Marketplace fundraising is weirdly different from SaaS.

Great SaaS can look "obvious" from a crisp demo and a few retention charts. Great marketplaces often look messy early—because the magic is in liquidity, trust, and network effects… which are hard to see until they start compounding.

When preparing your pitch to marketplace investors, having a professional data room is essential. Peony helps marketplace startups organize investor materials with AI-powered document organization, track investor engagement with page-level analytics, and securely share sensitive financial and operational data. With transparent pricing at $40/user/month, Peony delivers enterprise-grade secure data rooms without the $5,000-20,000 per-deal costs of legacy platforms.

This guide is built for founders raising in 2025 who want a short, high-quality list of investors with real marketplace DNA, plus exactly what you need to know to pitch them.

1) How to pick the right marketplace investors (best-fit filter)

A. Pick investors who actually understand network effects

You want partners who instinctively think in:

Liquidity loops (how supply/demand reinforce each other)
Cold-start strategy (how you'll reach minimum viable liquidity)
Trust & safety moat (verification, fraud, disputes, QA)
Market design (incentives, pricing, matching, reputation)

Funds like NFX and Samaipata explicitly anchor on network effects, which is a strong signal you won't spend the whole pitch explaining why "GMV isn't revenue." (samaipata.vc)

B. Match your marketplace type to the investor's "home turf"

Not all marketplaces are the same. Investors often specialize (even if they don't say it loudly):

Consumer marketplaces (social/commerce): look for consumer-native funds (e.g., Forerunner). (forerunnerventures.com)
SMB / prosumer marketplaces (services, local, vertical): look for funds known for ops + GTM playbooks.
Fintech-enabled marketplaces (payments, payouts, underwriting): look for commerce/fintech specialists (e.g., Commerce Ventures). (Commerce Ventures)

C. Be honest about stage + proof

A marketplace seed pitch can win with:

a narrow wedge (one city, one category, one buyer persona)
early repeat behavior (same-side retention + cross-side activation)
a clear "why now" (platform shift, regulation opening, new supply source)

But if you're pre-liquidity with only a big vision, prioritize pre-seed/seed firms that underwrite cold-start risk (not "growth-at-all-costs" tourists).

D. Use "recent fund activity" as a cheat code

You want firms actively deploying fresh capital in 2025. Examples:

NFX publicly announced it's investing out of Fund IV. (NFX)
USV stated it began investing out of its newest Core Fund in early 2025. (Union Square Ventures)
Prosus reported FY25 venture commitments/investments across many transactions. (Prosus)

2) The 9 best marketplace investors to know in 2025 (and how to pitch each)

1) FJ Labs (NYC) — Marketplace specialists at massive scale

Why they're great: FJ Labs is one of the most marketplace-concentrated investors on earth—explicitly focused on marketplaces + network-effect businesses. (FJ Labs)

Stage: Typically pre-seed through Series A (and beyond, opportunistically).

What they look for: Strong marketplace mechanics: take rate logic, repeat purchase/usage, supply acquisition edge, trust & safety thinking.

Proof they're active: Their portfolio page shows 1,200+ startups and even filters by Entry Year (including 2025). (FJ Labs)

How to get in: Warm intro helps, but FJ is known for being responsive to crisp marketplace decks with clear loops + wedge.

2) NFX (SF / Israel) — Pre-seed/seed network-effects machine

Why they're great: NFX has one of the clearest public theses on network effects and has built a brand around backing those companies early. (NFX FAST)

Stage & pace: They invest pre-seed/seed and announced they're deploying a new fund in 2025. (NFX)

What they look for: "Multiplayer" products where the product gets better as more people join; crisp cold-start; founder-market fit.

Extra edge: NFX's Signal investor lists are community-voted, and NFX repeatedly appears in marketplace investor rankings (a nice "founder sentiment" proxy). (Signal)

How to pitch: Make your network effects explicit: show loops, not just market size.

3) Forerunner Ventures (SF) — Consumer + commerce + marketplace instincts

Why they're great: Forerunner is a premier consumer investor with deep pattern recognition for commerce and behavior shifts—often where marketplaces are born. (forerunnerventures.com)

Capital + activity: Forerunner announced major fundraises (including a $1B raise with dedicated vehicles) and has continued publishing 2025 research. (forerunnerventures.com)

What they look for: Consumer love, delightful UX, new demand curves, and "this becomes a habit" dynamics.

How to pitch: Lead with behavior change + why now, then prove early pull (conversion, repeat, referrals).

4) Union Square Ventures (USV) (NYC) — Thesis-driven, networks, and platforms

Why they're great: USV is one of the most respected network/platform investors, with a long history of backing category-defining networks. (Union Square Ventures)

2025 activity: USV stated it began investing out of its newest Core Fund in 2025 and continues publishing frequent 2025 updates. (Union Square Ventures)

What they look for: Big, durable networks; clear positioning; principled moats (community, protocol, distribution).

How to pitch: Be crisp. USV likes clear thinking—show the market structure, why you win, and what the network becomes at scale.

5) Speedinvest (Marketplaces & Consumer) (Europe) — Network-effects + operator help

Why they're great: Speedinvest has an explicit "Marketplaces & Consumer" practice focused on network effects, plus strong operational support across Europe. (Speedinvest)

Stage: Pre-seed, seed, and (via their platform) growth. (Speedinvest)

What they look for: Non-consensus consumer/marketplace plays, "multiplayer" experiences, and real-world problem solving. (Speedinvest)

How to pitch: If you're Europe-based (or expanding into Europe), show why your supply acquisition can work across markets and what local playbook you have.

6) Samaipata (Europe) — Early-stage network-effects across European digital platforms

Why they're great: Samaipata positions itself as an early-stage fund investing in companies with network effects across Europe—a very marketplace-native framing. (samaipata.vc)

Activity signal: Reporting in late 2024 described significant 2024 deployment and expectations for continued investing into 2025. (Cinco Días)

What they look for: Digital platforms where data + scale create compounding advantages; strong wedge; measurable marketplace health.

How to pitch: Bring metrics discipline—cohort views of liquidity (match rate, time-to-fill, repeat rates, CAC split by side).

7) Version One Ventures (Vancouver + SF) — Early-stage, marketplace roots, broad curiosity

Why they're great: Version One is early-stage and founder-forward, with a history of marketplace thinking (and consistent publishing on marketplace dynamics). (Version One Ventures)

Activity signal: They published a Q1 2025 portfolio review and continue announcing new investments. (Version One Ventures)

What they look for: Mission-driven founders and strong early signals; they're comfortable across categories and geographies. (Version One Ventures)

How to pitch: Show founder-market fit + a focused go-to-market wedge. They'll engage if the story is coherent and the learning velocity is high.

8) Prosus Ventures (Global) — Marketplace operator DNA (e-commerce + classifieds)

Why they're great: Prosus is deeply embedded in marketplaces as an operator/investor across e-commerce and classifieds ecosystems. Their own reporting highlights substantial FY25 venture activity. (Prosus)

What they look for: Large markets, strong unit economics, category leadership potential—often with global ambition.

How to pitch: Speak their language: market structure + defensibility + path to category leadership. If you're in classifieds, commerce, or logistics-adjacent marketplaces, they can be unusually strong partners.

9) Commerce Ventures (US) — Marketplace infrastructure (payments, retail, fintech rails)

Why they're great: Commerce Ventures is sector-focused on the infrastructure that powers modern commerce—retail, payments, banking, insurance—often the plumbing behind marketplaces. (Commerce Ventures)

What they look for: Products that plug into real commerce workflows (payouts, risk, loyalty, returns, embedded finance).

How to pitch: If you're a marketplace or building for marketplaces, highlight how money moves, compliance/risk, and why incumbents can't ship what you're shipping.

3) Five quick tips to pitch marketplace investors (and not get politely ghosted)

Lead with your wedge, not your grand vision "Marketplace for everything" is a red flag. "Marketplace for X in Y with Z distribution edge" gets meetings.
Show liquidity metrics (even if tiny) Include 5–7 marketplace health metrics like: time-to-match, fill rate, repeat rate per side, CAC by side, take rate, cancellation rate, NPS, dispute rate.
Explain cold-start in one slide Investors want: What do you do first, who do you recruit first, and why will the other side show up?
Make trust & safety a first-class citizen In 2025, the winners treat trust like product: verification, reviews, identity, quality controls, dispute resolution, fraud tooling.
Prove a compounding advantage The strongest marketplace pitches end with: "Every transaction makes us better because ___." (Data, routing, reputation, supply density, proprietary distribution, embedded workflow.) Use a professional data room like Peony to organize materials with AI-powered organization and track investor engagement with page-level analytics.

Why professional data rooms matter for marketplace fundraising

Marketplace startups need to present complex documentation—liquidity metrics, network effect analysis, financial projections, and validation data—professionally to build investor confidence.

Peony helps marketplace startups create investor-ready data rooms with AI-powered organization that sets up in minutes instead of weeks.

Key benefits: page-level analytics show which documents investors review most, enterprise security protects sensitive information, and transparent pricing at $40/user/month—93-99% cheaper than legacy platforms charging $5,000-20,000 per deal.

Conclusion

Raising capital from marketplace investors in 2025 requires matching your marketplace type, stage, and network effects to the right funds. The investors on this list are actively deploying, but they're selective. Bring sharp wedges, liquidity metrics, and a clean data room—not just vision.

Having a professional data room is table stakes for serious marketplace fundraising. Peony helps marketplace startups organize investor materials, track engagement, and securely share sensitive financial and operational data at a fraction of legacy platform costs.

Ready to pitch marketplace investors? Set up your investor data room with Peony in minutes, not weeks.

Q&A Section

What's the best way to organize investor materials for marketplace fundraising?

Peony offers AI-powered document organization that automatically structures liquidity metrics, network effect analysis, financials, and validation data into a professional data room in minutes. Page-level analytics show which documents investors review most, helping you anticipate questions.

How can I track which marketplace investors are most engaged with my pitch?

Peony provides page-level analytics showing which documents investors review and how much time they spend on each section. This helps identify serious investors and tailor follow-up conversations with actionable insights.

What's the most cost-effective data room solution for marketplace startups raising capital?

Peony offers transparent pricing at $40/user/month—93-99% cheaper than legacy platforms charging $5,000-20,000 per deal. For a 5-person team, Peony costs $200/month vs $3,000-5,000+ for legacy platforms, delivering enterprise features at startup-friendly pricing.

How do I securely share sensitive financial and operational information with marketplace investors?

Peony provides enterprise-grade security with identity-bound access, dynamic watermarking, and screenshot protection. With link expiry and instant access revocation, you maintain complete control over sensitive documentation.

What data room features are essential for marketplace startups pitching to investors?

Marketplace startups need data rooms that handle complex documentation: liquidity metrics, network effect analysis, financials, and validation data. Peony offers AI-powered organization, page-level analytics, custom branding, and comprehensive security. With 10-minute setup vs weeks for legacy platforms, Peony helps marketplace startups look professional without breaking the budget.

Impress Investors

Top 9 Marketplace Investors in 2025: The Founder's Complete Guide (Checks, Fit, and How to Get the Yes)