Investor readiness

We help fast-growth tech, SaaS and e-commerce businesses get ready for a fundraising round. We’ll make sure you’re prepared, confident and credible before you step in front of investors.

Telling your story

There's nothing worse; you've gone to investors and told them your growth plans and sold them on the vision. Then, they ask to see three years of management accounts, your model and commercial drivers that make up the growth figures in your pitch deck. Information you don't have to hand. Straight away you lose a bit of credibility. And if you do have it, it's not as robust as it should be.

We know what investors look for and have developed a 12-week programme to get you ready. We’ll help you prepare a three-way integrated financial forecast, and help you prepare your pitch deck backed up by robust financials and credible, stress-tested assumptions.

Portfolio CFO Dave Eaton sitting in chair at flinder offices in London.
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The UK is still a very attractive place for VCs. Technation 2022 shows the UK at 4th in the list of total VC investment in 2021 by country, behind only the US, China and India with London 4th on the city list raising $25.5bn. (Source: London & Partners)

Are you:

  • Unsure of the difference between a Seed and a Series A fundraise process?
  • Struggling to translate your vision into financial plans that Series A investors demand?
  • Anxious about the level of scrutiny a Series A due diligence process will put on you and your business?
  • Unclear on how much funding you actually need and how you will use those funds?

Get ready for fundraising - our 12-week programme

We take the time to understand your business model and the strategic drivers for your company.

Our 12-week programme helps you navigate the steps needed to tell your story and help you achieve a premium valuation, with as little disruption through the process as possible.

We work alongside your founding team and draw upon our network of trusted experts to do health checks across finance, legal and tax functions and develop a roadmap for action to address potential blockers for investors. Potential investors expect to see key metrics for your business, a three-way integrated financial model that backs up your ambitions and a degree of operational maturity in things like contract execution.

We bring all these elements together to form a compelling narrative while giving investors confidence you can manage the next stage of growth and validate the growth you’re predicting.

Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - finance function health check stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - tax health check stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - legal health check stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - review historic financial output stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - review financial forecasts stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - your story and pitch deck review stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - pitch prep stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - data room prep stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - mock due diligence stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - cap table management and modelling stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - valuation stage.
Investor readiness 12 stages process flow - contact with suitable investors stage.
1. Finance function health check


Review and benchmark your finance function with clear recommendations and a roadmap for improvement.

An efficient, well-controlled and insightful finance function will help get you a better valuation.

2. Legal health check

Review your corporate structure, legal documents and key risk areas with our legal partners.

Significantly reduce surprises and potential blockages during the fundraising process.

3. Tax health check

Review your key risk areas with our tax partners and eligibility for SEIS/EIS (Seed/Enterprise Investment Scheme).

Significantly reduce surprises and potential blockages during the fundraising process.

4. Review historic financial output

Review historic reporting for the right structure, industry relevant KPIs and trends, reconciliations and key accounting policies.

Bullet-proof historic financial reporting will increase investor confidence.

5. Review financial forecasts

Critically appraise the quality of your financial model for the size of fundraise, challenge commercial drivers and assumptions in-line with industry and investor expectations.

Stress-tested financial forecasts that stand up to investor scrutiny are paramount.

6. Your story and pitch deck review

Critique your business plan and pitch deck to make sure you’re delivering a compelling and attractive proposition that's well articulated.

Nail your key messages and make sure your story is aligned to the financials before you get in front of investors.

7. Pitch prep

Independently rehearse your pitch with our pitch partners to sharpen your delivery.

A credible presentation to investors will maximise valuation potential.

8. Data room prep

Set up and populate your data room to a generally accepted structure and content.

This will help streamline the due diligence process, show that you’re serious, ready to go and able to move quickly.

9. Mock due diligence

Run through our mock due diligence checklist on your data room. Identify potential gaps and key risks.

Eliminate surprises during investor due diligence and streamline the actual due diligence process.

10. Cap table management and modelling

Depending on the complexity of your cap table, we will work with the founding team and model dilution implications.

Know all the scenarios, promote understanding and transparency between founders and make agreements in advance.

11. Valuation

Review or support of initial valuation in-line with typical investor expectations.

Maximise value for the founding team without losing credibility from unrealistic valuations.

12. Contact with suitable investors

We work with a network of trusted corporate finance partners we can introduce you to.

Introductions to vetted partners will avoid wasting time during the fundraise.

Our most recent investor readiness insights

Why work with flinder?

  • We’re an award-winning company with a track record of helping fast-growing tech, SaaS and e-commerce companies scale faster.
  • We know what works for investors. We know what they look for. Companies we have worked with have raised over £400 million from investors.
  • We're at the cutting edge of building and running smart finance functions®. As finance function and data operations specialists with Big Four backgrounds, we know what leading practice finance functions look like.