# Take pitches on WhatsApp

> Share a WhatsApp link or QR code. Founders answer your fixed questions one at a time, and each pitch waits in Intake until your team decides.

Source: https://delsivo.com/help/network-and-sourcing/whatsapp-pitches · Updated 2026-11-07

## Key takeaways

- Every fund gets a WhatsApp link and QR code on Delsivo's shared number. The reference at the end of the message routes the chat to your fund.
- Founders who use it get your fixed questions one at a time, sent exactly as you wrote them. Nothing written by AI goes out on its own.
- Each pitch lands in Intake with a WhatsApp label, the answers and the deck. Nothing becomes a deal until a person converts it.
- Decks are scanned for malware before anyone can open them or turn them into a deck on a deal.
- A fund admin can connect the fund's own WhatsApp Business number, so founders see your name and number.

Many founders would rather send a deck from their phone than fill in a form. With WhatsApp switched on, a founder taps your link, says hello, answers a few short questions and sends the deck as a PDF. The pitch then waits in **Intake** next to your intake emails, so the team triages both in one place.

## Turn it on

1. Open **Settings → Portal → WhatsApp**. Only a fund admin can change this page; the rest of the team can read it.
2. Switch **Pitches on WhatsApp** on.
3. Check the **Questions** (below) and click **Save questions** if you changed them.
4. Copy the link with **Copy link**, or download the QR code, and put it on your website, your portal, your social profiles or a slide at your next event.

The link opens WhatsApp with a message ready to send, for example "Hello Northwind Ventures, I'd like to pitch my company. Ref: northwind-k3j9x2m4qz". The reference at the end is what routes the chat to your fund on Delsivo's shared number. If the link was shared too widely, click **New link**: the old link and QR code stop reaching your fund at once, and founders already talking to you aren't affected.

> **Note:** If the page says WhatsApp isn't set up yet, Delsivo hasn't turned it on for this server. Your intake address still works.

## Your questions

Delsivo asks your questions one at a time, in order, while the founder's chat is open. The defaults are what most seed and Series A funds ask first:

| Label | Question founders read | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Company | What's your company called? | Needed |
| Website | What's the website? A link like kitepath.io works. | Website |
| Stage | What stage are you at? For example pre-seed, seed or Series A. | Text |
| Round size | How much are you raising in this round, and in which currency? | Text |
| Email | What's the best email address for the team to reach you? | Email |

- Edit the wording, add a question (up to 8), reorder them with the arrows or remove one. **Use the defaults** puts the list back.
- **Answer** checks the reply lightly: a website must look like a web address, an email like an email address. After two replies that don't fit, the question is skipped.
- Founders can reply **SKIP** to any question you didn't mark **Founders can't skip it**.
- Changes apply to new pitches. A pitch already in progress keeps the questions it started with.

Apart from your questions, Delsivo only sends short fixed replies: a thank-you with how many questions there are, "Got your deck, thanks.", a closing line saying a person will reply, and the confirmation when someone replies STOP. On the shared number, every message starts with your fund's name, so founders who talk to several funds know who is writing.

## What happens to each pitch

1. The founder's first message creates a pitch in **Intake** under **New**, with a **WhatsApp** label and **Answering 1 of 5** while the questions run.
2. Each answer is saved as it comes in. A PDF sent at any point is stored privately and scanned for malware. Until the scan passes, nobody can open it.
3. When the last question is answered, the pitch shows as a normal **New** item. If the founder stops answering, the pitch moves to **New** on its own when their chat closes (24 hours after their last message), with whatever they answered.
4. A person decides: open it, then **Convert to deal**, **Ignore** or **Spam**.

Open a pitch to see the founder's number (masked, for example `•••• ••1234`), their WhatsApp name, the answers, their first message and the whole conversation. Converting works as for email: check the company and website, pick the clean PDF as the deck, and click **Add deal**. The deal starts at **New** with you as owner and **WhatsApp** as its source. From then on, the founder's messages land on the deal's **WhatsApp** tab. See [Follow-ups on WhatsApp](/help/founder-requests/whatsapp-follow-ups).

Mark a pitch as **Spam** and later pitches from that number land in Spam, with nothing sent to them.

## Opt-outs and the 24-hour window

- A founder can reply **STOP** at any time. They get one confirmation, and nothing more goes to them on WhatsApp until they reply **START**. Their pitch lands in Intake with what they sent.
- WhatsApp only allows free messages within 24 hours of the founder's last message. Delsivo never sends outside that window, except the approved invitation described in [Follow-ups on WhatsApp](/help/founder-requests/whatsapp-follow-ups).

## Connect your own number

Optional. With your own WhatsApp Business number, founders see your fund's name and number instead of Delsivo's, and no reference is needed: everything sent to your number reaches your fund.

You need a WhatsApp Business Account with Meta and a phone number that isn't on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app.

- **Connect with Facebook**: when it's offered, sign in with Facebook, pick or create the account and number, and Delsivo does the rest.
- **Connect by hand**: in WhatsApp Manager, copy the **Phone number ID** and the **WhatsApp Business Account ID**. In Business settings, create a system user with the account assigned and generate a token that doesn't expire, with whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management. Paste all three and click **Connect number**.

Delsivo checks the number with Meta before saving, subscribes to its messages and submits the follow-up invitation template for Meta's review. The token is stored encrypted, shown only by its last four characters, and never sent back to the browser. **Check again** repeats the checks; **Disconnect** deletes the token, and founders who wrote to your number continue on Delsivo's shared number when your team follows up.

Your link on Delsivo's shared number keeps working after you connect your own, so QR codes you already printed still reach you.

## Who can do what

| Role | WhatsApp |
|---|---|
| Admin | Turn it on, edit the questions, replace the link, connect or disconnect your own number |
| Partner, Analyst | Read the settings; triage, convert, ignore and mark WhatsApp pitches as spam in Intake |
| Committee member | No access |
| Delsivo support (with your permission) | Read only |

## Frequently asked questions

### Does AI reply to founders?

No. Delsivo only sends your own questions and the short fixed replies listed above. Follow-ups later in diligence are written by your team and approved by a partner or an admin before they go out.

### What if a founder pitches several funds on the shared number?

Each fund's link carries its own reference, so the first message goes to the right fund. Replies without a reference go to the fund the founder talked to most recently.

### Can founders send a voice note or a picture instead?

They're told only PDF decks can be read, and asked to type their answer. Voice notes and pictures aren't stored.

### Who else sees these messages?

Meta, which runs WhatsApp, carries and processes the messages. Founders' numbers are stored encrypted and shown masked to your team. Messages are kept for your work: text on deals for a year, and pitches nobody turned into a deal for 180 days.

Related: [Your intake mailbox](/help/network-and-sourcing/intake-mailbox), [Follow-ups on WhatsApp](/help/founder-requests/whatsapp-follow-ups), [Duplicate deals](/help/applications/duplicate-deals).