia now have dedicated pre-seed programs. These funds write cheques of $100-500K and often provide support beyond just capital.

LinkedIn

This might sound unconventional, but some of the most effective fundraising I've seen recently has happened on LinkedIn. Founders post about what they're building, share their progress publicly, and investors reach out. It's not a replacement for direct outreach, but it's an increasingly viable channel - especially in 2026 where there are so many more angel investors active on the platform.

What Materials You Actually Need

Founders overthink this. At pre-seed, you need far less than you think.

What you need:

1. A pitch deck (10-12 slides)

This is the one non-negotiable. Every investor, even friends and family, will want to see a deck. It doesn't need to be fancy. It needs to be clear.

The 12 slides are: team, problem (headline form), solution, product demo/screenshots, traction, business model, market size (bottom-up), go-to-market, competitive advantage, roadmap, the ask, and contact info.

Want instant feedback on your deck? Upload it to [PitchMaster](https://batko.ai/founder-os/pitchmaster) and get an AI-powered review in 60 seconds. It scores your deck across the same criteria investors use and gives you specific improvement suggestions.

2. A SAFE note (1-2 pages)

A SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) is the simplest way to structure a pre-seed round. It's 1-2 pages. It takes a day or two to set up. And it lets you take money and keep building instead of spending weeks negotiating a priced equity round.

SAFE notes work like this: the investor gives you money now. In return, they get the right to convert that money into equity at your next priced round (typically seed), usually at a discount or with a valuation cap.

You can download free SAFE templates from Y Combinator's website. They're the standard. Most Australian lawyers are familiar with them. The Australian Investment Council (AIC) also has localised templates.

The beauty of SAFE notes for pre-seed: you can close investors one at a time. Angel A commits $50K on Monday. You sign the SAFE. Money hits your account. Angel B commits $30K on Thursday. Same process. You don't need to wait until the whole round is full to start receiving capital.

3. A one-page summary (optional but helpful)

A quick document that covers: what you do, the problem, the solution, traction to date, team background, how much you're raising, and what you'll do with it. This is useful for angels who want a quick read before looking at the full deck.

What you probably don't need:

A data room at pre-seed. You probably don't have enough data to fill one. Maybe a few customer conversations, some early metrics, and your SAFE template. That's fine. Keep it simple.

Financial projections. Your five-year revenue forecast is fiction and everyone knows it. If an investor asks, give them a simple model showing how you get from where you are to your seed round milestones. Nothing more.

A formal business plan. Nobody reads these. Your pitch deck is your business plan.

The Timeline: How Long It Actually Takes

Pre-seed rounds are the fastest rounds to close, for two reasons: the cheque sizes are small, and the decision-making process is simpler (often just one person deciding, not an investment committee).

Best case: 1-2 weeks

If you have warm relationships with angels who already trust you, a pre-seed round can close with a handshake agreement in a few days and money in the bank within two weeks. This usually happens with friends and family or angels who've been following your journey.

Typical case: 4-6 weeks

For most founders, expect about a month from first pitch to money in the bank. Week 1-2: initial conversations and pitches. Week 2-3: follow-up meetings and due diligence (light at pre-seed). Week 3-4: commitment and SAFE signing. Week 4-6: money transfers.

Worst case: 3-6 months

If you don't have warm introductions, if your story isn't clear, or if the market is cold, it can take much longer. The fix is almost always the same: go back to customers, build more traction, and try again with a stronger story.

The SAFE advantage: Traditional priced equity rounds (where you negotiate a specific valuation and issue shares) take 2-3 months minimum and cost $10-30K in legal fees. SAFE notes take days and cost $1-2K. At pre-seed, the speed and cost savings of SAFEs are a no-brainer.

The Process: Step by Step

Here's the exact sequence I'd recommend.

Step 1: Prepare your materials (1 week)

Build your pitch deck. Get feedback from other founders (not investors - founders who've raised before). Upload it to PitchMaster for instant AI feedback. Prepare your SAFE note using a Y Combinator or AIC template. Write your one-page summary.

Step 2: Build your target list (2-3 days)

List every potential investor: friends and family who might invest, angels you know or can get introduced to, angel networks, accelerator programs with open applications. Aim for a list of at least 30 names. You'll need volume because not everyone will be interested.

Check [batko.ai/founder-os/signal](https://batko.ai/founder-os/signal) for a directory of investors across ANZ.

Step 3: Warm introductions first (1 week)

Reach out to your network for introductions. A warm intro converts at 5-10x the rate of a cold email. Ask your founders friends, your mentors, other investors you know. "Hey, I'm raising a small pre-seed round. Do you know anyone who invests in [your space]?"

Step 4: Pitch meetings (2-3 weeks)

Run 3-5 meetings per week. Every meeting follows the same structure: tell them what you're building, why it matters, show the traction, explain how much you're raising and what you'll achieve with it. Then shut up and let them ask questions.

Step 5: Follow up relentlessly (ongoing)

Most investors don't say yes or no in the first meeting. They say "let me think about it" or "can you send me more info?" Follow up within 24 hours. Send updates on progress every 2 weeks. The founders who close rounds are the ones who follow up consistently without being annoying.

Step 6: Close and collect (1 week)

When someone commits, send them the SAFE note immediately. Make signing easy - use DocuSign or HelloSign. Once signed, send wire transfer details. Money should hit your account within days.

Step 7: Keep building

The biggest mistake founders make after raising: they stop building. The round is closed. The celebration lasted a day. Now get back to customers. The clock is ticking on that runway.

What's Different About Raising in 2026

The pre-seed landscape in Australia has changed dramatically over the last few years. Here's what's different now compared to even 2023.

More capital, more options

There are simply more angel investors in the market than ever before. Successful founders from the 2015-2020 era have liquidity and are angel investing. New angel funds have launched. International investors are more accessible via Zoom. The pool of capital available for pre-seed is the largest it's ever been in Australia.

LinkedIn as a fundraising channel

Three years ago, posting "I'm raising" on LinkedIn would have seemed desperate. Now it's a legitimate strategy. Angels actively look for deals on LinkedIn. Founders share their fundraising journey publicly. The transparency has made the whole process less opaque and more accessible for first-time founders.

AI changes the conversation

Investors in 2026 expect you to be using AI. If you've built your MVP using Claude Code in a weekend, that's a feature, not a bug. It shows capital efficiency, technical capability, and modern thinking. Founders who can demonstrate that they can build and iterate fast with AI tools have an advantage in fundraising conversations.

SAFEs are standard

Five years ago, some Australian investors were still unfamiliar with SAFE notes and preferred priced rounds. That's largely over. SAFEs are now the standard instrument for pre-seed and seed in Australia. This makes everything faster, cheaper, and simpler.

The bar for traction is higher

More capital means more companies getting funded, which means investors can be pickier. In 2021, you could raise pre-seed with an idea and a team. In 2026, investors want to see early signals - customer conversations, waitlists, prototypes, ideally some revenue. The good news is that AI makes it possible to build those early signals much faster than before.