Obtaining venture capital is substantially different from raising Angel Funding and raising funds through external loan. Lenders have a legal right to interest on a loan and repayment of the capital irrespective of the success or failure of a business, however in Venture Capital, the investors invests in to a Startup in exchange for an equity stake in the business. The return of the venture capitalist as a shareholder depends on the growth of the Startup.
You can easily raise funding through the Venture Capital Investment Banking (VCIB) services of StartupLanes. We have been into the business of raising funds for many years, we can assure that your funding proposal reaches every Venture Capital who has the capacity to invest as per your location and other important data points.
When should I apply for VC Funding?
You will need the VC Funding after completing your Angel Funding round as VC Funding is generally needed after you have raised funds from the Angel Investors. You can raise funds from the Angel Network of StartupLanes and then go for VC funding in case you haven’t already raised an Angel Round.
Do I need a lead investor for the VC Round?
No, StartupLanes will manage everything, you don’t need any pre-existing lead investor to apply for Venture Capital Funding Services of StartupLanes.
What is the minimum and maximum amount of VC Funding?
The minimum amount of VC Funding is US $1 million, generally VCs don’t invest below this amount. On the other hand, there is no fixed maximum amount of VC Funding, it depends upon the Series that you are raising. The First Investment from a VC can be termed as Seed Round, then A, B, C, D, E, F, G series may come. Each round from the VC will be called as a series after the seed round.
How much Angel Funding is required to reach the VC Funding round?
Any amount of external funding from Angel Investors between INR 1 crore to 7.5 crores or US $150k to US $1 million is good enough for approaching the VCs for funding.
What should be the revenue of the Startup to apply for VC Funding round?
A revenue above 7 lakhs (or $10k) per month is good to go for VC Funding round. Even the Startups without any revenue can approach the VC Funding in case they have successfully raised the Angel round and growth opportunity is high.
How many VCs will you approach for Funding?
We will approach every suitable VC in India and abroad depending upon the location of the Startup, growth prospects, customer base and suitability of the VCs with the Startup.
Do you reach out to Corporates and Family Offices?
Yes, we reach out to Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs), Corporates and Family Offices along with the Venture Capitalists (VCs).
Do you only have Equity Based VC Funding?
We have both options of debt and equity, however generally the debt based VC funding comes after an equity funding by a prominent VC.
What matters for the successful VC Funding?
Neither our past fundings influence the VCs, nor the approach. Our relationship and matching ability and experience matters. We are distribution partners of few VCs, that means we even raise funds for the VCs. This gives us vast knowledge of subject and extra edge over others.
Why don’t I employ my own staff to raise VC Funding? Why SL is better?
You can employ your own staff for VC Funding, however there will be the following challenges:
- You have to pay the fixed salary to the staff between INR 50k to 1 lakh per month
- They will take 4-5 months in gathering the data of VCs.
- They need to learn the investment banking: finding and matching the investors with the startup.
- Your cost will be very high, returns will be low.
SL already have the database, experience, expertise, connections, relationship and understanding of the VC sector. You can let us do our work and you focus upon your work.
What is the fee for VCIB services?
Generally, the Investment bankers charge a retainer fee of INR 3-5 lakhs per month, however we only charge a one time fee of INR 1 lakh for 6 months of Investment Banking services engaging 2 Investment Bankers from our team.
We pay good salaries to our staff, we take the risk. The activation fee charged from you is not enough to cover our cost of 1 week, however we keep the services running for 6 months. We meet our expenses through the success fee that we will charge only after you receive the funding in your bank account. Your success is our success.
How long it takes to raise funds from VCs?
The commitment may come within 2-3 months itself, however 60-90 days will be needed further for the due-diligence and other activities by the VC. Therefore you can expect 6 months of time for the money to hit your bank account from the VCs.
What is the assurance by SL?
We assure you at least 25 replies by the VCs within the 6 months of time. We try to reach out every suitable and reachable VC on Earth to get you funded.
What are the chances of failure?
Generally almost every startup successfully raise VC funding after the Angel funding round is over. This is important for every Angel Investor because they get the exit opportunity in the next round of Funding that is VC round. Moreover it is extremely important for an Angel Funded Startup to raise VC Funding for further expansion and growth. On the other hand, it is in the own favor of a VC to invest into a Startup, because that is their business model, they exist to invest into Startups and that’s how they make money.
There is no chance of failure if all the criteria match as per the requirements of the VC. You should be confident that if you have already raised the angel round, it will be easy for SL team to raise VC funding for you.
How may I apply for VC Funding?
We are glad to know that you have decided to apply for the Venture Capital Investment Banking services of StartupLanes. Please apply for VC Funding here: VC Funding Application for Startups.