> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gravitygtm.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart: your first Helium API call in 5 minutes

> Subscribe to Helium ($50/month), get an API key, set your fundraising profile, and run your first `search_investors` call in under 5 minutes.

Helium is a REST API for fundraising research — investor/LP/family-office
search and scoring, single-investor deep-dive enrichment, and competitor
research. Access requires an active **\$50/month subscription** (6,000
credits/month, plus optional add-on packs) — see
[Credits & Pricing](/helium/credits-and-pricing) for the full billing
model.

<Tip>
  Just want to ask questions in Slack, no code required? See
  [Add Helium to Slack](/helium/slack-install) instead — this page is for the
  REST API / MCP integration path.
</Tip>

## 1. Get a subscription and API key

Unlike Horizon, having a Horizon API key alone does **not** unlock
Helium — every Helium request (REST, MCP, or Slack) is rejected unless
your account has an active Helium subscription, regardless of your
Horizon credit balance. See [Authentication](/helium/authentication) for
the two ways to get subscribed and get a key:

* **New to Gravity** — sign up for Helium directly; this creates a new
  account, a new API key, and starts your $50/month subscription in one
  step. You start with the subscription's 6,000 monthly credits and $0 in
  the persistent balance (no free trial there — see
  [Credits & Pricing](/helium/credits-and-pricing) for why).
* **Already have a Horizon account** — subscribe to Helium from your
  dashboard's Helium billing card. Your existing API key and Horizon
  credit balance keep working as-is once the subscription is active.

## 2. Set your fundraising profile

Unlike Horizon's enrichment endpoints, `search_investors` reads from a
stored profile rather than taking every filter inline — set it once with
`PUT /v1/fundraising/profile` (free, not billed):

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl https://lite.gravitygtm.com/api/v1/fundraising/profile \
    -X PUT \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer gk_live_YOUR_KEY" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
      "raise_type": "startup_equity",
      "stage": "seed",
      "sector_tags": ["fintech"],
      "geography": "United States"
    }'
  ```

  ```typescript TypeScript theme={null}
  const res = await fetch("https://lite.gravitygtm.com/api/v1/fundraising/profile", {
    method: "PUT",
    headers: {
      Authorization: "Bearer gk_live_YOUR_KEY",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      raise_type: "startup_equity",
      stage: "seed",
      sector_tags: ["fintech"],
      geography: "United States",
    }),
  });
  ```

  ```python Python theme={null}
  import requests

  requests.put(
      "https://lite.gravitygtm.com/api/v1/fundraising/profile",
      headers={"Authorization": "Bearer gk_live_YOUR_KEY"},
      json={
          "raise_type": "startup_equity",
          "stage": "seed",
          "sector_tags": ["fintech"],
          "geography": "United States",
      },
      timeout=30,
  )
  ```
</CodeGroup>

Raising as a fund instead? Use `"raise_type": "fund_lp"` with `fund_name`,
`fund_thesis`, `check_size_usd`, and `target_lp_types` instead of
`stage`/`sector_tags` — see the **API Reference** for the full field list
for each `raise_type`.

## 3. Make your first search

```bash cURL theme={null}
curl https://lite.gravitygtm.com/api/v1/fundraising/search-investors \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer gk_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"effort": "medium", "limit": 10}'
```

This costs **12 credits** at the default `medium` effort (10 at `low`, 15 at
`high` — see [Credits & Pricing](/helium/credits-and-pricing)).

## 4. Read the response

```json theme={null}
{
  "data": {
    "investors": [
      { "name": "...", "sectorTags": ["fintech"], "score": 61, "tier": "A", "warmPath": false, "rationale": "..." }
    ]
  },
  "credits_charged": 12,
  "credits_remaining": 5988,
  "cached": false,
  "request_id": "b3f1..."
}
```

`credits_remaining` is your combined balance across both buckets (monthly
subscription credits plus persistent balance) — a fresh Helium-only
signup with no persistent credits yet would show `5988` here (6,000
monthly grant minus this call's 12). See
[Credits & Pricing](/helium/credits-and-pricing#how-a-charge-is-split-across-your-two-balances)
for how the split works.

`cached` is always `false` for Helium's endpoints today — unlike some of
Horizon's, none of Helium's research results are currently cached, so every
call is a fresh lookup. See [Errors & Rate Limits](/helium/errors-and-rate-limits)
for the full envelope and error shape (shared with Horizon).

## Next steps

* [Authentication](/helium/authentication) — API key format and how subscribing works
* [Credits & Pricing](/helium/credits-and-pricing) — the subscription, add-on packs, and full per-endpoint cost table
* [MCP install](/helium/mcp-install) — wire Helium into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client
* [Using Helium in Slack](/helium/slack-usage#automated-outreach-sequences) —
  automated Gmail outreach sequences, currently the only surface with a
  review UI for each touch before it sends
* [Monitoring & discovery](/helium/monitoring-and-discovery) — reply
  classification, Calendar meeting-prep briefs, and the lookalike-investor
  and LinkedIn-engagement monitoring loops that run in the background once
  Gmail is connected and/or a profile field is set
* Explore every endpoint in the **API Reference** section in the sidebar