Seed

Delmic Uses Metal to identify Sector Specialists

delmic

“Prior to Metal, we relied on word of mouth to identify investors that had deep familiarity with and expertise in our sector, life sciences. With Metal, we are now able to take a more systematic approach toward identifying sector specialists – the best part is that we can form our own definitions for what qualifies as a sector specialist.”

Sander den Hoedt

Founder/CEO

www.delmic.com

Back to Use Cases

Overview

The Challenge

Identifying Sector Specialists via Metal

Impact on the Fundraising Process

Executive Summary

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Delmic is building microscopy workflows that aid research work in the field. With a broad set of proven applications for their workflows, Delmic has previously raised €6m from the European Investment Fund, the European Innovation Council and Value Creation Capital.

The Challenge

What founders struggle with before Metal

Since Delmic operates in a specialized sector that requires deep expertise in the field, the biggest challenge for Sander (Founder, Delmic) lies in identifying financing partners that understand his specific sub-sector. While many investors participate broadly in healthcare, far fewer have experience backing companies in Delmic's specific sub-sector.

Rather than relying on broad industry categories, the team needed a way to identify investors whose previous investments demonstrated a clear understanding of the market. This level of precision was essential for prioritizing outreach and increasing the likelihood of meaningful fundraising conversations.

Identifying Sector Specialists via Metal

How Metal surfaces the right investors

With Metal, Sander is able to take a systematic approach in identifying investors that specialize in life sciences and that meet a specific criteria.

Domain

Platform Capabilities

Sector Specialists

Investors that have made more than “30” investments in “Healthcare” as a parent sector (where 30 is configurable)

Sub-Sector Specialists

Investors that have made more than “5” investments in “Instrumentation” as a sub-sector (where 5 is configurable)

Inclination to Lead

Investors that have led more than “X”% of their total investments whereby “X” is configurable

Investment Activity

Investors that have made at least “X” number of investments in the past 3 months whereby “X” is configurable

Fund Size & Lifecycle

Investors that have a fund size between $X-Ym and that have raised a new fund within the past “Z” years whereby all variables are configurable

Concentration by Continent

Investors that have made at least “X%” of total investments in Europe whereby X is configurable

Concentration by Stage

Investors that have made at least “X%” of total investments at Series A whereby “X” is configurable

For Sander, the ability to systematically identify all investors that have deep expertise within Healthcare is a great starting point.

Going one level deeper, the ability to identify investors that have made a series of investments in the “Instrumentation” sub-sector builds a higher level of precision. Additionally, the ability to augment the sector filters with other criteria create an efficient way to quickly identify the “most likely” financing partners.

In his own words, Sander reminds us that, “It’s not just the investor identification that draws me to Metal, the depth and richness of data in the right-hand sidebar is critical. One of the biggest efficiency drivers is the ability to plug in my network data and then see intro pathways flowing into each investor.”

Impact on the Fundraising Process

How targeting the right investors changes outcomes

The value wasn't just identifying specialist investors—it was understanding how those investors fit into Delmic's fundraising strategy.

For Sander, the ability to consolidate all fundraising-related research, operations and pipeline formation in one place has led to a significant value add.

With Metal, there have been two key areas of impact for Delmic:

• The efficiency that results from having data readily available to seamlessly identify, qualify and access the right investors

• The precision that results from having the complete information. Unlike “sector specific investor lists”, Metal provides Delmic complete and holistic information on each investor’s investing trends, activity levels and capital availability

Executive Summary

Key takeaways from Delmic's use of Metal

Delmic used Metal to move beyond broad healthcare investor lists and identify investors with deep expertise in its specific sub-sector. By combining granular investor filters with network intelligence, the team was able to prioritize higher-quality fundraising opportunities while reducing the time spent on manual research.