How to Check a VC Firm's Recent Investment Activity

Check a VC firm's recent investment activity by building a dated log of actual investment announcements, separating announcement dates from transaction dates, and distinguishing new companies from follow-on rounds. The log can guide a conversation about current fit. It cannot reveal undisclosed dry powder or prove that a quiet fund has stopped investing.

Define the observation window

Write the question before searching: “What publicly announced investments relevant to our stage can we verify in the last twelve months?” Twelve months is an example window, not an industry standard. A long product-development sector may need a different view. Save the window so two researchers are comparing the same thing.

Keep fund launches, acquisitions, exits and investment rounds in different categories. A fund announcement tells you something about a vehicle at that time. It does not establish today's available capital, allocation to new companies, or investment-committee schedule.

Find the event behind each headline

Use the firm's news page, then verify the portfolio company's announcement. A repost and a syndicated article describing the same round are one event. Record the company, financing type if stated, investor participation, and whether a named partner is identified.

Put announcement date and transaction date in separate columns. If the transaction date is not disclosed, leave it unknown. Do not silently use the press-release date as the date the investment closed. Similarly, “participated in” is not the same as “led.”

Classify the limits of the evidence

Intel Capital's January 2026 reflection describes recent investments and its focus. A dated statement like this is useful context, but it is not a live capital ledger. An official portfolio page can help identify companies, but may not specify the investment date or whether the firm still owns them.

For each event, label new relationship, follow-on, or not established. If a company was already in the portfolio and the new announcement does not clarify the firm's involvement, do not invent participation. Keep rejected and ambiguous records in a notes tab so they are not counted later.

Worked example: five headlines become three events

Illustrative research log: a founder finds five headlines for fictional Cedar Fund. Two are duplicate coverage of Maple's round, one announces a new fund, and two concern different companies.

Deduplicated activity

Record	What is verified	What is not
Maple seed, March 4 announcement	Cedar participated; two reports describe one round	Closing date and check size unknown
Pine Series B, June 9 announcement	Cedar named in the round; existing portfolio company	New capital versus prior involvement needs clarification
Elm seed, September 2 announcement	Company names Cedar as an investor	Lead role not stated

The conclusion is “two clearly announced participations plus one ambiguous follow-on record,” not “five deals” or “the fund has money available.” The fund-launch headline remains a separate source.

Copy the activity log

Observation window:
Company / event identity:
Company announcement URL and date:
Firm announcement URL and date:
Transaction date: stated / unknown
Round and role: stated / unknown
New relationship / follow-on / unclear:
Relevant partner, if named:
Duplicate coverage excluded:
What this establishes:
Question remaining:
Researcher and check date:

Run the exercise for a single firm. Have another person check two entries against the company announcements. Count unique events only after resolving duplicates.

Use the log to ask a better question

Ask, “Are you considering new investments at our stage from your current vehicle?” rather than “You announced a fund, so can you invest?” If the public log is quiet, record “no qualifying announcements found in this window.” That is different from “inactive.”

Finish when every included event has evidence and the summary states its coverage limits. Recheck before outreach if several weeks pass or the firm announces a strategy change. Do not infer confidential deployment, reserves, fund performance or a closing probability from this exercise.

Finta Field Guide. Examples and worksheets are original educational illustrations, not customer results. Based on Academy principles and the primary sources linked in this lesson.