Statistics continue to highlight the significant challenges to early-stage businesses securing investment in the current funding environment.

Figures recently published by Crunchbase revealed that worldwide venture capital funding declined by 53% in the first quarter of 2023.

In light of this, investors are even more razor focussed than ever in searching for the opportunities that stand out from the crowd, looking for founders and businesses with ‘must have’ attributes;

• Big idea
• Validation of investment case with traction or demand
• Scalability
• Strong management team
• Robust financials
• ESG
• Clear and realistic exit strategies

These are also the key attributes of our PACP clients and what our partners look for when working with founders and their businesses looking to secure funding to support growth.

There are still a huge number of exciting early-stage investment opportunities emerging across all sectors, and standing out from the crowd has never been more important to founders and investors.

We continue to be excited to present these opportunities to our investor community through our extensive networks and pitch events.

May Pitch Event Summary – Focus on Female Founders

We are proud to work with a number of female entrepreneurs across many sectors and were delighted to focus on this for our recent pitch event.

It’s encouraging to see a genuine focus on investing more in these talented founders who are creating innovative and rapidly growing early-stage businesses, despite statistics that remind us that funding for female founders remains incredibly challenging.

We were delighted with the feedback about the event and thank you for your support.

Here is a summary of the 3 businesses and investment opportunities that were presented – please contact the PACP partners indicated for further information.

PS Bridal (view website) is the first ever exclusive luxury bridal rental and resale platform, revolutionising the global wedding-wear market.

Since pre-launch, it’s already secured significant press exposure, including in Vogue and The New York Times, and is seeking funding to grow to take its MVP to market.

Stage: Early Growth
Raise: £250k SEIS/EIS eligible
Contact: greg@pa-capitalpartners.com

Messiah & Eve (view website) is defining a new genderless, face grade vegan category of fragranced body-skin care.

Winning Best New British Brand 2022 at The Beauty Awards, its product range is quickly gaining attention and outstanding reviews for quality and affordability. It’s now seeking funding to continue its omni-channel growth in the UK and to reach global markets.

Stage: Early Growth
Raise: £300k SEIS/EIS eligible
Contact: celia@pa-capitalpartners.com

Oliver’s Cupboard (view website) is baby food, BUT for every baby. A unique product range of diverse, halal baby food options in a global marketplace that is forecast to grow significantly.

The brand has been built to cater for all nationalities and ethnicities. It’s attracting a lot of attention and already launched in some major UK supermarkets. Funding would support next steps with launching in international markets, in particular the Middle East.

Stage: Early growth
Raise: £500k EIS eligible
Contact: greg@pa-capitalpartners.com

Spotlight on a Female Founder

Bertie Stringer

Founder & CEO of DNA – Dynamic Nutrition Academy

Bertie is a clinical nutritionist and experienced brand expert, leading a passionate commercial senior team at DNA (view website) – a pioneering nutrition company taking testosterone health mainstream across the globe.

With an engaging story of personal experience to global mission, Bertie and her team have created the world’s first range of natural supplements that focus uniquely on the vital role that testosterone plays in male and female health and wellness, a market that data shows is set to explode.

Bertie is seeking funding to bow take advantage of early entry in rapidly expanding markets to scale globally and eventually exit though one of multiple identified routes.

• Sector: Health and Wellbeing/FemTech
• Deal Stage: Early Growth
• Channel: D2C/B2B
• Raise:  £450k EIS approved (£50k confirmed)
• Contact: greg@pa-capitalpartners.com

Investor Events and Pitches Coming Up…

Wednesday June 14th @ 2pm – 3pm

PACP Online Pitch Event

We’ll be showcasing 3 investor ready businesses, with opportunities after each pitch to ask questions directly to the founders.

This will be the last pitch event before the summer break – we very much hope to see you there!

Please click here to register to attend.