Early Stage VC Funds: A Deep Dive
Following up on our recent overview of investor types, today we examine early stage VC funds. Understanding how early stage funds operate and how to approach them can significantly impact your fundraising success. Understanding Early Stage Funds Early stage funds operate primarily in pre-seed and seed stages. In markets like the UK, tax breaks make […]
Friends and Family Investors: A Deep Dive
Following up on our recent overview of investor types, today we examine friends and family investors. Friends and family often represent entrepreneurs’ first source of funding. These investors occupy a unique position in the startup ecosystem, offering distinct advantages and important considerations. Understanding Friends and Family Investors Friends and family investors are typically not professional […]
Angel Investors: A Deep Dive
Following up on our recent overview of investor types, today we examine Angel investors. For founders looking to scale with professional investment, Angels represent a crucial funding source combining capital with expertise and industry connections. Who Are Angel Investors Angels typically include high net worth individuals, successful entrepreneurs who have exited their companies, and wealthy […]
Using Emerging Company Intent Data to Improve Business Retention and Expansion
How Economic Development Organisations can identify and support growing businesses at the right time About shipshape.vc shipshape.vc is an investment search engine that helps entrepreneurs identify relevant investors for their companies. The platform enables founders to search for funds and investors globally based on their specific domain. This potentially reduces research time that might otherwise […]
Investor Types: A Brief Guide for Founders
Why Understanding Investor Types Matters for Startup Success Understanding the different types of investors is crucial for startup founders navigating their funding journey. Each type brings different characteristics, expectations, and value propositions that founders need to carefully consider. Here’s our guide to some of the investor types you are most likely to encounter as a […]
What Does a Lead Investor Do? And Why Are They Important?
What does a lead investor do? A lead investor is the primary investor in a funding round who takes responsibility for due diligence and coordinates the investment process. They act as an umbrella for other investors, leveraging their expertise to help de-risk the opportunity and provide confidence to follow-on participants. When do lead investors get […]
Why VCs Should Help Founders—Even When Saying No
How a VC Says No Matters Venture capital is mostly a business of saying no. For every investment, there are hundreds of rejections, communicated or not. Given Venture is a business of finding outliers, this is inevitable. But how a VC says no matters—and most are leaving value on the table by doing the bare […]
UK Companies Planning US Expansion: What is Our Data Showing?
Where do we get our data? When companies use shipshape.vc, our free to use investment search engine, they tell us about their company growth plans. This means that they can find investors interested in their domain for free, and shipshape.vc gains valuable insights into emerging technology companies. We took a closer look at what our […]
Fundraising? Why You Should Optimise Quality Outreach
Fundraising? Here’s why you should optimise Quality Outreach Over Quantity If you’re a founder looking for investment, you have a dilemma. How much time to invest in identifying and building connections with investors, or to invest in immediate business traction. Daniel Sawko, co-founder of shipshape.vc, the free to use investment search engine, shares his tips […]
Deep Tech in South West England: Key Insights from Our Latest Data
Where do we get our data? When companies use shipshape.vc, our free to use investment search engine, they tell us about their company growth plans. This means that they can find investors interested in their domain for free, and shipshape.vc gains valuable insights into emerging technology companies. Deeptech in the South West is a particularly […]