Seed to series b

Steps to fundraising success

Your fundraise

1. Preparing to raise

2. Approaching investors

3. Structuring & closing

Positioning your business

Develop and present your understanding of how your business will operate within its target market. Prepare documents that will highlight the appeal of this positioning to potential shareholders.

Equity story & pitch deck
Mapping investor universe
VDR preparation

Preparing an elevator pitch?

A high impact elevator pitch is concise but engaging for your listener, whether a client, investor or partner. Quantifying the scope of your market, clearly outlining your solution and delivering effectively are the three essential components to get right.
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Craft an equity story that attracts investors

Investors need to see that your company is set up for success. A compelling equity story will help your company to attract investors and top-class talent.
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Equity story

An equity story is a compilation of the advantages (and risks) of owning the equity capital of a particular company, presented in the context of a funding round.
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Drafting a pitch deck

The best investor presentations tell a compelling story, based on a thorough understanding of market problem and solution, in a clear and punchy style. Here are some pointers to bear in mind.
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Understanding your market: TAM, SAM and SOM

This article identifies the three levels into which a market opportunity can be analysed and presented for a growing business - the total addressable market, the serviceable available market and the serviceable obtainable market.
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Mapping the investor universe

Finding the right investor for your business is the most important part of the fundraising process. Our experts can advise you on the right type of investors and financing for your business and how to best approach them.
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An overview of seed funding and seed investors

A seed round can help you reach profitability or accelerate growth. Read our guide on how much seed funding to raise, when to do it, how to value your business and how to avoid dilution.
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Finding the right type of investment for your business

Finding the right investor for your business can be a long journey. The first step is to understand your financing options and then focus on understanding the investor audience.
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An investor as a partner

It is important to see an investor in your business as a partner who will join you on your entrepreneurial journey.
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Gathering information for fundraising

Gathering and preparing information, an important part of your fundraising preparation, will help you develop your equity story, refine projections, and prepare for due diligence.
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VDR setup and management

If you are going to interact with multiple investors, you should consider setting up a virtual data room (VDR). Streamline your due diligence process and obtain a better outcome by anticipating information requests, keeping investors engaged, increasing competition.
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Preparation of financial data

Even with a limited track record, your funding round will require a significant amount of financial data.

A well-built financial model will be the cornerstone of your financial data - allowing you to both track (and report on) performance, and generate robust forecasts for valuation.

Financial model and forecasts
Business valuation
KPI analysis

Financial model and forecasts

A well-built financial model provides a detailed, numerical view of a business. It will vary depending on the nature of the business and fill in many of the details that are excluded in the pitch deck but required by investors.
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How to value your startup

Both founders and investors use valuation tools to define helpful reference points for transaction discussions. While valuation can be calculated using a range of technical tools, these are most effective when based on a robust set of forecasts.
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Identifying and tracking KPIs

KPIs are a key measurement to benchmark your company’s health and success. Analysing customer cohorts is key to understanding your customer’s behaviour and refining your product and marketing strategies.
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Lifetime customer value

In this article, we'll discuss customer lifetime value, why it's important, how to calculate it and some tips on how to increase customer retention rates.
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Closing your Round

You have a selection of interested investors, but you're not over the line yet.

Running an efficient diligence process while building competitive tension among investors takes skill and effort. Once completed, make sure you understand the details within your term sheets.

Legal & Term Sheets
VDR and diligence

An overview of the legal documents required

VC term sheets are the foundation for a deal - negotiating the right terms is fundamental. A summary of the key documents required in an equity finance transaction.
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How to negotiate a term sheet

VC term sheets are the foundation for a deal - negotiating the right terms is fundamental. A summary of the key documents required in an equity finance transaction.
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VDR setup and management

If you are going to interact with multiple investors, you should consider setting up a virtual data room (VDR). Streamline your due diligence process and obtain a better outcome by anticipating information requests, keeping investors engaged, increasing competition.
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Testimonials

Arun K.
@pyxisconcerto
Jewellery business, Founder

Ithaca was able to provide hands-on support to put together a financing plan in very little time.

Through the platform, we were connected to a handful of freelancers based on their affinity for our business model and their backgrounds (it was great to see all had blue-chip financial institutions backgrounds).

Our specialist was pragmatic and results-oriented – she understood our business inside out and was able to deliver with minimal oversight.

The app was user-friendly, intuitive and real added value, as it helped us navigate all the steps of the project, from matching and outline, to delivery, to payment and completion.

June 2022
Tomás L.
@pyxisconcerto
Hardware technology company, Founder

We wanted to update our internal operating model and perform a valuation analysis on our business.

Our specialist did a great job of pinning down the key drivers of our company and remodelling projections using a more realistic, simpler framework.

The valuation analysis was extremely detailed and touched on all the key valuation methodologies.

It is not our first time using freelancers or freelance platforms in the past, but the end-to-end focus on project delivery made Ithaca a fundamentally different, superior experience.

July 2022