Where to Start? Confused

Will Doordash you coffee and donuts :)

I am the founder of an AI company based in NYC. We have never raised any funds and currently have over 5000 business/freelancer using our platform. We have recently started our pre-seed fundraising efforts, but we lack connections within the ecosystem.

What should be my next step?

Should i cold email bunch of firms?

Also, I want to become a part of the founder community and learn from those who have successfully raised funds before. If you have any experience with fundraising, please comment or message me. Would love to DoorDash coffee and donuts haha

(If you're based in NYC, we can meet for coffee in person.)