Let’s first take a look at the different funding cases:

1. Bootstrapping: Your startup grows purely based on the cashflow your business generates. You retain 100% of equity within the company.
2. Bootstrapping Plus: We coined the term to describe founders who raise 1-2 less dilutive financing rounds and focus on profitability early on. The goal is to grow out of the businesses’ cashflow in the mid-term and retain more ownership of the company compared to a fully VC-funded startup.
3. VC Case: This is the funding type typically covered by media outlets today – the huge rounds, the unicorns. This case requires a billion euro market opportunity and prioritizes speed and growth over everything else. Can your startup generate revenues of >€50mn five years from now? For a VC-Case, the answer an overwhelmingly clear yes. The founding team will receive the strongest support and network, but in turn will be heavily diluted.
4. Debt: This type of funding includes working capital financing and venture debt. Typically it is appropriate for more predictable business cases, such as E-Commerce. Debt is generally non-dilutive, but lenders often insist on a conversion option for startups, so effectively debt can become equity in the long-run.
5. Alternative Financing: These financing options can be diverse and cover anything from crowdfunding (usually mezzanine capital) to grants. Receiving alternative financing is only viable under special circumstances.
   
   

Our team at Venture Advisory Partners has raised for all types of cases. Which case you are depends on your preferences of ownership, the market in which you operate, the investors available in your niche and much more. Choosing a case is crucial before starting to prepare the fundraising process, because they have impact on the story line, the pitch, approach strategy, suitable investors and all financial forecasts. Get in touch with our team and find out which case is realistic for your startup.

That depends. Generally, there is nothing wrong with learning the ropes of startup fundraising all by yourself. In fact, this is precisely how our team learned it.

But there are three distinct downsides:

1. You’re risking to make costly mistakes, potentially ruining your chances of ever getting funded. This is because first impressions matter to investors and a ‘no’ is rarely converted to a ‘yes’. Fundraising is very different from marketing to your customers, where there are thousands of other potential customers waiting in line, if you mess up with one.
2. You will inevitably lose focus of your operations if you fundraise alone, but traction leading up to the fundraising is absolutely crucial! Founder teams spend around 900 working hours to raise an early-stage round – and only the top 1% of startups applying to VCs receive investment. 
3. You’ve probably spent much more on other areas of advisory already, such as tax, legal and marketing. Why wouldn’t you prioritize expert advice to raise funding, the key factor keeping you from executing on your vision of building a wildly successful startup? 

That being said, Fundraising is still CEO business – even with an advisor like Venture Advisory Partners. The difference is that you will be able to focus on the most important and fun aspects of fundraising, while all the complexity is handled by us. Our unique approach revolves around making the founding team shine, rather than playing the middle man.

To frame this in a soccer analogy: Think of us as your playmaker, giving the crucial assist so you can score often and easily.

The total fundraising process typically takes 2-6 months to close. Key factors that determine the time spent raising are:

• Existing traction, steadily increasing during fundraising period
• Structured outreach
• Fast iterations on insights gained from VC feedback
• Investor interest and competition for the deal
• Well prepared Due Diligence