# NFX Signal Investor API (`johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api`) Actor

Export VC investors and firms from Signal by NFX investor lists as structured JSON: check sizes, stages, sectors, locations, and profile links. Optional LinkedIn and Crunchbase firm enrichment. Pay per result, no login required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api.md
- **Developed by:** [John](https://apify.com/johnvc) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.01 / 1,000 dataset items

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## 🧭 NFX Signal Investor API - find investors, check sizes, and VC firms

The NFX Signal Investor API turns [Signal by NFX](https://signal.nfx.com) investor lists into clean, structured JSON. This API pulls thousands of venture investors and VC firms with their check sizes, stages, sectors, and locations, so figuring out how to find investors for a fundraise becomes a query instead of an afternoon of copy and paste. Optionally enrich every firm with LinkedIn and Crunchbase data in the same run.

Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to NFX. It reads the same public investor lists any visitor can browse.

### What the NFX Signal Investor API returns

- **Investors** with name, role, firm, check size (min / target / max), investment locations, headshot, and a link to the profile.
- **VC firms** attached to each list, with a link to the firm profile.
- **The list catalog**: every public [investor list published on Signal by NFX](https://signal.nfx.com/investor-lists), with its slug, stage, sector, and investor count, so you can see the whole venture capital data set before you pull any of it.
- **Optional firm enrichment**: LinkedIn firmographics (industry, size, HQ, followers) and Crunchbase funding data (funding, investors, headcount, rank, status).

### Use cases: how to find investors that fit your round

- **Build a target list for a raise.** Filter by stage and sector, then sort by check size so you only pitch investors who write your number.
- **Find pre seed investors and early stage investors.** The catalog carries pre-seed, seed, Series A, and Series B lists across roughly 350 sectors and geographies.
- **Pull a list of VC firms in one vertical.** Firms mode returns the firm directory for any sector list, ready for a CRM import.
- **Enrich an investor CRM.** Add firmographics and funding history to firms you already track, in a single pass.
- **Map a market.** Compare which firms show up across AI, FinTech, and climate lists to see who is actually active.
- **Watch a list over time.** Schedule a monthly run and diff the output to catch new entrants.

### Input parameters

| Field | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `mode` | select | no | `investors` | `investors`, `firms`, or `lists`. |
| `listSlugs` | array | for `investors` and `firms` | none | List slugs to pull, e.g. `advertising-seed`. Discover slugs with `lists` mode. |
| `maxItems` | integer | no | `0` | Cap on rows returned. `0` means no limit. Deduplicated by person or firm. |
| `pageSize` | integer | no | `50` | Investors requested per page. The source may cap this; pagination still walks the full list. |
| `includeFirms` | boolean | no | `false` | In `investors` mode, also emit one deduplicated row per firm. |
| `stage` | string | no | none | Stage filter for `lists` mode: `pre_seed`, `seed`, `series_a`, `series_b`. |
| `locationId` | string | no | none | Location tag ID filter for `lists` mode. |
| `enrichWithLinkedIn` | boolean | no | `false` | Add LinkedIn company data to each firm. Charged per firm enriched. |
| `enrichWithCrunchbase` | boolean | no | `false` | Add Crunchbase data to each firm. Charged per firm enriched. |

### Output fields

One row per record, with `result_type` telling you which kind it is (`investor`, `firm`, `list`, or `error`).

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `name`, `firstName`, `lastName` | Investor name. |
| `position` | Role at the firm, e.g. `managing_partner`. |
| `minInvestment` / `targetInvestment` / `maxInvestment` | Check size in US dollars. |
| `firmName`, `firmSlug`, `firmUrl` | The investor's firm and its profile link. |
| `personUrl`, `personSlug`, `headshotUrl` | Investor profile link and photo. |
| `investmentLocations` | Geographies the investor focuses on. |
| `listMemberships` | Other lists this investor appears on. |
| `sourceListSlug`, `sourceListStage`, `sourceListVertical` | Which list the row came from. |
| `slug`, `listUrl`, `investorCount`, `stage`, `vertical` | List catalog fields (`lists` mode). |
| `linkedinIndustry`, `linkedinSize`, `linkedinFollowers`, `linkedinUrl` | LinkedIn enrichment, when enabled. |
| `crunchbaseRank`, `crunchbaseEmployees`, `crunchbaseStatus`, `crunchbaseUrl` | Crunchbase enrichment, when enabled. |

### Example output

```json
{
  "result_type": "investor",
  "name": "Brendan Wallace",
  "personUrl": "https://signal.nfx.com/investors/brendan-wallace",
  "position": "managing_partner",
  "minInvestment": 10000000,
  "targetInvestment": 12500000,
  "maxInvestment": 25000000,
  "firmName": "Fifth Wall Ventures",
  "firmUrl": "https://signal.nfx.com/firms/fifth-wall-ventures",
  "investmentLocations": ["Los Angeles, California"],
  "sourceListSlug": "advertising-seed",
  "linkedinSize": "11-50 employees",
  "crunchbaseRank": 290,
  "crunchbaseStatus": "active"
}
```

The Output tab ships four ready-made views: **Investors**, **Firms**, **Enriched**, and **List catalog**, with clickable profile links, headshots, and formatted check sizes.

### 🔌 Integrations: keep your investor list fresh automatically

A one-off export goes stale the week you build it. Wire this in as a pipeline instead:

- **Tasks and Schedules.** Save a mode plus list slugs as a Task, schedule it monthly, and diff each run to catch new investors entering a sector.
- **Google Sheets and Airtable.** Push the dataset straight into the sheet your fundraise CRM already reads.
- **Supabase or Postgres.** Upsert on the investor profile link to build a deduplicated venture capital database that grows every run.
- **Make and Zapier.** Trigger on run completion to alert Slack when a target firm appears on a new list.
- **Webhooks.** Fire your own endpoint on `ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED` and pull the dataset by ID.
- **MCP.** Let an AI agent call this directly, described in the section below.

### How to get started

1. Run `lists` mode first to see every list, its slug, sector, stage, and investor count.
2. Pass one or more `listSlugs` in `investors` or `firms` mode.
3. Turn on enrichment only when you need firmographics; it costs more and takes longer.

[View on Apify Store](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api?fpr=9n7kx3)

Prefer to build with an AI coding tool? [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/referral/uIlpa7nPLg) (free trial) and [Claude Cowork](https://claude.ai/referral/uIlpa7nPLg) (free trial) can call this API for you.

### 🔌 Use this API from Claude (MCP)

This Actor is an MCP server, so AI agents can discover and run it directly. Point your MCP client at:

`https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api`

Setup walkthrough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREWahDGhJM

More on the Apify MCP integration: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp

### 💸 Pay per run with crypto (x402)

The NFX Signal Investor API supports agentic payments via the [x402 protocol](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/x402).
AI agents and MCP clients can pay for runs in USDC (on Base) with no Apify account or API token needed:
point your agent at the [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api) and it can
discover, pay for, and run this Actor autonomously. Read the
[Apify x402 announcement](https://apify.com/change-log/pay-for-apify-actors-with-x402?fpr=9n7kx3) for details.

### Pricing

Low-cost and pay-per-result: you are billed only for the investor, firm, or list rows actually returned, plus a small per-firm fee when you switch on LinkedIn or Crunchbase enrichment. No monthly rental, no per-page blocks. If a firm cannot be resolved, you are not charged for it. The Store card shows current rates.

### 💡 Example tasks

Ready-to-run examples, each a live landing page you can open and run as-is.

#### [Find Investors for Your Startup by Stage and Check Size](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/find-investors-for-your-startup-by-stage-and-check-size?fpr=9n7kx3)

Build a target list ordered by the check size each investor actually writes.

#### [List of VC Firms in San Francisco Bay Area](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/list-of-vc-firms-in-san-francisco-bay-area?fpr=9n7kx3)

The firm directory for the largest geography on Signal, ready for a CRM import.

#### [Pre Seed Investors List With Check Sizes](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/pre-seed-investors-list-with-check-sizes?fpr=9n7kx3)

Pre-seed investors across FinTech, SaaS, and AI in one run.

#### [Crunchbase Alternative for Investor and VC Firm Data](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/crunchbase-alternative-for-investor-and-vc-firm-data?fpr=9n7kx3)

Investor-first data with optional Crunchbase enrichment on each firm.

#### [VC Database Export by Sector and Stage](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/vc-database-export-by-sector-and-stage?fpr=9n7kx3)

The full catalog of 349 lists across 103 sectors and four stages.

#### [Export Signal NFX Investor Lists to JSON or CSV](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/export-signal-nfx-investor-lists-to-json-or-csv?fpr=9n7kx3)

Turn any public list into structured rows, no login required.

#### [Track New Investors Joining a VC List Each Month](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/track-new-investors-joining-a-vc-list-each-month?fpr=9n7kx3)

Schedule a monthly run and diff the output to catch new entrants.

#### [按行业和轮次导出风险投资人名单](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/export-vc-investor-list-by-sector-and-stage-zh?fpr=9n7kx3)

按行业与轮次导出风险投资人数据，含投资金额区间与主页链接。

#### [旧金山湾区风险投资机构名录导出](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/examples/sf-bay-area-vc-firm-directory-zh?fpr=9n7kx3)

导出投资旧金山湾区的风险投资机构名录，适合融资研究与名单整理。

### 🔗 Related Tools

Chain these together and the investor list becomes a full company intelligence pipeline.

- **[Crunchbase Company API](https://apify.com/johnvc/crunchbase-company-api?fpr=9n7kx3)** - funding, investors, headcount, and status per company. This is the same source behind the `enrichWithCrunchbase` toggle, and useful on its own when you already have a company list.
- **[PitchBook Company API](https://apify.com/johnvc/pitchbook-company-api?fpr=9n7kx3)** - valuation, cap table signals, competitors, and financials for private companies.
- **[LinkedIn Company API](https://apify.com/johnvc/linkedin-company-api?fpr=9n7kx3)** - firmographics by company name or URL, powering the `enrichWithLinkedIn` toggle.
- **[Startup Investors Data Scraper](https://apify.com/johnvc/startup-investors-data-scraper?fpr=9n7kx3)** - a standing database of investment firms with contacts, when you want firms rather than list membership.
- **[VentureRadar Company Discovery API](https://apify.com/johnvc/ventureradar-company-api?fpr=9n7kx3)** - emerging-company profiles and accelerator signals for the other side of the table.

Worth knowing before you pick: several cheap Signal scrapers on the Store, such as [powerai/signal-listing-scraper](https://apify.com/powerai/signal-listing-scraper?fpr=9n7kx3), currently sit at a one star rating with no firm enrichment path, which is the gap this API is built to close.

### FAQ

#### How do I find investors for my startup with this API?

Run `lists` mode to see the catalog, pick the lists that match your sector and stage, then run `investors` mode on those slugs. Sort the output by `targetInvestment` and you have a target list ordered by the check size each investor actually writes.

#### Is this an API or a web scraper?

Both descriptions fit. It is a web scraper in the sense that it reads public pages rather than a licensed feed, and it is delivered as an API: structured JSON, pay per result, callable from code, no browser automation to maintain on your side. See [Wikipedia on web scraping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping) for the general technique.

#### Can I use an MCP server to run this from an AI assistant?

Yes. Point any MCP client at `https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api` and the agent can discover the input schema and run it. That is how a research agent can answer investor questions with live data instead of memory.

#### How do I schedule this and integrate it with other apps?

Save your input as a Task, then attach a Schedule, and connect the dataset to Sheets, Airtable, Supabase, Make, or Zapier. See the Integrations section above for the pipeline patterns.

#### Do I need an NFX Signal login?

No. The investor lists this reads are the public ones on [signal.nfx.com](https://signal.nfx.com), so no account, cookie, or token is required.

#### How do I find a list of VC firms in one sector?

Use `firms` mode with that sector's list slug. It returns the deduplicated firm directory for the list. Turn on enrichment to add size, industry, and funding to each firm.

#### Where do I find pre seed and early stage investors?

The catalog includes pre-seed, seed, Series A, and Series B lists per sector. Filter `lists` mode with `stage` set to `pre_seed` or `seed`, then pull the slugs that match your vertical.

#### Is this a Crunchbase or PitchBook alternative?

It is a complement, not a replacement. Those platforms are company-centric databases with licensed coverage; this returns investor-centric list data, including check sizes that company databases usually do not publish. Many people run both, which is why the Crunchbase and PitchBook enrichment paths exist here. For background on the sector, see [venture capital on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital).

#### How many investors can I pull in one run?

A single list can hold thousands. The Actor walks the whole list by cursor, so use `maxItems` to cap a run or leave it at `0` for everything.

#### Why are some check size fields empty?

Not every investor publishes a range. Those fields come back empty rather than estimated, because a guessed check size is worse than a missing one.

***

### 🌐 About Alpha OSINT

This Actor is part of [Alpha OSINT](https://www.alphaosint.com), a toolset of financial and operations data sources and APIs.
For support or requests for this actor, please start a ticket [directly on our support page](https://apify.com/johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api/issues/open?fpr=9n7kx3).

Last Updated: 2026.08.20

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to collect. 'lists' returns the catalog of NFX Signal investor lists (use it to discover slugs). 'investors' paginates the investors on the given lists. 'firms' returns the venture firms attached to the given lists.

## `listSlugs` (type: `array`):

NFX Signal investor-list slugs to collect, e.g. 'advertising-seed' or 'fintech-series-a'. Required for the 'investors' and 'firms' modes. Run 'lists' mode first to discover valid slugs.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum rows to return across all lists (0 means no limit). Deduplicated by person (investors) or firm (firms).

## `pageSize` (type: `integer`):

How many investors to request per API page (investors mode). The source may cap this; the Actor still walks the full list by cursor.

## `includeFirms` (type: `boolean`):

In 'investors' mode, additionally emit one deduplicated firm row for each firm seen.

## `stage` (type: `string`):

Optional stage filter for the 'lists' catalog, e.g. pre\_seed, seed, series\_a, series\_b.

## `locationId` (type: `string`):

Optional NFX location tag ID to filter the 'lists' catalog.

## `enrichWithLinkedIn` (type: `boolean`):

Enrich each firm with LinkedIn company data (industry, size, HQ, followers, specialties) via the LinkedIn Company API. Adds a per-firm charge and extra run time.

## `enrichWithCrunchbase` (type: `boolean`):

Enrich each firm with Crunchbase data (funding, investors, headcount, rank, status) via the Crunchbase Company API. Adds a per-firm charge and extra run time.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "investors",
  "listSlugs": [
    "advertising-seed"
  ],
  "maxItems": 100,
  "pageSize": 50,
  "includeFirms": false,
  "enrichWithLinkedIn": false,
  "enrichWithCrunchbase": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `investors` (type: `string`):

Investor rows with check size, firm, and locations.

## `firms` (type: `string`):

Venture firm rows.

## `enriched` (type: `string`):

Investor rows with LinkedIn and Crunchbase firm enrichment.

## `lists` (type: `string`):

The catalog of NFX Signal investor lists.

## `allResults` (type: `string`):

Every dataset item from this run.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "listSlugs": [
        "advertising-seed"
    ],
    "maxItems": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "listSlugs": ["advertising-seed"],
    "maxItems": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "listSlugs": [
    "advertising-seed"
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}' |
apify call johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,johnvc/nfx-signal-investor-api"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/YMyUbcw8eLkaoK3Ae/builds/4IoVsRlrNJORQ2zLP/openapi.json