Try Valley
Put your outbound workflow to work.
Saniya Sood
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Published October 8, 2026 · Updated November 11, 2026
The answer in 60 words: new money means new headcount, new tools and new urgency. Valley's recently funded play matches funding stage and recency to when companies actually buy your product, runs Deep Search for verified raise and acquisition announcements from the last 90 days, finds the founders and first go-to-market hires mid-spending-spree, and sends a message that congratulates first and helps second. It refills weekly.
This article describes the play exactly as published on joinvalley.co/playbooks on October 8, 2026. Valley makes the product, so read it as the maker's own guide, not a review.
Valley is an AI outbound platform that finds the people most likely to buy from you - from live buying signals, natural-language search, or your own lists - qualifies them against your ICP, researches each one, and sends personalized messages across email and LinkedIn that get 15-45% reply rates, against a category average of about 2%.
► Run this play on your own ICP: 7 days free, every feature on
Give your sales team
an unfair advantage.
Who this play finds, and why they reply
A company that announced a seed or Series A in the last quarter is buying tools this quarter. The play's third step names the buyer precisely: founders and first GTM hires, mid-spending-spree, the people with a mandate to build and a budget to do it with.
Recency is the filter that matters. Funding news sites list every raise ever; the play limits itself to announcements from the last 90 days, verified, and Scout matches the stage to your product, so a tool sold to first sales teams looks at seed and Series A rather than growth rounds. The example on the play: B2B companies that raised seed or Series A in the last 90 days and are building their first sales team.
How the play runs
The flow, as the product shows it: Deep Search › Find buyers › Research › LinkedIn.
Scout writes the query (AI step). Funding stage and recency matched to when companies actually buy your product.
Deep Search finds the raises (AI step). Announcements from the last 90 days, verified.
Finds the decision makers (AI step). Founders and first GTM hires, mid-spending-spree.
Messages congratulate, then help. The raise is the opener. Your product is the second sentence.
Before you launch
Describe your target market so Scout can find the right starting point.
Setting | Value |
|---|---|
Audience | High + medium fit |
Cadence | Watch · refills weekly |
Cadence tag | Refills weekly |
Sending channel | LinkedIn only |
Example search
B2B companies that raised seed or Series A in the last 90 days and are building their first sales team
Review the audience, message and sending settings before starting. The channel shown is the sending channel for this play, not the source of its prospects.
Give your sales team
an unfair advantage.
What the message says
The raise is the opener. Your product is the second sentence. That is the play's own rule, and the order matters: congratulations first, because it is true and specific, then the thing you can do for a team that is about to grow fast.
Research adds what the announcement did not say, so the message can be about their plan rather than their press release.
When this is the wrong play
Your buyers are at a specific stage, not recently funded. Companies at a target funding stage filters by stage with recency optional.
The ownership change you care about is PE or an IPO. That is recently PE-acquired or IPO'd, where every vendor relationship resets.
You sell to companies that never raise. Bootstrapped markets have no funding signal. Use headcount growth instead.
Related plays
Companies at a target funding stage: Companies at the funding stage you target, optionally only ones that raised recently. Valley finds them.
Recently PE-acquired or IPO’d: Ownership change resets every budget and every vendor relationship.
New exec, new budget: A just-hired VP or C-level in your buying seat rethinks the stack in their first 90 days.
Open the play itself: Just raised or acquired on the Valley playbook library, or browse all 58 plays.
Related: Firmographic Data · How to Find Similar Companies to Your Best Customers (Lookalike Prospecting) · LinkedIn Ad Library · Valley pricing
See also: How to Reach People Publicly Complaining About a Competitor · LinkedIn Lead Magnet Posts: How to Reach the People Who Commented for the Asset · Legacy Systems Modernization: How to Find Companies Stuck on Aging Tools
► Book a demo: see how Valley would find, research and message your buyers
FAQ
What software finds companies that just raised funding? Funding databases such as Crunchbase list rounds, and prospecting tools such as Apollo and Clay add funding filters. Valley's play goes a step further: it finds verified raise and acquisition announcements from the last 90 days, matches the stage to when your buyers purchase, finds the founders and first go-to-market hires, and writes the message. Every route is compared in how to find companies that just raised funding.
Is a funding round a buying signal? Yes, a timing signal: new money means new headcount, new tools and new urgency, which is why this play reaches founders and early go-to-market hires while they are building. Valley tracks it on its funding round signal page, and the buying signals list covers the signals that pair well with it, such as hiring and leadership changes.
Why are recently funded startups good prospects? A raise brings new headcount, new tools and urgency. The play's buyer is the founder or first GTM hire who is actively spending.
How recent is recent? Announcements from the last 90 days, verified by Deep Search.
Does it cover acquisitions too? Yes. Raised or acquired, both are ownership-and-budget events.
How often does the list refresh? Weekly.
What does the message say? It congratulates on the raise first, then offers the specific help your product gives a team about to grow.
