How Much Should I Say I'm Raising?

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Welcome to the 22nd edition of The Get Funded! Newsletter—proudly serving over 2,589 founders! Here, we break down the latest insights from our weekly VC Office Hours sessions on Twitter/X and equip you with tools to help you ‘Get Funded’.

Missed this session? Listen to the recording here.
Want to join the next session? Check out the full list of past and upcoming VCs here.

1. Overview:

This week, we hosted two insightful sessions with our fantastic guest investors:

• Session #1: Cindy Ho, Junior Partner at Stout Street Capital

  Stout Street Capital is a generalist early-stage investor typically investing $250K in post-product & post-revenue startups based in the US and Canada, reserving $500K - $1M for follow on.

• Session #2: Belvin Liles III, Venture Innovation Associate at ID Ventures

  ​​ID Ventures provides up to $300K in investment capital and resources to early-stage, high-growth companies in the Detroit region and throughout Michigan.

2. Office Hours Recap:

• Session #1 - Cindy Ho, Junior Partner at Stout Street Capital
  Stage: Pre-Seed & Seed
  Industry: Generalist (Invests in B2B SaaS, FinTech, HealthTech, AgTech, Robotics, and more)
  Check Size: $250K Initial Checks, up to $1M Follow-On
  How to Apply: Connect through Stout Street Capital’s website or contact Cindy directly via LinkedIn
  Key Takeaways from Session:

  • Focus on Revenue Traction: Stout Street prioritizes startups that have already found product-market fit and are generating revenue. While they list a preference for a minimum of $50K in MRR, they evaluate companies on a case-by-case basis.

  • Geographic Strategy: The firm invests across the U.S. and Canada but typically does not invest in startups based in major hubs such as San Francisco, New York City, or Boston.

  • Fundraising Best Practices: Founders should research a VC’s actual investment history beyond just stated criteria. Looking at past investments can help gauge fit, as stated revenue or traction requirements might have some flexibility in practice.

• Session #2 - Belvin Liles III, Venture Innovation Associate at ID Ventures

  Stage: Pre-Seed to Series A
  Industry: Industry Agnostic (Tech-focused)
  Check Size: Up to $300K

  How to Apply: Founders can apply through the ID Ventures website or contact Belvin directly via LinkedIn.
  Key Takeaways from Session:

  • Michigan-Focused Investment Strategy – ID Ventures is committed to supporting Michigan-based startups, providing funding and additional resources through initiatives like the FAN Program and the Venture 313 Program, which focus on funding, access, and mentorship.

  • Bridging the Early-Stage Funding Gap – ID Ventures helps founders, particularly Black, Brown, and immigrant entrepreneurs, close the friends-and-family round gap by providing $30K investments to complete MVPs, marketing, or final development work.

  • Building a Sustainable Ecosystem in Detroit – The firm collaborates with organizations like the Gilbert Family Foundation to foster economic mobility and drive investments into Detroit-based businesses, helping them scale to Series A and beyond.

3. Funding Resources:

Resources of the Week:

• The Blue Dot Creative Residency by CÎROC

  An opportunity for storytellers to bring their passion projects to life with up to $200K in funding support.

  Deadline: 2/24/2025

• CTIA Wireless Foundation Catalyst 2025

  A competitive grants program for ambitious social entrepreneurs who have developed mobile-first solutions that enhance our lives and address pressing challenges in American communities; receive up to $100K in grant funding.

  Deadline: 3/4/2025

• Orlando Magic Venture Challenge

  The challenge will provide up to six companies the opportunity to gain up to $200K in funding, partnerships and mentorships.

  Deadline: 3/5/2025

• VOA Futures Fund Community Health Incubator

  A 14-week accelerator with partnership opportunities for ventures in community health that provides a $15K grant and business training to help you scale.
  Deadline: 3/5/2025

• Spring 2025 Agora Venture Competition

  Pitch your startup at the venture showcase in front of DC’s top investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders for a $10,000 cash prize to the winner.
  Deadline: 3/7/2025

• Pegasus Accelerate Spring 2025
  A startup accelerator providing $100K in capital that is focused on connecting founders to what matters most when scaling a venture— people.
  Deadline: 3/10/2025

• The Builders + Backers Idea Accelerator

  A free, virtual, idea-stage program that takes aspiring founders from concept to first launch, providing $5K in funding.

  Deadline: 3/11/2025

• Neo Accelerator 2025

  Receive a $600K investment and join a cohort of 20 awesome tech startups.

  Deadline: 3/14/2025

• Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures Lab

  Accepted founders receive an equity investment of $250K, a five-month curated program, mentorship, networking, office space for the duration of the program and access to certain external advisors.

  Deadline: 3/14/2025

• Money Moves Summit Pitch Competition

  Compete for a share of the $10K prize pool during the Money Move’s Summit.

  Deadline: 3/14/2025

• TitletownTech $1M Startup Draft

  Hosted in partnership with the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft, TitletownTech is investing $1 million dollars in a startup harnessing emerging technologies.
  Deadline: 3/16/2025

• Headstream Accelerator

  The Headstream Accelerator provides $30K in support to entrepreneurs to scale the most promising digital solutions that positively impact youth mental well-being.

  Deadline: 3/16/2025

• W.E. Build Accelerator

  The W.E. Build accelerator empowers 8-10 innovative and diverse early-stage entrepreneurs with programing and a $25K non-dilutive grant to create and launch a scalable venture in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

  Deadline: 3/21/2025

• OHUB’s Climate Tech Bootcamp

  A 10-week pre-accelerator program for climate tech and new energy entrepreneurs from around the country that have an interest in building in or expanding to South Louisiana; opportunity to receive a $100K investment.

  Deadline: 3/28/2025

• The MSP Equity Accelerator

  The MSP Equity Accelerator sponsored by Allianz invests $100K each into five high-growth startups founded by undervalued entrepreneurs.

  Deadline: 4/25/2025

• The 2025 Black Ambition Prize Competition
  The Black Ambition Prize competition provides a platform for underrepresented founders across the nation to access $15K - $1M in growth capital, coaching, and a curated community of innovators and mentors.

  Deadline: 5/2/2025

• LAUNCH

  The LAUNCH Accelerator invests $125k into 7-14 startups for each cohort.
  Deadline: Rolling

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Podcast of the Week:

• 20GROWTH: George Bonaci, VP of Growth @Ramp: How Ramp Became the Fastest Growing SaaS Company Ever

  George Bonaci shares how Ramp scaled rapidly by prioritizing high-velocity experimentation, hiring for potential over experience, and identifying unique growth opportunities. He discusses why traditional playbooks often fail, the importance of balancing big bets with incremental wins, and how AI is reshaping growth strategies.

• Why I recommend it: This episode is packed with actionable insights for founders and growth leaders looking to scale. George breaks down how to structure a winning growth team, why speed often beats perfection, and the hidden opportunities in overlooked marketing channels. If you’re looking to refine your approach to growth, this is a must-listen. You can listen here.

Alternative Funding Sources:

• Access up to $2M in non-dilutive debt financing. Request information here.

• Raise up to $5M in equity capital through a Community Round. Request information here.

• Access up to $50K in AWS & Google Cloud credits and other perks from our friends at J.P. Morgan. Request information here.

Serac Ventures has made 8 investments in 2024 and is actively reviewing investment opportunities for our 2025 pipeline. We are looking to invest $250K - $500K initial checks into 8-10 companies building in FinTech, SaaS, and the Future of Work in 2025. Founders can learn more and consider submitting their company here.

4. Tweet of the Week:

That’s all for this week’s edition of The Get Funded! Newsletter. We hope you found these insights valuable as you continue your journey to securing funding.

What’s next?

Join us next Friday for two more amazing guests joining us for Office Hours.

​​​​​​For session #1 we have Andrew Berg, Investor at Companyon Ventures.

​Companyon Ventures invests $1M - $3M in category-leading seed-funded B2B software startups that have found product-market fit and are ready to scale.

For session #2 we have Martin Tobias, Managing Partner at Incisive Ventures.

​Incisive Ventures is a Pre-Seed venture fund that invests $250K into technology companies that reduce friction at scale.

If interested in joining and/or pitching, please feel free to register here.

You can see the full list of past and future VCs on this Calendar.

Be on the look out for our newsletter next week where we’ll bring you more actionable advice, resources, and success stories.

Let’s All, Get Funded!

Best,
Darrel Frater
Investor at Serac Ventures
Twitter/X | Linkedin | Preneur

P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a founder you know who could benefit from these insights!

P.S.S. Got ideas or suggestions for Get Funded? Shoot me an email at [email protected] for us to discuss!

About Serac: Serac Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that targets companies at the pre-seed and seed stage writing initial checks between $250K - $500K. Our core sectors include fintech, SaaS, and Future of Work. Learn more at SeracVentures.vc.