Ready to raise? Essential prep for funding success

We know you’re chomping at the bit to get your business idea off the ground. But hold your horses. Have you thought about:

• Your cap table?
• How you'll pitch your business to investors?
• Schemes like EIS and SEIS?
• Which business and legal docs you’ll need?
• Where to keep those all-important docs?

We’re not trying to rein in your ambition but rather, prepare you for the race ahead.

As you probably know, the funding landscape is a harsh one. The third quarter of 2024 saw a significant drop in venture capital funding raised by UK startups.

That means that competition is tight, the stakes are high and investors are more scrupulous than ever.

Your preparedness will put you in a much better place when you start knocking on investors' doors.

We want to do whatever we can to help you on your journey, which leads us nicely to the launch of our new offering. But first…

What do I need to prepare?

Raising capital isn’t as exciting as it sounds, the end result is of course, but getting there involves a lot of time, money and admin (seriously).

Your cap table has to be correct. Nothing will stop a funding round quicker than a broken table, so it’s got to be in tip-top shape. No miscalculations, dead equity or unsanctioned share movements.

You’ll need to prepare a pitch deck - which is essentially a presentation containing information about your company, the USPs of your products or services, market research, financial forecasts and more.

If you’re taking advantage of the Enterprise Investment Scheme or the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (and if you can, why wouldn’t you?) - you’ll want to apply for HMRC’s advance assurance to give investors peace of mind.

Then, following EIS/SEIS investment, acquire your compliance certificates (S/EIS3 forms), get your Unique Investment Reference, the list goes on.

And speaking of forms, there are easily 20 or more investment-related documents and agreements you’ll need to draft and get multiple signatories to sign. And that’s not including any additional forms a venture capital firm might ask you to fill out.

Do you believe us now?

InVestd Raise

When it comes to fundraising, the devil is in the detail, in other words, your due diligence. Our all-in-one solution ensures that nothing will slip through the cracks.

So when investors ask, “Where’s this, where’s that?” You’re two steps ahead and not breaking out in a cold sweat.

Here’s what InVestd Raise has to offer:

• Speed through funding rounds with everything you need in one place
• 0% completion fees on any investment you raise - we don’t take a cut
• SEIS/EIS: Apply for advance assurance with confidence and submit your compliance statement
• Best-in-class business document templates (including a pitch deck template)
• Autogenerate agreements and send for signing in just a few clicks
• Track unlimited signatures so nothing gets missed
• Store all of your investment docs in secure data rooms and grant access as you see fit
• Explore future scenarios with the investment modelling tool. 

As InVestd Raise is an add-on, you’ll get all of this on top of the other features applicable to your current plan. So once the deal is done, you can instantly issue shares to investors and take care of all your equity needs.

A bit of backstory

InVestd Raise, like many of Vestd’s product releases since inception, is intrinsically linked to our early ambitions. Our founder and CEO, Ifty Nasir, explains:

“When we started Vestd, our primary objective was to help early-stage businesses. But as the years went on, we were hit by challenges such as covid and the cost of living crisis.

“It actually turned out that we thrived under those conditions (companies wanted to adopt share schemes more than ever to look after their teams) but we looked further afield to ensure that we’d be in a strong position on the other side of multiple national crises.

“So for us, that meant stretching into the SME space - a space we have absolutely loved learning about and continue to grow.

"But now we have the tech and the know-how to serve founders throughout their entire journey - from day one to exit, and this includes the roller-coaster that is fundraising.

“And that’s why we’re so excited to announce InVestd Raise!”

How to get started

In short, closing a funding round is not just about pitching your business - it requires solid prep.

That’s where InVestd Raise comes in. With features like secure document storage, autogenerated agreements, and SEIS/EIS support, the whole process is smoother and quicker. 

InVestd Raise is an add-on, so it’s currently available to existing customers only. You can easily add it to your current plan within the app or speak to a member of the team if you’d rather.

InVestd Raise is competitively priced at £100/mo and a minimum 12-month subscription applies.

We also won’t take a cut of any investment you raise on the platform, unlike our competitors! But we won’t name and shame…

Not with Vestd just yet? Join today.