You have agreed to act as an advisor to ‘ELITE PRO’, a promising early stage technology venture based in the UK. They wish to develop a funding strategy for the next 48 months, at which point they should have achieved break-even.
Write a 2000-word individual report to describe, and discuss how you would develop a coherent funding strategy for the venture, which has the following characteristics:
• Stage – Currently pre-seed, no MVP or evidence (yet) of customer traction
• Team – Two full time co-founders (CEO and CTO) who can survive for 6 months without income.
• Industry – Sports wearables
• Market – B2C, initially targeting competitive cyclists and rowers (assume a SOM of £50m in EU and US combined, CAGR 5%)
• Competitors – No direct competition at present. Substitutes exist but are more expensive.
• I.P. – Yes, 2 patents pending
• Margins – Gross margin 60%, Net margin 25%
• Time to break-even – 48 months
• Total funding required to break even – £1.8m
Specifically, you have been asked to outline suitable funding options and to suggest a timeline together with milestones.
