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In the week following the framework nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, Tehran-based Internet entrepreneur Faty Amir Soleimani pitched every day to Western investors for funding.

“We started getting a lot interest from foreigners,” said Ms. Soleimani, who runs an e-commerce site for baby products called Koodakoo. “When I say a lot, it was really a lot.”

Amid a global glut of investment into Internet companies, Ms. Soleimani’s experience suggests that Western investors are eyeing perhaps their most risky bet yet: Iranian startups.

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Several U.S. and European venture capital funds and angel investors have begun talking to Iranian entrepreneurs ahead of a potential final nuclear deal later this month. Attracted to Iran’s increasingly tech-inclined population of 80 million people in an economy that is expected to thrive if sanctions are lifted, these investors are assessing how and when they can buy into tech startups.

“There is potential unlike anything I’ve seen to date in emerging markets,” says Chris Schroeder, U.S.-based angel investor who has visited Iran twice recently and written a book about startups in the Middle East.

Roughly 40 million people have access to the Internet in Iran, while about 15% of the population has access to the web on mobile, according to the Iranian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. And the number of Iranians with access to the Internet is forecast to grow as telecoms operators began rolling out 3G and 4G networks last year.