Is it really possible to get funding pre launch?

Hey! Technical founder (10+ years fintech engineer/lead/cto/ in designing/building fx/payments systems) here, working on an MVP. Me and my sister (who is a lawyer) want to push this for investment before getting clients. We could bootstrap, but for various reasons I believe it’s not a smart move. Seeking investment would create the necessary hiring power and marketing (fintech events) that would enable us to capture large clients we need for this to work. I am decently connected in the industry. I’m looking into pre-seed/pre-launch. I’m wondering what people’s anecdotal experience is like in successfully pulling this off? I’m trying to raise £1m, but this will fluctuate.