You already pay for HubSpot, so you add a pipeline called Seed, rename a few stages and type in 40 investors. Two weeks later the forecast shows a weighted number nobody believes, one partner has three deal records, and your head of sales can read every note you've written about valuation.
That's the usual story, and it isn't a HubSpot problem. A raise has a different shape from a sale. This page explains how, gives you the records and fields to use, shows the adaptation if you must stay in a sales CRM, and compares the options on facts read on 2 November 2026.
Where a sales CRM breaks on a raise
Sales CRMs assume many separate deals, each closing alone, with a price you set. A round is close to the opposite.
| Question | In sales | In a raise | What your CRM needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| How does it start? | Inbound form or outbound sequence | Someone the investor trusts forwards your note | A connector and intro status on each record |
| Who decides? | A buying group inside an account | A partner who has to win over their own firm | Partner and firm kept apart |
| How does it end? | Each deal closes on its own | Many investors sign around one set of terms | A round total, not only deal totals |
| What's the amount? | Your price times seats | A cheque size that shifts until signing | Expected, soft-circled and committed as separate numbers |
| What does a no mean? | Lost, maybe re-engage in a year | Often not now, and a useful contact next round | Pass reason, kept for later |
| Who may see it? | The whole sales team | Often only the founders and a board member | Access limited by round |
Warm intros are the real top of the funnel
YC's seed guide calls a warm introduction "by far the best way" to meet an investor. In a sales CRM the lead source is a dropdown you fill in afterwards. On a raise, the path to the investor is the work: who knows them, when you asked, and whether that person has forwarded your blurb. It deserves its own fields and its own follow-up date.
Partner and firm are different things
You talk to a person, and a firm invests. If a partner passes, assume the firm has passed unless they say otherwise, and don't quietly open a second thread with a colleague. Sales tools push you to multi-thread an account. Here that can look like going behind someone's back, so the record should show every contact at a firm on one line.
A round closes together
Followers often wait for a lead, so one investor's decision changes everyone else's stage. Weighted forecasting makes no sense here, because 20% probability on ten firms doesn't add up to two investors. What you need to see is the amount that's actually committed, what's soft-circled, and who's waiting on whom.
The records and fields to set up
Use three record types, whatever the tool calls them. Keep the deal record small, or nobody will update it during a busy week.
| Record | Fields | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Firm or angel | Type, stages, cheque range, sectors, portfolio conflicts | Decides whether they belong on the list at all |
| Person | Role, email, LinkedIn, who knows them, last contact | Relationships outlast rounds, and people move firms |
| Deal (one firm in one round) | Stage, owner, intro status, connector, expected amount, soft-circled, committed, next step, next step date, pass reason | This is what you review every week |
A sensible stage list is Target, Intro asked, First meeting, Partner meeting, Diligence, Terms, Committed, Wired and Passed. Each stage needs a rule for entering it, or two founders will read it differently. Those rules, and the math behind how many names you need, are on the fundraising pipeline management page.
How to adapt HubSpot if you must
Do this only if HubSpot is already paid for and the person running the raise already lives in it. Otherwise, setting it up costs more than a dedicated tool. The steps below follow HubSpot's own knowledge base.
- Create a separate deal pipeline for the round. HubSpot says a custom pipeline requires a Starter, Professional or Enterprise subscription, so check your plan first.
- Map the records. Company is the firm, Contact is the partner, and Deal is that firm in this round.
- Add custom properties to deals for connector, intro status, soft-circled amount and pass reason. Custom properties are available on all plans, though the number you can create depends on your subscription.
- Map Won and Lost. HubSpot requires both for deals. Make Wired your Won stage and Passed your Lost stage.
- Ignore weighted amounts. Board view calculates them from stage probability, and they'll mislead you. Report on your committed property instead.
- Force the next step. Use conditional stage properties, with the Required checkbox, so a deal can't enter a stage without a next step date.
- Limit access. Restricting a pipeline by team needs Professional or Enterprise. On a lower plan, assume colleagues in the account may see the raise.
- Keep investors out of marketing. Exclude these contacts from lists and sequences. One automated nurture email to a partner is an expensive mistake.
As of November 2026, HubSpot's Sales Hub pricing page shows a $0 version for up to 2 users, Starter listed at $7 and $20 a seat a month, and Professional at $90 and $100, without labelling which price goes with which billing option. HubSpot for Startups offers up to 90% off year one on Professional or Enterprise products if you qualify, so check that before you upgrade just for a raise. More in Nautis vs HubSpot.
Startup investor CRM options, side by side
These four tools come at the job from different directions, and that matters more than any single feature.
| Product | Comes from | For a raise | Price | Pick it if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundersuite | Built for fundraising | Customisable board, type, priority, lead or co-invest, amount committed, tags and email follow-ups. Its database page claims 216,000 investors | Basic $0 with 75 investors per pipeline. Silver $69, Gold $99 and Platinum $149 a month. Data room is a paid add-on | The raise is the only problem, and you want the list and tracker together |
| Visible | Built for founder-investor reporting | Fundraising CRM alongside updates, dashboards and data rooms | Starter $0 with 2 pipelines. Base $59 annual or $69 monthly. Core $129 or $149 | You'll keep reporting to these investors after the close |
| Attio | General CRM, self-described as "The CRM for agentic revenue" | No fundraising pitch on its home page. Inbox and calendar sync, enrichment and flexible data, so you build the model above yourself | $0 for up to 3 seats. Plus $35 annual or $44 monthly per user. Pro $79 or $99 | You want one flexible system for sales now and investors too, and someone enjoys configuring it |
| Nautis | Startup workspace | Rounds, deals and stages, plus Raise HQ and links to deck, data room and readiness | $49, $99 or $129 a month. Investor deals are limited on Launch | You want the raise next to runway, tasks and the rest of the company |
One catch on Attio's startup offer: its startup program gives 80% off the annual Pro plan, but it requires a venture-backed company that signed up in the last 90 days. A founder raising a first institutional round may not qualify yet.
We couldn't read Foundersuite's pricing page, so those prices come from its own comparison pages. They also conflict on how many users the Basic plan includes, so confirm that if it matters to you.
How the Nautis Fundraising CRM handles this
In Nautis the record you work is a deal, inside a round. A round holds a target, a pre-money valuation or cap, and Shared Access, so a stealth raise can stay visible only to its creator, the people you list and organization admins. New rounds get default stages such as Lead, Contacted, Meeting, Term Sheet, Committed and Passed. Manage Stages lets you rename them and mark which ones count as Won or Lost.
Each deal has Source (including warm intro), Investor Type, Check Size, Lead Partner, a linked Contact and tabs for Notes, Activity, Meetings, Comments and Files. Raise HQ is the round's home page. It shows Committed and Soft-circled against the target, so the number that matters is separate from the hopeful one. Follow up today lists drafts prepared by the Beacon agent, and the guide states: "Nothing is sent to investors without your approval."
- No separate firm and partner records. Lead Partner is a field on the deal, so a firm with several contacts takes more care.
- The connector is manual. Source records the channel. The guide doesn't describe a connector field, so note who made the intro in the description or a custom field.
- Launch has tighter limits on investor deals. Check pricing before you plan a raise on that plan.
- Less depth. A specialist or a general CRM will often go further. The product is also young, having launched publicly in July 2026.
The full walkthrough is in the Fundraising CRM guide, and the product page has an overview.
Should investors share a CRM with customers?
Our view: keep them separate unless one person does all of it. Three things go wrong otherwise. Reports mix revenue pipeline with money you might raise, and sales people end up with access to valuation notes. The automations you built for customers can also fire at a partner.
A shared system does make sense in one case. If you're a two-person company, you already live in the CRM all day and you'd never check a second tool, a pipeline you actually open beats a purpose-built one you don't. Just keep the investor contacts off every automation.
Below about 30 names, you may not need a CRM at all. The fundraising tracking page has columns you can copy into a sheet today, and tells you when to move off it.
FAQ
What is the best startup fundraising CRM for a first raise?
For most first raises, start with something at $0, such as a sheet, Foundersuite Basic or Visible Starter, and upgrade only if you hit a limit. Choose Visible if you expect to keep reporting to these investors, and Foundersuite if you want its database in the same tool. As of November 2026, Foundersuite Basic allows 75 investors per pipeline and Visible Starter allows 2 pipelines.
Can I use HubSpot to track investors?
Yes, with some setup. Use a separate deal pipeline, map firms to companies and partners to contacts, add custom properties for intro status and soft-circled amounts, and ignore weighted forecasts. A custom pipeline needs a paid Starter subscription or higher.
Is a startup investor CRM the same as a VC CRM?
No. A startup investor CRM helps a founder track investors through one raise. A VC CRM helps a fund track founders, deals and its own relationships, usually with a larger network to manage. If you work at a fund, read the venture capital CRM page.
Can Attio be used for fundraising?
Yes, as a general CRM you configure yourself. Its home page doesn't pitch fundraising, so you'd build the stages and fields on your own. It suits a team that already uses Attio for sales and wants one system, with care taken over who can see what.
Does the Nautis Fundraising CRM email investors automatically?
Not by default. Beacon drafts follow-ups for Follow up today on Raise HQ, and they go out only when you click Approve & send or send a draft yourself. You can also copy a draft and send it from your own inbox.
Sources
- Foundersuite: investor CRM
- Foundersuite: investor database
- Foundersuite: comparison with Visible, with plan prices
- Foundersuite: comparison with OpenVC, with plan limits
- Visible: pricing
- Visible: for founders
- Attio: pricing
- Attio: home page
- Attio: startup program
- HubSpot: Sales Hub pricing
- HubSpot: set up and manage object pipelines
- HubSpot: create and edit properties
- HubSpot for Startups
- Y Combinator: how to raise a seed round