Founder Alyx van der Vorm flipped traditional fundraising. Instead of cold emails, she staged talks, dinners, and conference panels that put her in rooms where investors already sat. By speaking on loneliness and neuroscience, she let the problem speak, not the pitch. The result: Clyx pulled in $14 million from a series of personal encounters across multiple cities and social platforms.

Van der Vorm credits Harvard alumni ties for opening doors, but stresses that a mission that feels real draws investors faster than a polished deck. Her talks on mental‑health tech attracted figures like Venmo co‑founder Iqram Magdon‑Ismail, Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg, and Reid Hoffman’s Blitzscaling Ventures. Each connection grew through repeated, face‑to‑face meetings, not one‑off emails in the week.

The lesson for first‑time founders is simple: engineer visibility, not outreach. By positioning herself as a thought leader in spaces where investors already gather, van der Vorm turned casual conversations into capital. Her strategy shows that a clear, relatable problem can replace aggressive pitching, turning networking rooms into fertile ground for funding and long‑term partnership with shared goals and mutual.