March 2016

Proposal Tip of the Week

Tip #4 “How big’s the itch and is it spreading…like a rash?”

To continue the itch metaphor from proposal tips #2 and #3 (which dealt with the importance of giving a clear explanation of the itch you scratch and how you scratch it), in this post I’d like to touch on the size of the itch and how it’s growing.

For those of you beginning to find my strangled metaphor tedious, I’ll stop. I’m talking, of course, about the market your business operates/plans to operate in.

It’s no use solving a problem – even if you solve it unbelievably well – if it’s a problem only extant for a single hermit on the remote island of Tristan de Cunha, then it’s great for the hermit, but not a viable business (unless he’s sitting on pots of gold). read more

Success Story: Atlantic Healthcare closes $24 million financing

Some good news came in over the weekend in a press release from Atlantic Healthcare. It’s encouraging to see our Pharmaceutical companies flourishing alongside their arguably more trendy tech counterparts.

We raised circa £350,000 for Atlantic Healthcare as part of their seed round. It’s taken a few years, but that’s nearly always the way with pharmaceuticals; and now they’ve just closed a $24 million round with funds coming from the founders of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Fullbrook Thorpe Investments LLP (the family investment arm of Andy Leaver, founder of Clinigen Group plc); and LDC (the private equity division of Lloyds Banking Group plc); alongside their existing investors. read more

Proposal Tip of the Week

So far in this series we’ve discussed 2 of my 3 recommended first steps for starting your pitch in a way that makes investors instantly grasp the value of your idea.

Third up is the natural corollary of the problem, that is, the solution.

Tip #3 “How do you scratch that itch?”

Once you’ve made the effort, as set out in Proposal Tip #2, to give a cogent explanation of the problem, and the investors have started to relate to the pain point, then you hit them with your solution. read more

Proposal Tip of the Week

Some very exciting news in this morning about one of the companies we raised money for last year. BIG news! Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to disclose anything yet, so will have to announce when permitted in a later post…so watch this space.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ve all been on tenterhooks waiting for the second in my series of 52 quick proposal tips. The wait is over…

Tip #2 “What Itch do you Scratch?”

Last week’s tip recommended grabbing investors’ attention by starting your pitch/proposal with your company’s most impressive achievement or traction metric to date. But what next? read more

Success Story: Reward Gateway acquires Yomp

Yomp • Engaging People • Rewarding Wellness from Yomp on Vimeo.

Yesterday Techcrunch posted an article announcing that Reward Gateway had acquired gamified health startup Yomp for an undisclosed figure. Techcrunch mention the £200k seed round that Yomp filled last year, but neglect to mention that £150k of that came through Angel Investment Network (the whole SEIS allowance) !

But that’s of little importance. Our investors are over the moon at such a rapid ROI. As you would be. The figure hasn’t been disclosed yet, but our £150k went in at a valuation of £1 million; and we’d expect someone of the calibre of Reward Gateway to be able to acquire for £3-5million. By that reckoning, our investors are getting a 3-5x multiple return in just over a year. read more

Proposal Tip of the Week

For no other reason than today is the first day of a new leap year cycle, I’ve decided to add a new feature to this blog. Each week I’m going to write a short post offering easy-to-implement advice on writing a fundraising proposal to investors. There will be a slight steer to benefit those entering proposals on , but I promise that the advice will be easily applied wherever you’re submitting a proposal.

I read hundreds of proposals a day. Literally hundreds of the things in the form of: pitch decks, executive summaries, investment site templates, incubator/accelerator templates, you name it. There’s always more to learn, but by now I’ve got a pretty good idea of what investors love and what they loathe when it comes to fundraising proposals. read more