Most raises fail on the numbers, not the story
Pitch deck, financial model, information memorandum, data room and lender file, prepared by people who have sat on both sides of these conversations. We take no commission from any lender or investor, which means our view on which offer to accept is worth something.
- Equity
- Deck, model, IM, data room
- Debt
- Lender file, projections,
security summary - Negotiation
- Term sheet to completion
- Our side
- Yours, exclusively
- Lender commission
- None. Ever
- Licensed broker
- No. We say so upfront
- Paid by
- You, and only you
Raising from investors
The pitch deck
Built around the numbers rather than decorated with them. Most decks we are asked to fix have a good story and a financial section that quietly undermines it, because the projections were assembled last and by someone else.
The financial model
Driver-based and interrogable, so that when an investor asks what happens if churn is two points worse, you change one cell rather than rebuilding a slide. Assumptions listed on their own tab, with a source for each.
The information memorandum
The long-form document for a trade or debt process. Business, market, operations, financials, and the risks stated by you rather than discovered by them, which is always the stronger position.
The data room
Structured, indexed, complete, and assembled before the process opens rather than during it. A data room that arrives in pieces tells an investor something about the company that no deck can undo.
Investor questions
We answer the finance diligence directly, so your time goes to the questions only a founder can answer. Where a question exposes a real weakness we tell you before the investor finds it.
Bank facilities and alternative lenders
Working out what you actually need
The first thing we test is the amount. A seasonal funding model built from your own ledger frequently shows a peak requirement quite different from the number the owner had in mind, occasionally lower. Borrowing the wrong amount is expensive in both directions.
Getting the accounts lender-ready
Restated management accounts, a correct fixed asset and depreciation schedule, balance sheet presentation cleaned up, related party balances properly classified. Lenders decline files for presentation reasons far more often than they admit.
The lender file
Information memorandum, restated financials, twelve month monthly profit and cash flow projections, use of funds, repayment analysis and a security summary. One coherent package rather than a folder of attachments.
Banking strategy and negotiation
Whether to press your existing bank on limits and terms, approach alternative lenders, or both. Then the negotiation itself, through term sheet to completion, with someone who has sat on the bank side of these conversations.
Who pays us, and why it matters
A large share of financing advice in this region is paid for by the lender. That is not always disclosed, and it is not always a problem, but you should know which arrangement you are in before you take the advice.
We accept no fee, commission or benefit from any lender or investor in connection with an engagement. Every fee we earn is paid by the company. That means when we tell you the cheaper facility has a covenant you will breach in month seven, or that the term sheet with the friendlier rate has a security package you should refuse, there is nothing sitting behind that opinion.
Ask any adviser introducing you to money whether they can say the same. The answer is informative either way.
Fees, licensing and expectations
Do you take a commission from lenders or investors?
No, and this is the question worth asking every adviser who introduces you to money. We accept no fee, commission or benefit of any kind from any lender or investor. Everything we earn is paid by you. It is the only arrangement under which our advice on which offer to accept is worth anything.
Is there a success fee?
On debt financing, yes: 2% of the committed facility where it comes from your existing bank, 5% where it comes from a lender new to you, reflecting the difference in work involved. Calculated on the committed amount rather than the amount drawn, and payable on signing of the facility agreement. There are no other fees. See pricing.
Are you a licensed corporate finance adviser or broker?
No, and we are explicit about it. We are CFOs. We prepare the numbers, the model, the documents and the data room, we sit on your side of the table through the process, and we work alongside a licensed adviser where the transaction requires one. If you need a broker we will say so rather than stretching our role.
Can you guarantee we will raise the money?
No, and nobody honest will. What we can do is make sure the file is not the reason for a refusal. A great many rejections are about presentation, inconsistency and unanswered questions rather than about the underlying business.
We already have a deck. Can you just review it?
Yes, and it is often the right starting point. A review tells you whether the problem is the story, the numbers, or the fit with the investors you are approaching. Those need very different fixes and it is worth knowing which before rebuilding anything.
What if the diagnostic shows we should not raise at all?
Then we say so. It happens. Sometimes the answer is collections discipline, an inventory reduction or a renegotiated supplier term rather than a facility, and finding that out costs a fraction of what raising the wrong money costs.