How to Pitch Index Ventures
A genuinely transatlantic model, consumer-and-enterprise duality, and why the metrics bar differs depending on which side of Index's practice you're pitching.
What Index Ventures is
Index Ventures is one of the few top-tier funds with genuinely deep practices in both the US and Europe, rather than a US fund with a token international presence. The firm has backed category-defining companies across enterprise software, fintech, and consumer, and its European roots give it real credibility and network depth for founders building outside the traditional Bay Area corridor.
What Index actually evaluates
Genuine transatlantic ambition, not just domestic scale. Index has a real pattern of backing companies that think globally from an early stage, reflecting the firm's own dual-market structure — a US-only roadmap is a weaker fit than at some domestic-focused funds.
Category leadership potential in both software and consumer. Index doesn't treat consumer as a side bet the way some enterprise-focused funds do — the firm has genuine conviction and pattern recognition in both categories, evaluated with real category-specific rigor rather than one generic framework applied to everything.
Partner-level engagement, not associate triage. Index's process tends to involve senior partners directly and early, rather than routing initial evaluation primarily through junior associates — founders should expect substantive engagement from the first real meeting.
Strong founder references, weighted heavily. Given the firm's long history and deep network, reference checks on a founder's track record and reputation carry real weight in Index's diligence process.
Metrics Index looks for by stage
Series A (enterprise): $1M–$3M ARR with strong year-over-year growth and early net revenue retention signals.
Series A (consumer): Strong retention curves (D30 engagement, organic growth signal) matter more than early monetization — Index has backed pre-revenue consumer companies with exceptional engagement data.
How to get an Index meeting
Given the firm's deep, longstanding network on both sides of the Atlantic, portfolio company introductions are a strong path regardless of which market a founder is building in. Index also engages actively with the broader European startup ecosystem specifically — accelerator relationships and ecosystem events in Europe are a genuine, underused path for founders outside the US.
What gets you passed
A domestic-only growth plan when the category clearly has global potential. Weak retention data for consumer companies, regardless of top-line growth. And a founding team without a credible answer to why they specifically can execute at the scale Index's later-stage support assumes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Index Ventures primarily a US fund or a European fund?
Neither exclusively — Index runs genuinely deep, independent practices in both markets, which is a real structural differentiator from funds with only a token international presence.
Does Index invest in both enterprise and consumer at similar conviction?
Yes — this is one of the firm's distinguishing traits relative to funds that favor one category strongly over the other.
What's Index's typical check size?
Ranges from seed through growth, with Series A checks typically in the low-to-mid eight figures, consistent with other top-tier multi-stage funds.
Is there a faster way to get my application in front of Index Ventures without a warm intro?
Yes. PitchProtocol routes your structured application to matched funds — including transatlantic, multi-category funds with Index's thesis profile — with independent research, thesis alignment scoring, and your follow-up questions pre-answered. Apply to the First 100 Founders Cohort →