Startup capital raising in bear markets

A big thank you to our talented panel, Craid Dixon, Michale Blakey, Mohan Bielni, Amanda Twohill and Jason Atkins for being so generous with your time.

Some of the key insights from our panel were:

• Investment Flows - Michael and Cacoon Capital are  planning to do more deals this year as there’s less competition from unsophisticated investors.  Michael also believes VC’s won’t pause investing for long as they need to deploy capital.
• Respect for the $$ - There was a great discussion about how startups that raise during harder times often do better as they are more efficient capital deployment.
• Alternative funding sources - Founders should also be looking non-equity funding sources like revenue-based finance, working capital for deep tech hardware + look at things like payment terms etc to preserve cash flow.
• Be fully prepared - Our panel  emphasised that founders need to have everything ready to raise including data room etc.  They also need to be  on top of their metrics because investors are looking harder at things like retention and cohort analysis not just focusing on vanity metrics like new users.
• What if you can’t raise again? - Craig pointed out that you need to show your investors how you can thrive if this is your last capital raise.
• Relationship and trust are critical - Founders should communicate bad news and communicate regularly and look for how investors can help.  If you’re a founder taking on a new investor look at how they will support you when things go wrong.