StartUp Health’s Post

Here's a good post from DC Palter (Pitching Angels) setting the expectations founders should have on fundraising levels for specific rounds. He also explains how raising more than you need may work against your future funding goals. Always consider your overall equity situation while raising. #startupadvice #startupfunding #startups #vcfunding

When you read or hear about successful fund raise (there are hundreds of posts everyday - "X raises $Y in Z round of funding", don't get swayed. There's a lot more that is under the surface than what the story covers. - Rounds of rejection: No one likes talking about failures and that holds true for startup founders as well. What the story won't tell you is that they got rejected a bajillion times and pivoted a gazillion times before one investor took interest in them. - Nurtured relationships: The post won't tell you the effort that was put in by the founders to nurture relationships with their prospective investors - giving them updates, following up, sending info of value, meeting and greeting them at every possible occasion. - Perfect Timing: No one can tell you how perfect the timing and how everything fell into place serendipitously because no one observes and measures such things. But, just because no one has data on it, doesn't mean it is not a factor. - Persistence of founders: The post won't tell you how dejected the founders were, and how persistence and gumption got them through, or what they did in order to take "just one more step". It's a climb up a cliff and not a walk in the meadow. We can't wave a magic wand and make everything neat and smooth for you, but we can help you prepare for the challenges you will face (or are facing). See how our books, toolkits and courses can build your preparedness and resilience. Visit the site to read more. #startups #startuplife #startuptips #fundraising #FounderLife #investorpitch #startupfunding #startupfinancing #seedfunding #seedround

Functional Fundraising Stance: The Basic Attitude of Founders Who Raise Successfully.... As a performance coach for early-stage startup founders, I have been fortunate to work with (and learn from) some of the most brilliant entrepreneurial minds in the business. Rarely have I met a startup founder that approaches fundraising as a recreational activity—because it is not. More often than not, founders relate to fundraising as a mind-numbing, necessary evil. 😀 At best, it gives you more time and resources to face the other just-as-daunting aspects of company-building—hiring, accountability, and achieving growth targets, for example. 🙀 At worst, it presents an existential risk to your company, especially if you have no other lines of financing available. Over the past 5 years, I have assisted startup founders in raising north of 500MM in early-stage VC. Numerous rounds were considered impossible in light of a series of economic shock events such as Covid-19, wars, and aggressive quantitative tightening... There was some 'wacky' behavior in the ecosystem, and, understandably so!! We are human! However, it is helpful to hold that VC fundraising (especially in the US), while mind-numbing, is also a unique gift to the innovation ecosystem and a privilege to all involved... The founders who succeed at this venture often remind themselves of this. It offers perspective/respite during frustrating, bewildering, and longer-than-desired fundraising cycles. (PS It also helps to have a healthy dose of 'I'll show you! 😂) #foundercoaching #fundraising #startups

➜ Parenthood Ventures Parent Tech sector roundup! Our Keep Company team, founded by Parenthood members Adrienne Belyea Prentice and Claudia Naim-Burt, raised a $1.4 million round. Keep Company partners with organizations to support parents and caregivers by offering a 12-week group learning program led by certified coaches. Participants in the deal included Techstars, IDEA Fund Partners, VEST Her Ventures, 100KM Ventures, Pixel Perfect Ventures, and TEDCO. Congratulations, Adrienne and Claudia! https://lnkd.in/g4z2RuJ3 Edia, an AI-powered math education platform founded by Joe Philleo and Iain Proctor recently closed a $9.4 million Series A round led by Felicis, with participation from 8VC, Inspired Capital, Susa Ventures , and angels like JD Ross (the founder of Opendoor). https://lnkd.in/g2zkv_rB Consumer-friendly breast pump and pelvic floor device company Elvie, founded by Tania Boler, has secured £9.6 million in funding. The company has raised a total of $136 million to date from investors such as BlackRock, Octopus Ventures, and the BGF (Business Growth Fund). https://lnkd.in/gUZekwsE For more #ParentTech companies and news - follow us on LinkedIn and head to our website to learn more about how to get involved! #ParentTech #futureofparenthood #founders #startupstories #startups #careeconomy #venturecapital #vc #famtech #entrepreneurship

It was a pleasure to sit down with Laura (Bordewieck) Rippy, Managing Director at Alumni Ventures. As Laura shares, Alumni Ventures is now the most active venture capital firm in the US, according to Pitchbook, and the third most active in the world, with over 1200 portfolio companies.    They tend to focus on seed stage and Series A when writing a first check, and they're unique in that they're "omnivores", investing in companies across all industries. Laura offers up some tips for founders who want to stand out with the folks at Alumni Ventures. For example, she likes to see founders who embrace the mindset (and metrics) of their current round vs that of a founder in a prior round. She also touches on how founders can prepare to raise by maintaining a clean data room and a strong pitch deck. Watch Laura's interview to learn more about what Alumni Ventures looks for in an investment, as well as how they can help founders grow and succeed.    Here at Fidelity, we want to help founders get "transaction-ready" with a our cap table/equity management platform and data room: https://lnkd.in/gutXR5VZ We’re eager to support your journey, so please reach out if you need a hand as you’re building and deploying your vision. I’d love to be a sounding board: [email protected]   * Note on this series: If you’re a founder who’s running a venture-scale startup, you’re likely trying to build relationships with VCs, angels, and corporate investors. Given my work at Fidelity, supporting the startup ecosystem, I enjoy helping founders identify and connect with the right potential investors. This video series is an attempt to scale my work. I’m hoping these interviews will let you get to know new investors, clarify what they’re looking for, and make the fundraising process easier to navigate. Episode 1, with Jadyn Bryden of Xfund is linked here: https://lnkd.in/eva7FQgT #startups #vc #fundraising #community

SAFEs have devoured pre-seed fundraising — and now they've come for the seed stage. It's essential the startup founders today who are looking to raise venture capital (or even those who want to raise angel money and then fund through revenues) understand the SAFE. Jump back in time with me to the first half of 2021. Startups are booming. Fundraising is comparatively simple. The Roaring 20s vibe has taken hold across early-stage venture. And SAFEs are used in very specific circumstances. From the data below, it's clear that the unwritten line was $1 million. If you were raising less than that, use a SAFE. More than that, go to priced equity. (yes, there were convertible notes in there too, I've excluded them from the story for simplicity. Apologies to the note aficionados among you). Now come back to the present day. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭, 𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗘𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 $𝟰 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. Two questions, then. Why did this happen and is it a good thing? Why: • Investors got more comfortable with SAFEs at larger dollar amounts, probably due to the introduction of side letters into many deals.    • The fact that companies now often raised multiple SAFE rounds means that all those investors receive the anti-dilutive benefits of the (post-money) SAFE.    • Venture hubs across the country followed the Silicon Valley lead towards higher usage of this funding pathway. Is it good: ...kinda? Look, the benefits in legal costs alone justify the use of a SAFE for rounds that don't raise much capital (say $2M or less). But the trend towards raising 2 or more rounds of capital on SAFEs is a little alarming. Priced equity is not a bad thing! #cartadata #SAFEs #startups #founders #fundraising ---------- More Carta data out every Thursday in our Data Minute newsletter - subscribe using the link in graphic!

🔍 Understanding the Shift in Fundraising Dynamics with SAFEs 🔍 SAFEs have significantly impacted pre-seed fundraising and are now increasingly popular in the seed stage. For startup founders seeking venture capital or angel investments, understanding SAFEs is crucial. 🔙 Back in early 2021, startups were thriving, and fundraising was relatively easy. SAFEs were typically used for rounds under $1 million, while priced equity was the norm for larger amounts. ⏩ Fast forward to today: 📊 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭, 𝗦𝗔𝗙𝗘𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 $𝟰 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. ❓ Why has this happened, and is it beneficial? 📝 Why: 💼 Investors have become more comfortable with larger SAFE amounts, partly due to the use of side letters. 💸 Multiple SAFE rounds provide anti-dilutive benefits to investors. 🌐 Adoption of SAFEs has increased nationwide, following Silicon Valley's lead. 👍 Is it good? For rounds under $2M, the legal cost savings make SAFEs attractive. However, the trend of multiple SAFE rounds is concerning. Priced equity offers its own benefits and should not be overlooked. #cartadata #SAFEs #startups #founders #fundraising

How we managed to launch our fund I Veda VC (250 Cr Early stage fund), while running our startup Appyhigh bootstrapped?!🤔 Yes, it's a bit of a long story. Please bear with me if you can. 🤗 So, In 2014, Aneesh and I launched Rutogo, a cab search engine 🚖, using our lil savings. But then, the Dec’14 Uber incident threw us a curveball. Investments stalled, but by Aug’2015, ixigo acqui-hired us. Not the fairy-tale start, but hey, we rolled with the punches. We always wondered, what could have been done to survive in a situation when the market scenarios and timing are against you? 🤷♂️ *Small advice for new entrepreneurs, esp. when you’re bootstrapped* - Fundraising should not be 1st goal - Keep it lean & sustainable. - Test your idea without breaking the bank . - Right time? Think funds or scale profitably - Build a passionate core team. - Diversify if Profitable (for your tough times) This became our motto 🌟. We launched over 7/8 POCs (apps) over next 2-2.5 years, Couple of them began generating revenue & showed consistent growth. In 2018, we decided to start AppyHigh with simple idea 1. Build (or buy out) apps 📱 for users to boost their productivity. 2. Invest ~25% of our profits in early-stage startups. That’s how we began investing. Grateful to my friends, who let me invest very early in their journey Apaksh, Suumit, Rajesh, Ankush, Naman. The journey of Veda began when I met Vasant, Thanks to Saurabh who introduced us. We connected instantly from our 1st meeting, and our friendship grew 👬, leading us to start investing together. Soon, we est. the Veda Syndicate. Thanks to Avijeet & Ashis decided to come onboard. They are the individuals who balances out both mine and Vasant's energy ⚖️. We all possess complementary skill sets. At our core, we all are operators (while I am still an operator), having experienced the growth journey from 0 to 1 to 10 multiple times. Our syndicate of like-minded individuals expanded, & invested in 30 deals prompting us to launch our first fund 🌱 We understand the challenges operators face in the early stages. Our goal is to support other co-founders with our experience, and network. We assist them with early product iterations, growth hacks, & GTMs, which are crucial in the beginning. This enabled us to invest in exceptional founders and companies right from the start. Fast forward to now, and we're among India's top 6 app publishers. We launched products like Phot.AI - a suite of Generative AI APIs & Apps. Woudn't possible without the support of our solid Leaders Akshit, Ankit, Ishan R., Harsimran, Praneeth, Saurabh, Jashan. & A Great Team at Veda VC - Jivesh, Pratiti, Preksha, Karthik & amazing Veda family Arjun, Trisha, Ishank, Apaksh Today we have backed 110 startups via Appyhigh & Veda VC, participated as LPs in 5 early-stage funds. And believe me, we're just warming up 🔥. Check our portfolio below! More deets in the comments. 🎉👇

Let's face it - the forecast is grim for many of the 50,000 U.S. venture-backed startups. As this Business Insider article predicts, Q4 could be a deciding factor for many, with the only options being to raise additional capital, sell, or face shutdown. I concur with this perspective. And here's why. In my role as CMO at KoreConX, I've had the privilege of interacting with countless startups. I've seen first-hand the struggle many face when trying to raise capital. It's not an easy feat, especially in an increasingly competitive environment. But it's not all doom and gloom. This "startup extinction season" could actually be a wake-up call. It's prompting businesses to rethink their strategies, get their financials in order, and most importantly, consider alternative forms of raising capital. Crowdfunding, for instance, has emerged as a viable alternative, providing startups a platform to connect with potential investors. So yes, while the upcoming months may be challenging for many, it's also an opportunity for startups to innovate, adapt, and persevere. Here's to weathering the storm. [Read more:](https://lnkd.in/ejcVitWF) Check this out: https://lnkd.in/ejcVitWF