VCs become influencers to find profitable investment opportunities online
Early-stage venture capital firms are leveraging social media to enhance their brand identity and attract startups. By creating engaging content like podcasts and videos, VCs aim to establish a strong online presence, enabling them to discover promising ventures beyond traditional networks.
Faced with intense competition, even as access to capital has become democratised, early-stage venture capital firms want to create their own moat, IPs and brand identity. This move is forcing VCs to turn influencers with the help of social media agencies.
Instead of relying solely on traditional offline avenues like networking events, VCs are now investing in digital marketing. Some are even hiring dedicated in-house teams to build a stronger online presence instead of outsourcing to a marketing agency. To be sure, these firms continue to use traditional methods to source deals. On average, any mid-sized to large VC fund meets thousands of startups each year. Most VCs end up backing anywhere between 20 and 30 startups through a fund's cycle.
From pitching shows to podcasts, startup-focused content, and investment insights, they are creating content for a niche audience of founders, investors, and startup enthusiasts. However, while podcasts and social media posts can help position a firm favourably, the track record of successfully helping companies scale on their growth journey continues to be the single most important factor that works in a VC's favour.
Take Aditya Singh, co-founder of VC firm All in Capital, who worked with social media agency Binge Labs to create an investment show called Elevator Pitch. Through a series of short videos, each episode allowed select startup founders to pitch for an investment of up to ₹2 crore from him. This series became popular, racking up nearly four million views across social media platforms. “There isn’t a downside to relying on digital presence. In the worst-case scenario, the content would not get consumed as much. Still, the traditional deal flow remains constant, so there is no risk of losing business," Singh added.
- VCs are becoming content creators to build brand identity and attract startups.
- Social media is now central to deal sourcing, especially for pre-seed investments.
- In-house marketing teams are replacing agencies as firms prioritize digital strategy.
- Content has long shelf life, helping firms stay relevant and resurface older insights.
- Social media expands geographic reach, enabling discovery of startups beyond metro hubs.
"This (social media) platform is crucial for venture capitalists as it provides early access to quality startups, allowing us to identify and invest before our competitors. Moreover, it acts as an avenue for branding, both for the VC firm and its partners," Singh told Mint.
Blume Ventures has taken a similar approach, building a robust content pipeline through its in-house marketing team. “Social media marketing is key to communicating our brand’s identity, values, and priorities," said Rohit Kaul, vice president of marketing. “Content compounds over time and filters the right founders to approach us."
Kaul also emphasized the longevity of digital content compared to events. “One benefit of content versus events is that content has a terrific shelf life. People still talk about one of our pieces from 2019."
Reaching beyond metros
Kartik Kala, vice president of Marketing at Arkam Ventures, another VC firm working closely with Binge Labs, highlighted that many potential founders, Limited Partners (LPs) and ecosystem partners are very active on LinkedIn, Twitter and newer media channels. One of their videos with tips for founders on improving their pitch decks crossed more than a million impressions across LinkedIn and Twitter. Recently, short clips from Arkam’s 2025 LP Meet featuring Nandan Nilekani went viral, drawing strong engagement from founders and investors.
"The rise of short-form video, long-form podcasts, and narrative-driven storytelling means our content strategy needs to go deeper," Kala said. Superficial or generic posts do not cut through, he said, adding working with the right partner has helped build disciplined workflows, bring polish to production and experiment with formats Arkam might not have tried otherwise.
This digital-first approach also broadens their reach beyond metro-centric networks, enabling them to discover promising ventures from tier-II and tier-III cities. "This widespread digital penetration is enabling them (VCs) to discover promising startups across the entire country—well beyond the usual hubs and networks centred in metro cities like Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai—expanding opportunities into untapped regions and diverse founders," said Aryan Anurag, co-founder of Binge Labs.
Nikita Singh of Aam Pannaa Creations noted the shift in power dynamics. “Five years ago, founders chased VCs. Now, VCs compete to make the best offers," she said.
This is evident in the case of Delhi-based juice startup No Filter, which pitched to All in Capital's Singh in an episode of Elevator Pitch. After the episode aired, the beverage brand was approached by many investors online, Varun Gosain, its co-founder, told Mint. He is currently weighing different investment opportunities for his startup. “When approached by VCs, due diligence is a must on the founders’ part also. We connect with their portfolio companies and ask about the good practices and enquire about other details about the investors," Gosain said.
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