Fundraising

1. The best early-stage financial model template Most financial templates are useless – either too generic or too complex. Creandum built the cleanest early-stage model template we’ve seen, and it reflects how VCs actually evaluate your business: growth drivers, retention logic, hiring plan, burn, and runway – all in the right structure. There’s no reason to […]

Published: December 2025 We created this due diligence checklist for one simple reason: most fundraising delays don’t occur during the pitch; they happen during due diligence.  Investors expect clean numbers, clear documents, and a consistent story, but most founders rarely have all of that ready when the term sheet arrives. This guide breaks down exactly […]

While some investors fear that the VC apocalypse is coming, others are betting that 2025 will keep the fire alive and bring a better tomorrow.  A lot to consider.  It’s surely true that 2025 will be a pivotal year for ventures globally. The main thing—the market enters a correction phase, and here’s what it means.  […]

A strong product-market fit and real user adoption—that’s what web3 startups must show to investors.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that you don’t need to worry about your team, business model, or pitch deck—you need to. This means that after the 2021 NFT/DeFi bubble with many scam projects and “rug pulls”, investors want to see […]

With the rise of AI, fundraising seems to be less scary for some startup founders. Before, they typically had two choices: do everything solo or shift all the nitty-gritty stuff to professionals. Now, startups seem to have the third option—to use AI in fundraising.  AI fundraising tools promise to automate and make fundraising easier and […]

“Are you in?” This question typically lies at the heart of each startup pitch. And, of course, founders expect to hear a desired “yes” from investors when they ask for funding.  But is this “yes” easy to get? Not quite, actually. But your chances are significantly higher if you: ✅ Have a cool solution that […]

If you keep pitching to venture partners expecting a direct funding decision, that’s a no-way-to-go. Why? Even if a venture partner seems interested in your startup, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get funding. Saying the final “yes or no” is the right of general partners, not venture partners.  Here, a logical question arises, “What is […]

If you type “market opportunity slide” in Google, you’re likely to get confused. Some articles have tons of market sizing templates with little to no explanation. Others teach you how to craft a TAM-SAM-SOM slide but label it as a market opportunity slide. The problem is that these two slides don’t mean the same thing.  […]

We work with a lot of cool founders who have great solutions, businesses, and pitch decks—yet they may still get rejected by investors. In many cases, it doesn’t matter how cool a company is. What really matters is whether this company matches with the investor’s investment thesis.  Both investors and founders may get confused about […]

Around 95% of founders get the ask slide wrong when crafting their pitch decks. It seems quite simple—just name the amount of money you want to raise, right? Yet, it’s almost universally a struggle to get this slide right.  Here, it’s not only about showing the amount you need—it’s about demonstrating how you’ll use that […]

“Okay, your product or service is cool and solves a big problem. But how does your business make money?” That’s typically one of the first questions that comes to investors’ minds when they see a startup pitch deck, and the sooner they get the answer, the better. Where do investors expect to find this answer? […]

What if you have a product but lack a clear strategy on how to win customers’ hearts? The answer is simple—you’ll fail to grow and scale your business.  Why? Because customers are the lifeblood of any business. At the end of the day, no business survives if it doesn’t generate demand and profit.  That’s why […]

There is competition, and there will always be.  Unless you haven’t researched your market well enough or your solution doesn’t address any serious problem, thus lacking demand. No matter how unique your business model or product is to your market, it doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Even if there’s no such solution yet, there are […]

If you’re looking for investors to fund your company, make sure you have a well-crafted strategy.  Investor outreach won’t go well without an effective plan. You must have an outreach list, contact details, a package of necessary materials, killer investor email templates, and lots of patience. It may be quite challenging to reach investors. You […]

One major reason businesses seek investment is to drive growth. With cash landed from investors, you can scale operations, enter new markets, develop new products, and hire top talent. But how to ask investors for money? Simply put, just ask. But you need to know how to present your ‘ask’ correctly—that is, knowing which investor […]

Although there’s still some stigma surrounding the psychedelic industry, more and more psychedelic venture capital firms are ready to open their wallets. In the first half of 2024, psychedelic startups got over $600M in funding.  The industry is gaining traction, slowly stepping out of the “vice” category. The fact that the psychedelic market is about […]

If fundraising feels like running in circles for you—meetings, revisions, and no traction—you may hire venture capital consultants. They’ll help you survive the fundraising process, ensuring you come out safe, sound, and with the desired amount of capital in hand.  Given the recent economic headwinds, longer fundraising cycles, and a valuation downcycle, the demand for […]

In the past decades, entertainment has gone high-tech, given the AI boom. With the growing demand for DTC, content creation tools, and more diversified customer behavior, the entertainment sector is set for steady growth. In Q1 2024, the funding for the entertainment, media, and gaming sectors has gone up by 58%, and entertainment venture capital […]