We recently completed a funding round for Spaces by Cerulean Labs.
As a pre-revenue start-up, capital raising represents a vital form of validation while recognising the increased risk the investors at this point are taking.
The process took around six months, with the first three months putting feelers out into the marketplace and making initial introductions.
To keep the business operating, we opened the round to existing shareholders and a handful of new investors while landing the bigger fish.
While we raised the majority of funds from four New Zealand Angel Groups, the process was reasonably straightforward with Ian Frame for Launch Taranaki and then Graeme Thomson from Manawatu Investment Group taking the lead to manage the internal processes with the Angel Groups.
“A kiwi based in Europe right now is a really distinct advantage in launching a new product on the global market,â€
Ian Frame, Chair Launch Taranaki
In the end, we managed to get everything over the line with only a handful of Zoom meetings – I’m based in Budapest and the Angels are all New Zealand based. However, outside of the meetings, the efforts were a lot more time-consuming, with extensive materials and several top quality QA sessions.
The last part of the process was essentially mechanical with all the documentation and was more an administration task.
Having completed the process, with the money now in the bank, we have the runway to support our upcoming commercial launch.
Capital raising is a process that start-ups need to focus on regularly and well in advance of when funds are required. That said, I’m looking forward to a slight pause from capital raising where I can focus on our business goals.