Find Newly Funded Companies That Need Financial Services

Overview

The day a round closes, a company has more cash than it has finance function. The money has to sit somewhere, the burn has to be modeled, the books have to hold up to a board, and someone eventually has to build a real finance stack. Most early companies solve this reactively, months late. The bank, fractional CFO, or accounting firm that reaches them in the first few weeks catches the decision before defaults get set.

This Hound watches funding announcements across your markets, filters for the raises that mean finance work you can win, finds the founder or finance lead, and opens the conversation while the round is fresh.

How to set it up

Four things to brief your Hound. This is the exact configuration behind this play.

A · Describe the opportunity

This is the brief every source is filtered against. You describe what you're looking for in plain language, add keywords to sharpen it, then set the structured criteria.

Tell Forest what you're looking for:

"I'm looking for companies that just raised funding and don't yet have real finance infrastructure — no CFO, no controller, likely still on founder-run books. A raise means cash to manage, a burn model to build, and board reporting to stand up. I want them within weeks of the announcement, before they've picked a bank or firm. Prioritize seed through Series B in my markets and industries. Skip companies with an established CFO and finance team."

Keywords to watch for: raises · seed round · Series A · closes funding · led by · hiring first finance hire · hiring controller · [your industries] · [your metro area]

Fields to extract: company · round_stage · amount_raised · announced_date · lead_investor · headquarters · industry · headcount

Match criteria:

• ✓ Round stage where finance function is thin (Seed–Series B)

• ✓ Amount raised ≥ your minimum engagement threshold

• ✓ Headquarters or operations in your market

• ✗ Exclude companies with an established CFO / finance team

B · Choose the sources to monitor

Funding data comes through Forest's built-in data partner, backed by the free SEC filing that often precedes the press release.

Funding data (built in — no setup) 🔌

• Crustdata (via Forest) — Funding rounds, investors, headcount, firmographics. Primary feed; nothing to connect or subscribe to.

• SEC Form D — sec.gov/edgar — Private-placement filings, frequently filed before the public announcement. Free, and often your earliest signal.

News & Press 🟡 default source, always on — reads the open web against your brief for round announcements and "hiring our first finance leader" signals in regional and industry press.

C · Define the ICP to reach

Who to reach at the funded company, in priority order, with fallbacks.

1. Founder / CEO — Primary at early stage, where finance decisions still sit with the founder — PRIMARY

2. Head of Finance / Controller — Primary once a first finance hire exists

3. COO / Head of Operations — Fallback where ops owns vendor selection — FALLBACK

D · Email & LinkedIn sequence

The play the Hound runs for each match. Fields drop in as variables.

Email · Day 0 Congrats on the {{round_stage}} at {{company}}. The stretch right after a raise is usually where finance gets messy — burn modeling, board reporting, and books that suddenly have to hold up to {{lead_investor}}. We help companies at exactly this stage with {{your_offering}}. Worth a quick call before it becomes urgent?

↓ Wait 2 days · no reply

LinkedIn · connection request · Day 2 Hi {{first_name}} — congrats on the raise at {{company}}. Would love to connect.

↓ Wait 3 days · no reply

Email · Day 5 · follow-up Following up on {{company}}'s {{round_stage}} — happy to send a short rundown of how comparable {{industry}} teams structure finance post-raise, no obligation. Useful even if you're already sorted.

⏸ Any reply on either channel pauses the whole sequence — the conversation is yours.