Do I have to be an accredited investor to be a VC scout?

Broadly speaking, the answer is no. You do not have to be an accredited investor to be a startup scout.

How come? Well, it's simple. The concept of an accredited investor comes from the SEC and its goal is to protect unsophisticated investors from losing money in high-risk investments. But as a scout, you are not investing your money and usually no money at all.

Instead, scouts usually refer startups as potential investments to investors. Those investors are sophisticated to be able to assess the investment opportunity and decide for themselves the associated risks and rewards before going ahead with their investment.