Raise-ready

An early-stage founder was preparing to raise locally but did not yet have the financial case behind the pitch.

The opportunity may have been clear to the founder, but an investor needs more than the ambition of the business. They need to understand how the company intends to grow, what the plan will cost, where the capital will go, and which assumptions hold the forecast together. Without that, a pitch is difficult to defend once the questions become specific.

The SME CFO built the business plan and financial model behind the raise, working through the assumptions until the numbers were sound and defensible.

• We translated the commercial plan into a model that linked revenue, cost, hiring, operating milestones, cash requirements, and the capital needed for the next stage.
• We challenged the assumptions behind the forecast and tested the financial consequences of slower growth, higher costs, or a later funding milestone.
• We clarified the capital requirement and use of funds, ensuring the amount being raised was connected to the milestones the business intended to achieve.
• We prepared the founder to explain the numbers and the trade-offs, and to answer the questions an investor was most likely to ask.

The founder went into investor conversations with a plan and model that held up under questioning and could speak to every figure with confidence.

The founder had a financial view of the business that made the raise more credible: a clear connection between the strategy, the capital required, and the operating plan the funding would support.

The model created a financial baseline for the company’s next stage.