The French company Éléments recently secured a
- €62 million equity investment,
- €32 million debt facility, and
- €23 million growth capital.
How did they manage? Through a Series B investment.
What is Series B investment?
It’s the funding available to companies after Initial capital and Serie A.
It generally includes private equity investors and venture capitalists. It tends to have less risk associated with it versus Series A financing.
The funds raised in a Series B round are typically used to finance the company’s growth, such as expanding operations, hiring personnel, and acquiring competitors.
The amount of funds sought in a Series B round is generally higher, ranging from several million to tens of millions of euros or dollars.
How can you collect it?
You need to reach specific milestones and raise trust in your company and its ability to face change and mitigate risk.
Here are some actionable tips to meet them. You will need:
⭐ A well-established product
Prove how well your services fit the market. Your sales KPIs for the past 3 years should be convincing enough.
⭐ A proven growth potential
Use metrics such as user acquisition, retention, and revenue growth to convince investors. Provide a detailed market assessment to highlight the expected ROI for your investors.
⭐ A clear path to profitability
Build a reliable and scalable revenue model, including customer acquisition costs, lifetime value, and specific key financial metrics.
⭐ An experienced team
You should be capable of managing the expected growth of your company in case you get the funding. Prepare a track record of execution and your HR plan.
⭐ The ability to grow
Besides the growth potential of your product, you need to prove that you are indeed able to capture a significant and credible market share. Explain the tools, plans and processes that serve this purpose.
⭐ A future-ready positioning
Present your intellectual property, proprietary technology, or unique insights. Talk about ongoing developments, strategies and patents. Share results and differentiation strategies.
⭐ Use of the funds
Provide a transparent explanation of how the funds will be used. Present your detailed projection of your company’s growth and to which milestones you plan to affect the funding.
3 Bonus tips to go beyond basics
The Series B funding generally ranges from 4 billion euros to 250 billion euros. Make sure you get more out of your work by exceeding the expectations of your investors.
Here are 3 ways to rock your presentation:
Bonus 1
Build trust by using any previous Pre-seed or Series A funding you have secured. Present the achieved milestones, lessons learnd and projections.
Bonus 2
Reinforce trust by presenting a solid risk mitigation plan for the next 10 years.
Bonus 3
Seal the deal by showing that you have a strong network with strategic partnerships to accelerate and secure your growth.
Where do I find them?
Those providential investors don’t grow on trees for you to pick from. You need to get where they are and work hard to convince them. But it’s worth it!
Leveraging your network through word-of-mouth strategies is always best to access these investors. You need to build trust in your company, not only through numbers and facts but also with your knowledge of the market structure and its specific expectations.
Barring that option, you can also explore these options:
All these tips apply to any market in Europe and to any sector, including the French market.
However, French people, and therefore also French investors, have quite specific expectations and a different mindset. They don’t look at a business plan exactly the same way as German and Spanish investors.
And of course, the Green Energy space is quite distinctive: While global warming policies are pushing sustainable solutions forward, the related administration is still a challenge.
We can help you achieve any of these steps, by advising, training your teams or taking over the whole process.
Curious? Check out our options here.
