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AIx2 GP Fundraising Survey — Infographic Pack

Revised Benchmarks, October 2025

Audience: LPs & GPs in our networkSurvey Size: 124 GPs, 22 LPs, 4 Placement AgentsRegions: North America & Europe

Disclaimer: Values shown per GP outreach cohort. A full fund typically combines several cohorts to achieve its final close.

1. Headline KPIs (Hero Panel)

~850
Total LPs identified (median per GP)
~654
Contacted
~99
Opened email (≈15% open rate)
~12
First meetings (≈1.8% of contacted)
~3
Committed LPs
0.35%
Overall conversion (identified → committed)
Avoidable outreach with better pre-DD: ~40–65% (median ≈ 45%)
Maximizing relevancy of strategic and human fit (Email → Meeting): 4-8x relative
A/B testing lift (Email → Meeting): up to 3× relative (median ≈ 2×)

2. Pipeline Funnel (Where it breaks)

Identified
850100%
Contacted
65477%
Opened Email
9915%
First Meetings
1212%
Committed
325%

Insight: The sharpest drop occurs at email engagement (contacted → opened). Personalization and LP mandate relevance remain the primary differentiators.

3. Sourcing Mix (Share of Committed LPs by Channel)

Existing LP relationships
52%
Referrals & placement agents
18%
Conferences & events
14%
Cold outreach (email/LI/calls)
11%
Other
5%

Insight: Cold outreach remains weak but still contributes ~1/10th of commitments; pre-screened conferences outperform generic ones by 2.3×.

4. Avoidable Outreach via Better Pre-DD

~40–65%
(median ≈ 45%)
Share of outreach deemed avoidable post-hoc

Top pre-DD steps reducing waste:

  1. 1
    LP ticket sizing & pacing history
  2. 2
    Mandate tagging (ESG, geography, ownership)
  3. 3
    Re-up and check size patterns

5. Cold Email Benchmarks & A/B Testing

30%
Open rate (median)
2.5%
Reply rate (median)
0.6%
Meeting set (median, for purely cold outreach)

With disciplined A/B testing (subject + first line + CTA):

+15%
Open rate lift
+25%
Reply rate lift
Up to +200%
Meeting set lift (3x relative)

Top 5 levers that move replies (average lift vs control):

  1. 1
    Mandate-fit mention → 1.8×
  2. 2
    Named mutual → 1.6×
  3. 3
    Peer-category social proof → 1.4×
  4. 4
    Evidence link (board or IPS reference) → 1.3×
  5. 5
    Concise subject (Fund × LP Theme) → 1.2×

6. Warm Intros: What Works & Why It Fails

Warm intro (worked-with-both-sides introducer): 2.2× meeting rate
Warm intro (loose acquaintance): 1.0×
Two-hop intros without context: 0.5× (worse than tailored cold email)

Failure modes:

  • Generic intros with no LP mandate reference
  • Timing mismatch (outside LP pacing window)
  • Weak CTA (no time or context)

Example of strong warm intro:

  1. Why now: "Board minutes (Q2) show increased co-invest allocation."
  2. Why fit: "Your mid-market buyout + AI-ops angle mirrors our realized exits."
  3. Ask: "20-min next Wed/Thu; attaching 1-pager linked to your IPS."

7. LP 'Relevancy' Determines Throughput

How we identify relevancy: Relevancy has two parts:

  • Strategic fit — how well the LP's mandate aligns with the GP's strategy.
  • Human fit — how credible or connected the sender is to the receiver.
Score ≥ 80/100
8% meeting rate
Score 60-79
3.5% meeting rate
Score <60
1% meeting rate

Observation: Over-contacting (>600 LPs) correlates with lower conversion due to poor targeting and list fatigue.

8. Tailored Attributes — What GPs Prioritize

% of respondents marking each as Priority:

Sector/strategy alignment
72%
Ticket size match
67%
Capital patience / lockup tolerance
53%
Appetite for emerging managers
47%
Speed of decision-making
39%
Co-investment appetite
34%
Brand/reputational value
29%
LP diversification needs
25%
Geographic mandate
21%
Other
7%

Insight: "Emerging-manager appetite" continues to outperform brand value in predicting meeting likelihood.

9. Micro-Benchmarks by Strategy

VC

Larger S1 lists, lowest close rate

0.3–0.5%

PE Buyout

Moderate S1, higher meeting rate

7–9%

Private Credit

Best cold reply when collateralization is explicit

3–4%

10. Timing, Cadence, and Human Signals

Best first-send window: Tue–Thu, 08:00–10:00 LP local
Best follow-up delay: 7–9 business days
Human relevance: LP-specific references (mandates, pacing windows) improve replies by +1.2×

11. What Good Looks Like (Operating Targets)

  • ✓
    Maintain 300–400 high-fit LPs in S1
  • ✓
    Require Relevancy ≥80 before contacting
  • ✓
    A/B test every 2 weeks
  • ✓
    Use warm intros only with direct credibility
  • ✓
    Build LP dossiers (ticket, pacing, mandate, re-ups)

Data Sources & Methodology

Sample: 124 GPs and 22 LPs surveyed between July–September 2025

GP AUM range: $150M–$2B

LP AUM range: $1B–$50B

Regions: 67% North America, 25% Europe, 8% RoW

Fund Types: 46% PE Buyout, 31% VC, 23% Private Credit

Validation: Self-reported + AIx2 CRM anonymized pipeline analytics

Statistical Adjustment: Outlier-weighted averages (excluding top/bottom 10%)

Note: Statistics reflect 2025 market realities—tight liquidity, longer diligence cycles, and reduced cold outreach performance.