Tech Start-up – Case Study #3

One of our London clients recruited an FD from us in January 2021 to assist with a tech startup business.  The business is very much in its early stages and has just moved to start making its first revenue.    It’s an early stage business which is a competitor to CreditSafe and Experian, and their team aim to develop first in the UK before moving into the Indian, Australian and New Zealand markets.

They had built a beta solution with impressive features on a modest budget, but needed the skills and experience of an FD to raise funds from investors and to present their business in a professional way to investors.

UK Business Intelligence E-Commerce business

Their product is a website containing companies house information on more than 4.9million UK companies supplemented by data from third parties.   Their team prior to recruiting an FD from FD Capital comprised a full time coder a full time SEO professional plus their founder, who has a background in E-Commerce and online marketing himself.

They approached us as their tech startup had a beta-version of their website live which was developed with funding from the founder, they wanted to obtain SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) clearance from HMRC and to raise money from VC or via one of the popular Crowd funding platforms such as SeedRS.

FD Capital Sourced an experience E-Commerce FD

We found them a very experienced FD who himself had a background in online marketing and SEO, plus experience of PE and VC fund raising, as they were at an early stage their time requirement was one day per week, plus some extra days to get the funding round away and closed.  Our candidate had a lot of tech startup experience.

Our FD started work in Feb 2021, and by the end of March had a pitch deck, a financial model, and the paperwork ready to submit to HMRC, who require a business plan and a variety of information on the business.

We have many candidates with matching experience but what the client liked about the successful one, was that he was a former entrepreneur himself and had 12 years’ experience in technology businesses plus Search Marketing knowledge which the client found very positive.

Tech business Pitch Deck Prepared

Our candidate prepared a pitch deck which then allowed him to raise the required funds, his approach is to limit the deck to no more than 12 slides, covering the key points: –

• The Product
• The technical challenge
• The solution
• Unique Selling Proposition
• The Team
• The solution
• What funding is needed
• What the plans are for future growth.

The deck needs to make good use of graphics which match the product and give a professional impression to prospective funding providers and investors.

Our Candidate obtained SEIS HMRC clearance

HMRC clearance was obtained by the end of May 2021 and initial investor found who a high net worth individual to invest £150,000 using up the SEIS allowance, and thereby gaining attractive tax relief in the process.  They sold 15% of the shares in exchange for the investment.

The business has now moved into a roll out phase and introduced chargeable credit reports on a pay as you go basis.  It is also planning a series of monthly plans to run alongside these, so it has a recurring revenue stream, along something like the Software as a Service (SaaS) lines.

Their plan is to invest in the development of the platform and to continue to develop their SEO and Search Marketing position, so they have interested visitors to offer their services too.  Their site currently has around 1,500 unique UK visitors per day during weekdays so it already has a position in the market to develop and build up from.

Our Candidate raised £150K of seed funding for this tech start-up

Currently our FD is working with them one day per month with the intention of returning to one day per week during the next funding round which is planned for the first quarter of 2022.

This is a great example of how an FD from FD Capital Recruitment can add real value.  Our FD achieved just what they needed

• Created a pitch deck and financial model
• Applied and successfully obtained SEIS clearance from HMRC
• Approached and pitched for funding from VC and high net worth individuals and successfully raised £150K
• Remains involved with the business
• Is preparing the ground for the next and larger funding round by outreaching to VC houses to source suitable investor to take the business forward.
• Has been involved with the strategy
• Has had an active input into the SEO/Search Marketing approach

The client is very satisfied with the progress so far and as the scale up we see future opportunities for all parties from future close working.

A more ambitious tech funding round is now planned for 2022

If you have an idea or concept that needs a similar skill set, then reach out to the team at FD Capital Recruitment we have a strong network of candidates available with just the skill set needed to achieve the same thing as outlined in this case study.

We don’t only help with seed funding; we can raise debt and equity for larger and more established businesses alike.  Our team also have a wide range of skills, ranging from turnaround specialists to industry sector specialists.

About FD Capital

Trading since 2018, we are a network of FD’s and CFO’s plus professional recruiters who work together to match senior finance professionals with clients.   Our candidates and our directors work closely with Private Equity and Venture Capitalist plus high net worth individuals and as can be seen from this case study are themselves able to successfully raise funds and meet the requirements of our clients.  We are also well known for being strong in the Technology space so if your need an FD from a technology background make sure to reach out to us.

FD Capital offers Finance Directors on a Part-Time, Interim and Full-Time basis, we are based in Great Portland Street London but service clients nationally as our FD network is based all around the UK.

To learn more or to have an initial consultation about helping your tech start-up please reach out to our team today.

Adrian Lawrence

Adrian Lawrence FCA with over 25 years of experience as a finance leader and a Chartered Accountant,  BSc graduate from Queen Mary College, University of London.

I help my clients achieve their growth and success goals by delivering value and results in areas such as Financial Modelling, Finance Raising, M&A, Due Diligence, cash flow management, and reporting. I am passionate about supporting SMEs and entrepreneurs with reliable and professional Chief Financial Officer or Finance Director services.