Seeking Advice on Pre-Seed Fundraising and VC Outreach

Hi everyone, I’ve finalized my pitch deck and am currently raising pre-seed funding to test commercial and field technical viability over 24 months. At this stage, I have a market opportunity supported by independent market research and an LOI with the university to collaborate (engaged as consultants under a specific scope of work to navigate IP-related concerns that otherwise future investors would be concerned about). For context, the venture is based in Australia and it is related to Renewable Energy technologies. While I’m familiar with the general fundraising process from my professional experience (working with power marketing professionals and concepts like data rooms and term sheets), I don’t have direct fundraising experience. My background is primarily in engineering and project management. I have a few specific questions and would greatly appreciate your insights: * **Pitch Deck and Data Room**: * For initial outreach to VCs, is a pitch deck sufficient, or are there additional materials I should prepare beforehand? * At what stage in the process is a data room typically required? Can I work on shaping the data room in parallel with investor outreach, or should it be completed upfront? * **Examples of Strong Pitch Decks**: * Do you have examples or templates of effective pitch decks that you could share or recommend? * **Startup Definition and Documentation**: * How well-defined does the startup need to be at the pre-seed stage? Currently, we have a handshake agreement among the founders, but I assume investors (Micro VCs or Angels) will require formal documentation during due diligence to address key risks. What level of documentation and structure is typically expected at this stage? * **Approaching investors**: * What’s the best way to approach Micro-VCs/Angels for pre-seed funding, especially if I don’t have time to network extensively? * Would engaging a funding specialist (e.g., an ex-investment banker) be a worthwhile approach to help with the Pre-seed fundraising process? Thank you in advance for your advice and recommendations! If any of the questions above are unclear or if my approach seems off track, I’d greatly appreciate your guidance and corrections.