Poach

About Poach

Poach is a collaborative intelligence platform designed to transform how venture capital firms and angel investors discover and connect with the next generation of founders. At its core, Poach tracks the social media activity of top-tier VCs, specifically who they follow on platforms like Twitter. This activity serves as a powerful, early signal of interest in promising individuals long before a formal fundraising process begins. By analyzing these signals, Poach provides a high-quality lead stream that sits perfectly between a warm introduction and cold inbound outreach, enabling investment teams to get a significant timing advantage. The platform enriches this raw signal with LinkedIn data and AI-powered labeling to create comprehensive, actionable profiles. Each morning, teams receive executive summaries and detailed CSV exports directly in their inbox, fostering a synergistic workflow where everyone is aligned on the newest opportunities. Poach is built for investment teams who believe that winning dealflow is a collective effort rooted in superior, early information and seamless internal cooperation.

Features of Poach

VC Social Tracking

Poach continuously monitors the Twitter follows of a curated list of top-tier venture capitalists. This provides a real-time signal of investor interest, as VCs often follow founders they are intrigued by or are engaging with pre-fundraise. This feature turns passive social data into an active, qualified lead generation system for your entire team.

Cross-Platform Identity Enrichment

Using proprietary identity resolution, Poach matches discovered Twitter profiles to their corresponding LinkedIn accounts. It then enriches each record with detailed professional history, including work experience and educational background, creating a unified and comprehensive profile for collaborative evaluation.

AI-Powered Profile Labeling

Our AI system analyzes the combined Twitter and LinkedIn data to automatically label each individual with relevant tags such as "founder," "engineering," "funded," or "research." This allows teams to quickly filter and segment leads based on specific investment theses, like finding unfunded technical founders.

Daily Data Delivery & Export

Poach delivers enriched lead data directly to your team's inbox every morning in an easy-to-digest format. This includes an executive summary and a full CSV attachment with all data points and labels, enabling seamless integration into your team's existing CRM and dealflow management processes.

Use Cases of Poach

Identifying Stealth-Mode Founders

Investment teams can use Poach to filter for profiles labeled as "founder" but not "funded." This allows them to identify and reach out to entrepreneurs working on new ventures in stealth, often months before they officially begin a seed round, creating a unique opportunity for early partnership.

Building a Thematic Pipeline

For teams focused on specific sectors like AI or Web3, Poach's labeling system (e.g., "research," "web3") allows for the efficient building of a targeted pipeline. You can track VCs known for a specific thesis and discover the experts and builders they are watching, aligning your team's sourcing efforts.

Enhancing Partner Sourcing Synergy

Partners and associates can leverage the shared daily digest to align on top signals. The platform provides a common source of truth, enabling collaborative discussion on which leads to pursue, ensuring the team works in concert to qualify and engage with the most promising opportunities.

Competitive Dealflow Intelligence

By observing which VCs are following which founders, teams can gain insights into competitor interest and market trends. This intelligence helps in strategically timing outreach and understanding the competitive landscape for a particular founder or emerging space.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Poach's signal compare to a warm intro?

Poach provides a signal that is stronger than a cold inbound message but not as direct as a formal warm introduction. It identifies founders that reputable VCs have demonstrated interest in by following them, giving your outreach a credible context and a significantly higher chance of engagement than a purely cold call.

What data is included in the daily CSV export?

The daily CSV export includes comprehensive data for each lead: Twitter handle, full name, LinkedIn profile URL, the VC who followed them, AI-generated labels (e.g., founder, engineering), and a synthesized bio. This raw data format allows your team to filter, sort, and integrate the information seamlessly into your internal systems.

Can I track specific VCs or firms?

Yes, the Poach platform allows you to track specific VCs and top-tier firms. The service monitors their social follows to generate signals, meaning you can tailor your dealflow feed based on the investors whose judgment and focus areas most align with your team's own investment strategy.

How accurate is the AI labeling?

Poach's AI labeling is highly accurate, as it analyzes multiple data points from both Twitter bios and detailed LinkedIn work history. The system is trained to identify specific professional roles and statuses, such as distinguishing between a funded founder and a bootstrapped entrepreneur, providing reliable filters for your team.