Investors are only looking for these three things in your deck, everything else is supplemental information...

Welcome to the 8th edition of The Get Funded! Newsletter—where we break down the latest from our Get Funded! Office Hours session on Twitter/X and equip you with tools to take your fundraising to the next level.

Missed this session? Listen to the recording here.
Interested in joining the next session? See what VCs are coming next and register here.

1. Session Overview:

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

• Session #1: Jonathan Hung, Managing Partner at Entrepreneur Ventures
  ​​Entrepreneur Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm partnered with Entrepreneur Media investing as early as day 1.

• Session #2: Opeyemi Awoyemi, Managing Partner at Fast Forward Venture Studio
  ​Fast Forward Venture Studio partners with ambitious founders to launch and fund companies unlocking prosperity in Africa using technology.

We also had our Pre-Show Founder interview with Christian Jacobsen, Founder of Crema, a global Fintech company that manages borderless money transfers for remote workers, freelancers, and contractors seamlessly. Recording here.

Additionally, we had our fourth and final session of Founders Circle, a new weekly peer mentorship group by Serac Ventures. Thank you to everyone that have joined over the past four weeks. We want to thank Sid Pailla, Founder and CEO of Sunny Day Fund, for the amazing insights he shared highlighting the unique and thoughtful path he took to build his company.

If interested in joining the next cohort, fill out this short interest form here.

2. Office Hours Recap:

Key Takeaways from the session on October 25th:

• Session #1 - Jonathan Hung, Managing Partner at Entrepreneur Ventures:

  • Stage: Pre-Seed

  • Industry: Agnostic

  • Check Size: $25K - $50K

  • Key Takeaways from Session:

    • Building a Strong Foundation: Jonathan emphasized the importance of founders establishing a strong foundation before focusing on scaling. Founders should ensure they have a robust product-market fit before seeking aggressive growth.

    • The Value of Network: He noted that a founder’s network is often the key to early success. Leveraging connections for intros and credibility boosts fundraising efforts.

    • Execution Over Idea: Jonathan highlighted that investors are often more interested in execution and team capability than just the uniqueness of the idea.

• Session #2 - Opeyemi Awoyemi, Managing Partner at Fast Forward Venture Studio:

  • Stage: Pre-Seed

  • Industry: Future of Work, Africa Prosperity

  • Check Size: $100K - $250K

  • Key Takeaways from Session:

    • Adaptability in Emerging Markets: Ope stressed the need for founders in emerging markets to adapt their strategies to the specific regulatory and market challenges.

    • Customer-Centric Approach: He encouraged founders to focus on understanding their customers’ pain points deeply and to build solutions that directly address these issues.

    • Metrics and Milestones: For pre-seed founders, showing early traction and clear milestones, even if small, is crucial to attracting investors and signaling growth potential.

3. Funding Resources:

Resources of the Week:

• Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) Winter 2025 Program

  ERA invests $150,000 on a post-money SAFE in return for 6% of each company.
  Deadline: 11/4/2024

• 2025 Black New Venture Competition
  Showcase your vision and compete for a share of over $200K in non-dilutive capital
  Deadline: 11/11/2024

• Techstars Build in Tulsa Accelerator

  Techstars invests up to $120K for their in-person, industry agnostic program focused on underrepresented founders.
  Deadline: 11/20/2024

Book of the Week:

• Capitalism without Capital by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake
  Capitalism without Capital explores how intangible assets—such as software, branding, and R&D—have reshaped the global economy. Haskel and Westlake delve into how this shift from physical to intangible assets impacts economic growth, inequality, and innovation, urging business leaders and policymakers to reconsider traditional approaches to investment and value creation.

• Why I recommend it: In a world where intangible assets drive competitive advantage, companies that prioritize creativity, innovation, and brand development stand to gain. Capitalism without Capital challenges readers to think beyond physical assets and to harness the power of intangibles. If you're interested in how this new form of capitalism can impact your investments or business strategies, this book is a great start. You can get your copy here.

Alternative Funding Sources:

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

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

4. Founder Spotlight:

Featured Founder: Christian Jacobsen, Founder of Crema

• Overview: Christian Jacobsen founded Crema, a financial infrastructure platform designed specifically for freelancers working internationally. His personal experiences as a freelancer navigating complex payment challenges inspired him to develop a solution that simplifies invoicing, payment collection, and financial services for freelancers, with a focus on the Latin American market.

• Their Success Story: Crema has achieved impressive milestones with limited funding, generating $800,000 in annual revenue with only $800,000 raised. By offering features like customizable payment plans and automated collections, the platform reduces the payment time for freelancers by approximately 25% and saves on transaction fees, which are often significantly higher with competitors.

• Future Plans: Crema aims to continue expanding its platform by adding new features, such as invoice factoring, to increase liquidity for freelancers. Christian and his team are focused on enhancing the freelancer experience through streamlined workflows and are currently closing a new funding round with $250,000 remaining. This additional capital will support the platform’s next phase of growth.

What we can take away: Christian’s story highlights the value of addressing a well-defined niche, such as international freelancers, and building a product that truly addresses their pain points. For founders, Christian’s journey underscores the importance of efficient capital use and the potential of achieving substantial impact with a small but dedicated team.

5. 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? Be sure to join us for the next Get Funded! Office Hours session. You can view and register for upcoming sessions using 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 seed stage writing checks between $250K - $750K. Our core sectors include fintech, SaaS, and commerce enablement. Learn more at SeracVentures.vc.