Fundraising is a hot topic these days, especially in the post-pandemic corporate environment. In addition to many people choosing to start a business with a 9-to-5, incumbent companies have the opportunity to re-evaluate and re-evaluate changing customer needs and expectations, leading to new releases and innovative projects.
this has always been the case Uket. Since 2020, we have been working tirelessly on smart e-commerce solutions, which we have aptly decided to name Ucraft Next.To raise funds for our business, we joined UC Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator Program Promote our ideas to potential investors and get closer to securing funding that will help us move the project forward.
We are currently nearing the end of our planned journey, after which our propaganda will be released into the wild – figuratively speaking. In this program, we learn the ins and outs of successful fundraising, and we’ve been eager to share it with our users, audience, and anyone else looking to start a new business or launch a platform.
You may be familiar with our review, in this case – disclaimer! This is no ordinary review. We’ll also share valuable insider tips and tricks with you in this post. Read on to learn all about fundraising basics, how we partnered with the program to start raising money for our Series B stage, and even some unique tips to wow investors.
Fundraising Basics
Before we dive into the topic, all readers of this article must be familiar with the basics of fundraising. Although Ucraft is no longer a startup, we did belong to the field a few years ago, going through all the stages that new startups are currently navigating. To get from point A to point B, you must know where to start.
Fundraising Stage
Depending on where your current startup or business is located, there are several stages of fundraising, usually grouped into the following six categories:
Pre-seed – Usually an out-of-pocket investment that provides an initial boost to the business.
Seed – Founders are looking to attract angel investors, typically expecting to raise $500,000 to $2 million.
Series A – Founders are looking to raise venture capital and take their business to the next level, typically $3M+.
Series B – Allows startups to transform into businesses by raising higher levels of venture capital. Ucraft is currently here.
Series C – Larger companies looking to expand their company size.
Initial Public Offering – When a private company’s stock is open to the public.
Fundraising Sources
In the section above, we briefly covered angel investors and venture capitalists, the two main sources of funding – depending on what stage your business is at.
If you are at the seed stage, you should look for angel investors, who are individuals or groups who want to back early stage startups and bring their products/services to market. A good pitch (more on this later), a solid business plan, and — most importantly — an idea to fill a gap in the market can win angel investors over. Ucraft was at this stage just a few years ago when we released the first version of our website builder to the market.
However, if you already have an established business and want to take it to the next level, as we are currently doing, venture capital is your best option. These are professionally managed funds that invest in high-performing startups and small and medium-sized companies with good expansion potential. A venture capitalist will provide you with more capital than an angel investor, but will also expect more returns from your company.
In addition to these two methods, there are other ways of raising funds that should also be considered. First, we have incubators and accelerators. These are usually run by venture capital firms, universities and governments. While incubators help startups gain a foothold, accelerator programs like UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck will help them scale. As we’ve learned from our own experience, you shouldn’t tackle all challenges yourself at any stage of the fundraising process, and it’s always important to make the most of the resources available to you – and that’s exactly what we decided to do with the SkyDeck program.
Other fundraising methods include crowdfunding, where many startups flock to platforms like Indiegogo to raise money from online backers interested in their product/service and vision. Likewise, start-ups can choose to take loans from banks or apply for government programs if they are in the fields of research, science and health.
Overall, finding investors and raising capital is an active and time-consuming process. From our experience, we recommend that you focus on the following: manage your time well, organize regular meetings to keep in touch with existing potential investors, attend meetings and contact prospective investors via email and phone. You must be accountable, organized, and open, otherwise, people may doubt the validity of your intentions.
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Knowing the stage and availability of resources is only part of the bargain. You should also work on attracting investors and securing funding, which usually boils down to how well you can market your idea (besides being responsible).
First, you need a great pitch. Our consultant Karen emphasized this in our project work, leading us to make many modifications to the original pitch. Through our work with the SkyDeck program, we’ve learned that it’s best to follow these tips when crafting your pitch:
• Keep your speech short; a few minutes are ideal;
• Try to reduce your screen presentation to 10 slides;
• Start by presenting the problem and solution (ie your product/service);
• Provide industry statistics and graphs when necessary;
• Tell your company’s story and humanize your business;
• Include valid user reviews and testimonials;
• Let your audience know about your future plans and goals – what are you going to do with the funds once you receive them?
• End the presentation with a CTA and allow time for questions.
Knowledge is power, so make sure you have everything you need before starting the fundraising process – no matter what stage your startup or business is in. While Ucraft has been on the market since 2015, we are always learning and seeking advice from industry professionals. Don’t assume you know better, always revisit the basics when you’re confused.
Ucraft x SkyDeck: Our Project Experience
Now that we’ve refreshed your memory with the basics, let’s take a closer look at our own experience with Series B fundraising and the UC Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator Program. Back in 2021, we decided to join the program after being introduced to Karen Gyulbudaghyan, Berkeley SkyDeck’s global ambassador, strategic advisor and search committee member. As mentioned above, accelerator programs like SkyDeck help existing companies expand and raise funds for new ventures, which is exactly what Ucraft Next needs.
SkyDeck provided us with relevant workshops, networking events, office hours with industry experts and showcase events for over 100 attendees including start-up investors, advisors and mentors. They also helped us hire top talent, define our go-to-market strategy, and start raising money for our Series B round.
Working closely with Karen and other advisors, we were able to identify some of the gaps in our fundraising strategy for Ucraft Next and fundamentally redefine how we wanted to position ourselves. This aspect came to prominence when making our pitch presentation, which we had to rewrite and redesign multiple times to make it perfect.
Our experience with the Acceleration Program has been divided into three phases, which we completed in a few months:
1. Product Strategy: Define/refine product design and launch to achieve a capital efficient growth strategy with a meaningful competitive moat.
2. Team Building: Identify and recommend key candidates for advisory boards and early recruitment.
3. Client Introductions: Using UC Berkeley’s alumni network, SkyDeck has introduced influencers and major buyers in virtually every industry in Silicon Valley.
With the program closed, we have also been able to successfully connect with many entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and technology connoisseurs. Also, our current discussions with potential investors would have been more challenging if it weren’t for SkyDeck. The accelerator program has greatly helped us publicize upcoming products, expand Ucraft into an international company, and find new talent for our team.
Insider Fundraising Tips
As promised, we’ll end this post by sharing some unique fundraising tips provided to us by SkyDeck consultant Karen. When we asked him how we should raise money for Ucraft Next, he had the following tips to share with us, in addition to following everything step by step:
First, doing everything step-by-step means you’re only halfway there. If you want to stand out in your presentation and grab investors’ attention, you need to do more than just follow the basic steps. In perfecting our campaign, Karen emphasizes telling your story and truly humanizing your business. Investors don’t just want to see the idea; they want to see the people behind it and what the company culture looks like. Dedicate at least one slide to the people behind the idea and make sure to communicate the company’s mission, vision and culture. Team member avatars along with their names and titles also help showcase the faces behind the brand.
Likewise, your speech should be engaging and clear. You don’t have to put out your best acting skills, but be sure to express your ideas in a dynamic and fun way. Investors listen to pitches all the time, so make sure your pitches are memorable. If necessary, take some public speaking classes and practice in front of an internal audience before going on stage.
In the end, mentors really pushed us in communicating the needs we were meeting in the industry with new products. Since Ucraft Next is an innovative, user-friendly e-commerce platform building solution, we had to show what was missing in the industry – for example, the existing builders lacked customization, and opening an online store took too long for the average person , etc. They insisted that we address the gap in the market and how we would fill it.
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Overall, our experience with the UC Berkeley SkyDeck accelerator program has provided us with the knowledge and resources we need to move forward with product launches. Unfortunately, many established businesses in the market have not sought outside guidance after shedding the “startup” label, missing out on a game-changing experience like ours.
Build a well-known brand Establishing yourself in the market is an amazing achievement, but it doesn’t mean you always know best when expanding your company further, we’ve learned this over the past few months. By taking a leap of faith and joining the program, we gained so much valuable information that we would not have realized otherwise.
Our special thanks go to all the mentors and staff and UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck, especially Karen – who has been with us since the beginning of this journey. With that said, stay tuned for more exciting news this year as there will be plenty!
