Barbara Fischer is a partner at Arena Ventures AG in Zurich and supports startups throughout Europe in financing. In their monthly Masterclass “Fundraising Fundamentals” in Zurich, startups learn how to structure and efficiently prepare and finalize their financing round.
Here are her top 3 tips for founders:
Skin in the Game: Before you start looking for capital for your startup, you should already have invested in your company and not only with time, but also in the form of money. Investors in the DACH region typically expect a first cash investment from the startup founders. This signals to the investors that the founding team shares the risk with the investors and thus creates trust.
Targeted preparation as a key factor: Before you actively seek capital, you should thoroughly prepare the relevant documents for investors. As a minimum, investors expect a so-called pitch deck and the financial ratios. Both documents can be kept simple. But they should be complete in content, the common company information such as Business model, vision, roadmap, capital requirements, and conditions, etc. include.
The optimal investor profile: To ensure that your startup receives the best possible support in the long term, it is important that you clearly define from the start which investors you are looking for for your startup.
Possible investors for early-stage startups are e.g. Business Angels, Angel Clubs, Micro Venture Capital Funds, Incubators, Family Offices or Crowd Funding Platforms. Software solutions such as Crunchbase Pro or Angel List can assist you in creating your investor list.