A surprising fraction of the VC firms that come up in a typical database search aren't actually writing checks this quarter. They're between funds, sitting on dry powder for follow-ons, harvesting existing portfolio, or quietly winding down. Their websites haven't been updated. They'll still take a meeting if your intro is good. And the meeting will go nowhere.
Filtering for genuinely active investors is the single biggest time-saver in a fundraise. Here are the five signals that work.
Signal 1 — Recent investment cadence (the most reliable)
The only signal that matters more than everything else combined: when did they last announce a new investment at your stage?
- Last 6 months. Active. Continue qualifying.
- 6–12 months. Yellow flag. Worth asking about directly in the meeting.
- 12+ months. Walk away unless you have other strong signals. They're between funds, fundraising, or done.
On Brouky's investor pages, every profile shows deal count by year. A glance at the chart tells you the story — flat, declining, or recently dropped to zero.
Caveat: the announced dates lag the actual close by 2–6 months, sometimes more. So "no announcement in 9 months" can still mean a deal closed 6 months ago. The pattern over a 24-month window is more reliable than any single recent date.
Signal 2 — Fund vintage and cycle position
VC funds run on roughly 10-year cycles, with the first 3–5 years as the active deployment window. The next 5–7 are reserves + harvesting.
For each fund, ask:
- When was the current fund raised?
- How big is it?
- How many investments have they made out of it so far?
Rough math: a $200M fund writing $5M checks needs ~30 portfolio companies. If it was raised four years ago and has 28 already, they are out of new-deal capacity and saving the rest for follow-ons. If it has 8 after four years, they're either being highly selective or slow-walking — also a yellow flag.
Funds publish this info inconsistently. Their LinkedIn announcement of "Fund III, $X size" is usually the easiest source.
Signal 3 — Partner moves
Partner-level activity is the lead indicator. If the partner who'd own your space announced a move in the last 6 months — to a new firm, to "advising," or off the partner page silently — the fund's appetite in that space drops to near zero for 12+ months. The remaining partners do not pick up that thread.
Check the team page against the version from a year ago (Wayback Machine or LinkedIn history). Partners "leaving to spend more time with their family" is venture's way of saying the partnership had a falling-out — and that has predictable effects on what the firm will and won't fund.
Signal 4 — Public communications
An active fund is publishing — essays, podcast appearances, thesis posts, conference talks. Not because they enjoy it, but because deal flow is competitive and they need founders to know what they actually invest in.
Silent for 12+ months across all of:
- Firm blog
- Partner Twitter / LinkedIn
- Recent podcast appearances
- Conference panels
is a strong signal of internal turbulence. The exception is the small number of intentionally-quiet legacy firms (Benchmark, etc.) — you know who those are, and you're probably not the one asking "are they still investing?" about them.
Signal 5 — What other founders say
The cleanest source of truth. Founders in their portfolio know whether the fund is responsive and engaged. Two minutes on a call with a current portfolio founder will tell you more than any database check:
- "Are they making new investments right now?"
- "How's their fundraising for the next fund going?"
- "Would you take their money again?"
The third question is the killer. The honest answer is unmistakable.
The "just ask" approach
If you get a meeting and the signals are mixed, ask directly. Not confrontationally — early in the conversation:
"Quick context question — where are you in the current fund? Roughly how many more new investments are you planning at our stage before the next vehicle?"
Most partners will answer honestly. The ones who deflect are telling you the answer.
What "inactive" actually looks like in practice
Three concrete patterns to recognize:
- Between funds. Fund III deployed, Fund IV not announced. They'll do follow-ons, not new lead checks. Come back when Fund IV is announced.
- Slow-deploying. Recent fund, but cadence dropped 50%+ from the prior year. Internal issues, market caution, or partner exit. Treat as inactive for 6 months.
- Harvesting. No new fund in 5+ years, but they still respond to emails. They're managing existing portfolio to exit and will not invest in you. Polite no.
The shortcut
Manually checking all five signals across an 80-name list is half a day's work. The AI VC Finder pre-filters for cadence — the first signal and the most predictive — so the list you start with is already free of obviously-inactive firms. Then you only need to do the manual check on your 25-name short list, which is 90 minutes instead of half a day.