Your Team Slide Should Be an Org Chart: A Game-Changing Move for Pitch Decks

Welcome to the 13th 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. Overview:

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

• Session #1: Shawn Kim, Venture Analyst at Bronze Valley
  Bronze Valley is a non-profit venture capital firm that creates opportunities for women and diverse entrepreneurs.

• Session #2: Jackson Lefelar, Associate at Fenway Summer

  ​​Fenway Summer is an early- stage investment firm focused at the intersection of financial innovation and regulation.

We also had our Pre-Show Founder Interview with Sumorwuo Zaza, CEO & Co-Founder at nicklpass, a one stop shop for all your news subscriptions; helping companies save up to 70% on premium content. You can watch the recording here. 

Good Read: Kevin Moore: From Civil Engineering to Seed Stage Investing at Serac Ventures

Tony Lawson interviews Kevin Moore, Founder and Managing Partner at Serac Ventures to discuss Serac Ventures’ investment approach, highlights emerging trends in the VC industry, and offers practical advice for founders working to build and scale successful businesses.

2. Office Hours Recap:

Key Takeaways from the VC Office Hours on December 20th:

• Session #1 - Shawn Kim, Venture Analyst at Bronze Valley:

  • Stage: Pre-Seed and Seed
    Industry: Industry agnostic, with a focus on healthcare, fintech, sustainability, and underrepresented founders
    Check Size: $50K - $250K
    How to Apply: Submit to Bronze Valley here or contact Shawn directly.

    Key Takeaways from Session:

    • Founder Coachability: Shawn emphasized the importance of founders being coachable yet maintaining conviction in their vision. Striking the right balance between flexibility and focus is critical at the early stages.

    • Team Quality: Bronze Valley values founding teams that demonstrate the ability to attract and retain high-quality talent, as it reflects leadership and long-term viability.

    • Problem-Obsessed Founders: Founders should be deeply focused on the problem they’re solving rather than being overly attached to a specific solution, enabling adaptability and customer-centered innovation.

• Session #2 - Jackson Lefelar, Associate at Fenway Summer:

  • Stage: Pre-Seed and Seed
    Industry: Fintech
    Check Size: $500K (can go down to $250K or up to $1M)
    How to Apply: Submit on their website contact form here or contact Jackson directly.

    Key Takeaways from Session:

    • Fintech with Regulatory Complexity: Jackson emphasized the importance of addressing policy and regulatory challenges as a unique value proposition. Fenway Summer Ventures focuses on fintech companies with significant regulatory elements, particularly in areas like credit, lending, payments, and financial infrastructure.

    • Asset & Wealth Management Growth: Despite overall declines in fintech funding, Jackson highlighted a 67% increase in asset and wealth management deals, demonstrating the rising interest in holistic platforms over point solutions.

    • Compliance-First Approach: Jackson underscored the need for fintech founders to prioritize compliance and regulatory clarity from the outset. He advised founders to focus on proactive engagement with regulators to avoid setbacks.

3. Funding Resources:

Resources of the Week:

• Greentown Labs ACCEL Accelerator

  ACCEL provides up to $25K in non-dilutive grant funding to support BIPOC founders building in climatetech.

  Deadline: 1/7/2025

• NewSchools

  NewSchools provides unrestricted grants ranging from $150K to $250K to the ideas and energy of education leaders and entrepreneurs who are advancing innovative solutions that expand the definition of what works.

  Deadline: 1/8/2025

• The National a2 Pilot Awards Competition

  Provides up to $200K in non-dilutive grant funding for technology projects that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) approaches and technology to improve care and health outcomes for older Americans.

  Deadline: 1/15/2025

• 757 Accelerate

  A 9-week-long mentorship-driven, milestone-based program; receive $20K in funding.
  Deadline: 1/24/2025

• Midwest House '25 SXSW Midwest Madness

  An opportunity to pitch during SXSW for a $10K prize and travel stipend.

  Deadline: 1/31/2025

• 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

• 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

Book of the Week:

• Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
  In Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vaynerchuk provides a practical guide to creating compelling content and delivering it in a way that resonates with audiences on social media. Using boxing metaphors, he emphasizes the importance of giving value (jabs) before asking for a sale or conversion (the right hook). The book offers actionable advice tailored to different social platforms and is packed with real-world examples of successful and unsuccessful campaigns.

• Why I recommend it: For founders and entrepreneurs, understanding how to communicate effectively in today’s digital landscape is essential. This book provides a playbook for building meaningful connections with your audience by prioritizing value and relevance. Whether you're launching a crowdfunding campaign, building a startup brand, or driving customer engagement, the lessons from this book will help you refine your messaging and approach.
  You can get your copy here.

Alternative Funding Sources:

• Access up to $2,000 in non-dilutive debt financing. Request funding here.

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

• Get $10,000 to move to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Apply here.

Serac Ventures has made 8 investments in 2024 and is beginning to look for 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.
Learn more and consider submitting your company here.

4. Founder Spotlight:

Featured Founder: Sumorwuo Zaza, CEO & Co-Founder at nicklpass

• Overview:
  Sumorwuo Zaza is the CEO and Co-Founder of nicklpass, a platform that offers businesses a single login to access multiple news and information sources. The product simplifies enterprise access to premium content while reducing costs, improving compliance, and enhancing security. I like to call nicklpass “The Spotify of News”.
  

  Their Success Story:
  Zaza launched nicklpass to address the fragmented and often inefficient system of accessing paid content across organizations. With a professional background managing international operations at Huffington Post and a personal connection to journalism through his father, Zaza combined deep industry insights with a passion for supporting the free flow of quality information. Through partnerships with major publishers and organizations, nicklpass has grown steadily, solving critical problems for businesses with large teams and complex content needs.
  

  Future Plans:
  nicklpass aims to scale by targeting high-leverage decision-makers such as CEOs, market intelligence professionals, and communications teams. With an ambitious vision of providing seamless access to quality information for 50 million users, Zaza plans to expand the platform's reach, enhance its features, and grow its ARR while benefiting publishers by driving incremental revenue.

What we can take away:
Zaza's journey underscores the importance of persistence, authenticity, and understanding your market deeply. His ability to adapt nicklpass's model—from crypto payments to bundled subscriptions—illustrates the power of pivoting based on customer feedback. Founders can learn from his emphasis on building long-term relationships and aligning with investors who share their vision, ensuring sustainable growth and impact.

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 Future of Work. Learn more at SeracVentures.vc.