How to pitch Accel
Write to a partner rather than to the firm, and get there through someone that partner already trusts. The pitch is the easy half; finding that person is where the work is.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 31, 2026.
The short version
Write to one partner at Accel and arrive through somebody that partner already trusts. Venture firms fund companies that reach them through people they know, most often a founder they've backed before, so the strongest first email is the one such a founder forwards with a line of their own on top. That makes the job before the pitch a search: which founder in your network has raised from Accel, who else has a tie to the firm, and who among your friends can introduce you to them. Happenstance runs that search over the accounts you've already got, in a single question.
Write to a partner, not to the firm
Accel backs companies from seed through growth across software, consumer and infrastructure, and like most venture firms it decides partner by partner. A message sent to the firm lands in a queue that nobody owns, while a message sent to the investor whose portfolio looks like your company reaches a person who can say yes. It reaches them best when somebody they've already bet on sends it along.
The person a partner trusts most is a founder they've funded. After that come people who've worked at the firm, other investors who've shared a deal with them, and the friends of any of those. Several of them are probably in your network already, a step or two out, and what you need to know is which ones you can reach this week.
Finding your path to Accel
Founders Accel has backed. A former colleague who went on to raise from Accel, an operator you met at a dinner, or a customer whose company took Accel money. Their forward carries more weight than any subject line you could write cold.
People at or around the firm. Members of the investment team, former employees, and the operators the firm keeps close all count, and so do the friends who happen to know them.
Happenstance. Happenstance searches every account you connect, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, together with the networks of the friends you've added, and answers in plain English. Ask who you know who has raised from Accel, or who you know at the firm, and you'll get the people, how well you know each one, which account the tie came from, and for anyone a friend knows, the friend who can introduce you. Happenstance is free. The free plan is the whole product, with usage limits on chat and web searches beyond your network. Pro raises the limits: unlimited web searches and results, higher chat limits, and CSV export. The fundraising version of all this, from the first search to the term sheet, is on Happenstance for fundraising.
The ask
Write to the founder first, and only later to the investor. Ask for a single forward and name the partner you've got in mind, including the paragraph you'd like passed on so that saying yes costs them about thirty seconds.
Subject: Intro to [partner] at Accel
What Happenstance can see
Email is read as headers only. Message content and attachments never reach our servers. Yes. Your connections are searchable only by you, the friends you accept, and the groups you join, and sharing is always mutual. Your public profile shows a constellation of named people you know by default, which you can turn off anytime. We never share, sell, or use your data to train AI models. Happenstance is SOC 2 certified and DTI Trust Level 2; the full list of what is stored and for how long is on the security page.
Frequently asked questions
Should I email Accel directly or go through a partner?
Go through a partner, and ideally through a person who can put your name in front of them. A note to a firm's general inbox joins a queue that nobody owns, whereas a forward from a founder the partner has backed arrives with a reason to be read. Pick the investor whose portfolio looks like your company, then find the shortest path to them.
What if I don't know anyone connected to Accel?
You probably know someone who does. Founders in your circle who've raised from Accel are one introduction away, and so are people who have worked there and the friends of either. Happenstance searches your own accounts and your friends' networks, so asking "who do I know who has raised from Accel" returns those people along with the mutual who can introduce you.
What should the first email to an Accel partner contain?
One paragraph a founder could forward without editing: what the company does in a sentence, the number that shows it's working, what you're raising and who has invested before, and why this particular investor is the right reader. Stay under a hundred and fifty words and attach nothing; the deck comes when they ask for it.
How does Happenstance help me reach Accel?
Connect the accounts you already use, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, then ask who you know who has raised from Accel, or who you know at the firm. Each result shows how well you know the person and which account the tie came from, and results through friends show who can make the introduction. Happenstance is free, and Pro raises the limits.
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