I'm Navaneeth, author of ToolJet - <https://github.com/ToolJet/ToolJet>. ToolJet is a low-code platform for building React-based custom internal applications. ToolJet is an alternative to Retool, Mendix and Outsystems.
TLDR; we raised a $1.55m seed round for ToolJet
I launched ToolJet on HN in June 2021 (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27421408) and it well really great. Here is the story of raising VC funding for an open-source project within 3 months of the first commit.
The long version of the story can be read at: <https://blog.tooljet.com/raising-vc-funding-for-open-source-project>
The Timeline
March 2021 - I sold one of my side projects and quit the job and decided to work full-time on ToolJet for up to 6 months.
March 31, 2021 - The first commit.
April 2021 - More commits. Reached out to investors, applied for YC ( everyone rejected ).
May 2021 - The beta users ( mostly the companies that I personally knew ) and working on feature requests and suggestions.
June 7, 2021 - Launched on ProductHunt and HackerNews.
June 7, 2021 - 1000 stars for our GitHub repository.
June 16, 2021 - The first cheque ( 200k USD )
June 21, 2021 - Wrapped up the seed round at 1.55m USD. We had offers for more than what we were looking for (enough to raise more than 2.5m ). But we did not want to raise ( a lot ) more than what we needed.
Why did we choose VC funding?
We chose VC funding because we wanted to grow quickly. We realised that it could take us months to build the platform that we wanted to build if ToolJet becomes a side project. We wanted to accelerate our growth by expanding the team.By choosing VC money, you also have to commit to an exit or a total failure. Also, this means you have to talk to a bunch of investors to get funded and to talk to those who funded you on a regular basis. On the bright side, you get to talk to amazing folks who have funded similar companies over the years ( or decades ) and have closely watched their journeys.
How we raised the fund
Before the launch, I reached out to the folks in my circle who could connect me to the investors. I also tried cold mailing a bunch of angel investors. Some of them were convinced about the vision but wanted to see some metrics to prove that it will work.
When we launched, there was inbound interest from a few VC firms and angel investors. After getting the first cheque it was easy to talk to more investors. And once we got the lead investor, closing the round wasn't difficult. Everything including the pitching and the negotiations were done through Zoom, Google meets and WhatsApp calls.