After helping startups raise over $400 million in Series A and B funding through her own startup, ZWANET, Charlotte Ketelaar recognized that there was a lack of tools available to help startups raising seed funding.
To address the issue, Ketelaar joined with Reid Williams, who had previously had success founding and exiting startups, to co-found Capwave.
Capwave helps early-stage founders raise capital and funding—primarily in seed rounds—through feedback, connections and educational classes.
“I saw that, actually, in the pre-seed and seed stages, they really needed a lot of help as well, and there were not the right tools out there to really bring a capital-raising system to founders,” Ketelaar said.
Capwave provides founders withs tailored, AI-driven feedback on their pitch decks. When users upload their decks to Capwave, the startup’s AI agent—trained on thousands of successful pitch decks—grades what it sees and identifies specific areas for improvement. Founders can then continue to upload edited versions for further review.
Once Capwave’s AI agent scores a pitch deck at 80%, it is considered ready for investors to view, and Capwave proceeds to help connect the founders with ideal investors. The startup tracks over 60,000 investors and aggregates data about them, such as current investments and social media posts. Capwave then highlights a selection of those investors to founders based on which ones are most likely to invest, and provides contact information to facilitate the connection.
In addition to Capwave’s tailored pitch deck feedback and investor matches, founders can also access the startup’s master classes, which teach them about investor language and other pitching tips.
One tool to support founders throughout seed rounds
While some tools exist to help founders secure seed funding, Capwave stands out through its commitment to assist founders from the start to the finish of their funding journeys. Rather than providing a single resource—say, a database of investors or a dedicated mentor providing feedback on a pitch deck—Capwave works with founders from the first draft of their pitch to the point of closing deals with matched investors.
Capwave’s tailored pitch deck feedback is especially unique as it is the only platform that provides feedback on pitch decks, Ketelaar said.
“The main issue, outside of not talking to the right investor, is if you don’t have the right materials, the investor will immediately write you off,” Ketelaar said.
Prior to founding ZWANET and co-founding Capwave, Ketelaar worked in investment banking. This experience left her with insight into what one should do and say to secure funding from investors. Williams’ previous experience, meanwhile, having founded TravelBank and led the startup to a $200 million acquisition before exiting, provided him with knowledge of raising funding from a founder’s perspective.
The pair’s dual background in the process of securing funding from both sides of the investor-founder relationship make them an all-star team, Ketelaar said.
Plans for expansion
Capwave’s tools are available to founders through a tiered monthly subscription. Each subscription level grants founders increased monthly credits, which in turn allow the founders to access pitch deck feedback, investor matches and other resources.
The current total addressable market for Capwave is $4 billion, Ketelaar said. However, she anticipates that this number will grow as the startup continues to add features and expands its user base.
In September, Capwave will expand its platform with founder profiles, which will enable investors to easily view a startup’s general description, pitch deck and video, relevant updates, and data room.
Founder profiles will be the first of many features to be added as Capwave works on further developing its software for a venture capital user base through 2026. Ketelaar and Williams also plan to add features such as AI tools to track startups and a method to connect startups investors have funded with other potential investors.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Capwave
Co-Founders: Charlotte Ketelaar (CEO), Reid Williams
Founded: 2024
Team size: 8
Location: Charlotte
Website: www.capwave.ai
Funding: Pre-Seed
After Capwave has developed for both a founder and investor user base, the founders plan to use their internal data as an opportunity for further expansion. Capwave will leverage that data to develop a system to track and benchmark certain industries of startups.
Startups interested in using Capwave can join now at the startup’s website.
“When a founder joins Capwave, we will make them a better capital-raiser from prep all the way to closing their deal,” Ketelaar said.
