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Ask HN: Problem validated – how to raise angel investment?
Hi all,
I'm working on building a platform for data scientists. Having validated the problem with several people, I'd like to raise some funds to work on customer and product development full-time.
Does anyone have any experience raising funds at this early stage?
Thanks in advance.
- binbag 8y agoHi, yes I have done this in the UK but for electronics/photonics/instrumentation company, not software/data company. A good first step is to find someone who has done this before and convince them (using the value of your early idea) to mentor you through writing a solid business plan and pitch. The process you need to go through is to construct a plan that: maps out your strategic objectives for the next 3-5 years; identifies what assets and resources you need, and when you need them, to achieve these goals; lays out a financial budget for that (this being a model that gets increasingly less certain and accurate as time goes on); considers how this budget will be funded; identifies the likely points and sources of first commercial income; discusses how the business scales to become a full commercial concern, and what its value may ultimately be; provides supporting evidence for the assumptions you make in the plan. Good luck. Where are you based?
- tixocloud 8y agoThanks. I do have somewhat of a pitch deck and a plan but being relatively new to the UK, I'm not too sure who to connect with. I've mostly been trying to cold call my way in - effective but also not sure if I'm connecting with the right people who are in it for the right reasons. One person said they can help fundraise but require a £950 retainer fee and 4.5% of funds raise after. I'm based in Edinburgh. How about yourself?
- binbag 8y agoI don't advise you start paying someone to help. I had the advantage of spinning technology out from a university, so I had IP and some connections into 'angel investor' groups. Some angels will offer mentoring to people pursuing promising ideas a) for fun and b) for a chance to be offered some shares later. There are quite a lot of angel syndicates in the UK which you could pitch to. I'm based in Glasgow, but in Edinburgh there are quite a few - Equity Gap and Par Equity are pretty active. You could try approaching them. A smaller one in Glasgow is Gabriel Investment Syndicate. Do you have an idea of how much you need?
- tixocloud 8y agoThanks. Yes, I felt quite skeptical about the whole setup of requesting a retainer before fundraising. How do I pitch to these angel syndicates? Neat. My work is based in Glasgow - I'm seeking roughly £70k to give me a runway for about a year. I'm trying to connect with the various incubators to see if they're able to help as well. Thanks for your advice.
- binbag 8y agoSend me an email to fankle@pm.me and we can discuss how to do it. I can introduce you to various people and also tell you about government funding that may have less strings attached.