Besample: $1.5M raised from 24 investors in 3 rounds

Raised $1.5M from 24 investors in 3 rounds for Besample, a research participants marketplace. Female-led team of 4 co-founders. Elena, PhD in social psychology and lead communications for university, bigtech and an AI startup; Tamila, built a marketplace for digital nomads; Rina, built a chain of escape quests; Ivan, founded several companies in TravelTech and Manufacturing. 3 investment rounds: The 1-st one $220k Friends & family round; $150k from 2 accelerator including Techstars; And $1.1M from a VC fund and 3 angels. • Funnel Investors reached: 900 1-st meetings: 55 (6%) 2-nd meetings: 6 (0.6%) DD: 2 (0.2%) TS: 1 (0.1%) Check size range: $1M from a VC fund and $100k from 3 angels • Pipeline Techstars network Personal network (worked best) Cold outreach • Timeline (7 months) Graduated from Techstars: May 2024 Investor calls: June-August 2024 TS received: October 2024 Money in the bank: December 2024 • Runway 7 months • Pitch Deck & Data Room The VC fund that invested didn’t even look at the pitch deck Pitch Deck link: https://shorturl.at/FqG54 • Rejection reason Don’t understand the segment • Metrics Revenue at the end of fundraising: $100k annual GMV • Top fundraising tips: Join accelerators, they provide capital, advisory support, and a community Leverage your personal network Your clients can also become investors Bootstrap, if possible • If you had to raise again from scratch, what would you do differently? “I would spend more time talking to customers, not investors” • Fundraising mistakes Investor feedback is not an evaluation of your business