Fundraising in 2023
March 27, 2023
Some stats came out recently about just how difficult it is to fundraise in this environment, particularly for Series Bs. Historically, Series Bs have always been the most challenging as companies at this stage are moving beyond product market fit and for the first time are using the new growth capital to scale the business. The fundamentals have to be sound and the path to scalability has to be validated already and it becomes just about stepping on the gas.
We are in a bit of a unique situation as we're making that transition to product market fit for the first time using this round of financing. The numbers are sound but most of our history is still tied to us being the only underwriter. As a result, VCs are assessing us with only a few months of history in 2023 as a more pure play marketplace and software solution. That has made it all the more important that we delivered on revenues in January and February, with March tracking close to plan as well, even when we've factored in a consistent and steady 20-30% increase month over month in revenues.
We have a few million left in this round and it's been a nonstop effort trying to get them to cross the line. Each time we hit a milestone, each time we sign a new underwriter, each time we sign a term sheet, I'm blasting out emails to all the VCs who are still in the running and the response has continued to be resoundingly positive. As these KPIs start to come to life in the way we projected, the conversations are all now moving in the right direction. We are in the final stages of diligence and investment committee review with 2 groups, we have 8 groups that are in late stage diligence and will move if we can get either of those first two groups to cross, and we have 23 other active conversations that are earlier on in the process that will also expedite their process once they know there's not much room left in the round. These investors have come from everywhere - groups who wanted to come in on the Series A that we had to kick out because of not having enough room, groups that have been following us for years that are convinced now is the time, groups that passed on us when we went out for the B last year that are now seeing the metrics and want in again, advisors who have made dozens of introductions to new groups, and our family office efforts coming to fruition on both the debt and equity side of things. Momentum and FOMO is what it's going to take and we're closer than ever to being able to play that card and bring this over the finish line. At this stage, we should have more clarity around how the rest of this round is going to come together within the next few weeks.
2023 was never going to be an easy year for fundraising but as we've always been known to do, we're going to buck the trend 💪
