{"id":43749,"date":"2023-10-20T15:30:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/four-key-lessons-on-raising-capital-from-investorists-3-3-million-series-b-funding-round-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:30:52","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:30:52","slug":"four-key-lessons-on-raising-capital-from-investorists-3-3-million-series-b-funding-round-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/four-key-lessons-on-raising-capital-from-investorists-3-3-million-series-b-funding-round-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Four key lessons on raising capital from Investorist\u2019s $3.3 million Series B funding round – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
When it comes to raising capital, startup founders need to seriously consider whether it\u2019s the best approach and make the decision before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n
Investorist founder Jon Ellis says this is one of the many lessons he has learned after closing a $2.5 million Series A round in July 2015 and securing a further $3.3 million in a Series B round this month.<\/p>\n
With the latest round came new investors Andrew Sypkes, whose early-stage investments include Aconex, Canva and RedBubble, and Adam Clarke, who created bookarestaurant.com and sold it to the US-based Priceline Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we opened this round, we were looking for money and quality of investors who could take us through to Series C and IPO [initial public offering],\u201d Ellis tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n Ellis, who comes from a family of entrepreneurs and jumped into startup life after a former boss\u2019s aggressive reminder that someone else pays his wages, says Investorist initially bootstrapped the business before seeking external investment.<\/p>\n Read more: Investorist founder Jon Ellis reveals how he is growing his $2 million property business by 30% each quarter and expanding to the United States <\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n Today, Investorist has amassed over 5000 customers in 25 countries and more than $45 billion worth of property is listed on its platform.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re the world\u2019s only B2B off-the-plan property platform,\u201d Ellis says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re more than double our size, we are now in America and we\u2019re established in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n When a startup decides to raise capital, it\u2019s important to understand what investors are looking for, and Ellis says the Investorist team has learned a lot since their Series A round.<\/p>\n \u201cThis time round we had a real business that was really scaling, we really understand the customers\u2019 needs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still learning but we have our business model locked down [and] we have our direction locked down.\u201d<\/p>\n In this round, Ellis says one of the toughest questions investors asked was about what was not going well with the business.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are the key metrics that you look at every week and I want to see the bad ones,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a scale-up company, you\u2019ve got idea risk, market risk and global economic risk, and then you\u2019ve got execution risks.\u201d<\/p>\n Ellis says founders really need to show they have what it takes to address the \u201cstuff that isn\u2019t great\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is hard from a business owner\u2014and a person [whose] naturally tendency is marketing\u2014you kind of always want to show a glossy picture.\u201d<\/p>\nBe upfront about the stuff that isn\u2019t great<\/h3>\n
Raise for growth<\/h3>\n