Before GMAV, I'd been trying to raise for 8 months. Within 6 weeks of working with them we had three term sheets. The difference wasn't our business. Our business was the same. The difference was how we were presenting it and who we were presenting it to.
Startup Fundraising
We Help Founders
Raise Faster.
A clear guide to fundraising for Indian startups, and how we run your raise from first conversation to closed round.
Debt vs Equity
Pick the Right
Type of Capital.
Before talking to investors, decide what kind of capital you actually need. This one choice shapes who you raise from, how much you give up, and what you commit to.
Equity
Pick equity if
- You're growing fast and need capital before revenue catches up.
- Operator investors, networks, and follow-on capacity matter more than ownership.
- You're playing for a large outcome where dilution today buys a bigger pie later.
Debt
Pick debt if
- You have predictable cash flow that comfortably covers repayment.
- You want capital without giving up board seats or ownership.
- You're bridging between equity rounds or funding capex with collateral.
Quick check
Should you raise equity or debt? 3 questions
01
Do you have predictable, recurring monthly revenue?
02
Comfortable giving up equity to scale faster?
03
Raising a large round to scale aggressively?
Most growth-stage companies use both: equity for scale, debt for non-dilutive runway.
Ways to Raise
Five Ways Startups
Raise Money.
Each source has a different investor, ticket size, and timeline. Picking the right one for your stage matters as much as the raise itself.
01
Friends & Family
First money in. Personal trust, no metrics required. Funds MVP and earliest operations. Cheapest dilution you will take.
02
Angel Investors
Operators investing own capital. Bring domain expertise, customer intros, hiring networks. Move faster than VCs.
03
Venture Capitalists
Professional funds with defined mandates. Significant capital, brand, board seat. Need 10-100x returns.
04
Microloans & Govt Schemes
Subsidised capital: Startup India Seed Fund, SIDBI, Mudra. Lower rates, reduced collateral. Slow, eligibility-restricted.
05
Banks & Alt Lending
NBFCs, venture debt (Trifecta, Alteria, InnoVen), revenue-based financing (Recur Club, Velocity). Runs alongside equity without dilution.
How We Help
We Help at Every
Stage of Your Raise.
From the first readiness check to the wire transfer. Hire us for the full journey, or only for the stages where you need help.
Pre-Readiness Diagnostic
A rigorous readiness check before a single message goes out. Cap table, financials, narrative, unit economics, governance, anything investors would flag in diligence. We find it first and fix it before it costs you a deal.
Pitch Document Creation
Pitch deck, financial model, one-pager, data room, investor Q&A, information memorandum. Built by our team, investor-grade from day one. New from scratch or upgrade what you already have to market standard.
Cold Omnichannel Outreach
When the warm list runs out, we run structured cold campaigns across email, LinkedIn, and founder networks. Sequenced, tracked, and personalised at scale. Reach the investors a warm network alone cannot touch.
Direct Warm Intros
Curated introductions to investors with active mandates, sector fit, and direct relationships with our team. Briefed, contextualised, and primed to convert. Warm intros close at 20-40x the rate of cold outreach.
Term Sheet Negotiation
Term-by-term review of every clause: valuation, liquidation preference, anti-dilution, board composition, protective provisions, vesting. We negotiate alongside you, push back on punishing terms, and explain what you can and cannot trade.
Round Closure & C-Level Advisory
Diligence coordination, SHA/SPA review, conditions precedent, wire-transfer tracking, and post-close strategic advice. Deals break down between term sheet and close: we prevent it, and stay on call after the round to support C-level decisions.
Our Process
How We Work
With You.
The same five-step flow we follow on every raise. We move forward only when each step is solid, and engage only on the parts where you need us.
01
Pre-Readiness Check
Every engagement opens with a readiness check across business model, financials, cap table, governance, and narrative. If you are already investor-ready, we move straight to Step 2. If gaps surface, we spend a few weeks alongside you fixing them before any outreach begins.
- Readiness diagnostic across 8 investor-evaluation dimensions
- Prioritised gap list, with the few weeks of remediation work scoped if needed
- Engagement model: one-time fixed fee
02
Pitch Documents Review
We review your pitch deck and financial model against current market standard. If everything is solid, we move forward as-is. If not, we build or rebuild the documents to investor-grade: pitch deck, one-pager, information memorandum, and financial model.
- Slide-by-slide critique of existing deck and model
- Full rebuild or sharpening pass, depending on what is needed
- Engagement model: one-time fixed fee
03
Mandate-Match Intros
We scan our investor network for active mandates that match your sector, stage, and ticket size. Where there is a clear match, we make direct warm introductions, briefed and contextualised. If our network does not have the right match, we move to Step 4.
- Investor mandate match against your specific raise profile
- Direct warm introductions with briefing notes
- Engagement model: success fee, payable on close
04
Omnichannel Targeted Outreach
When the network match is not enough, we launch a structured outreach program across email, LinkedIn, and partner networks. Investors are researched, sequenced, and personalised. Meetings are tracked and pipeline is reviewed weekly until enough conversations are live.
- Mandate-matched investor list, sequenced campaign across 3+ channels
- Investor meetings booked, prep notes provided, follow-ups managed
- Engagement model: monthly retainer
05
Negotiation Support & Term Sheet Closure
Once a term sheet lands, we sit on every clause: valuation, liquidation preference, anti-dilution, board, protective provisions, vesting, option pool. We negotiate alongside you, coordinate diligence, and stay through SHA/SPA, conditions precedent, and wire transfer.
- Term-by-term review and negotiation strategy
- Diligence coordination, SHA/SPA review, conditions-precedent tracking
- Engagement model: hourly-based or fixed fee
Recently Served
Founders Across
Stages and Sectors.
A snapshot of companies we've worked with. From early-stage builders to growth-stage scale-ups.
SaaS
Research & Sustainability
Pharmaceuticals
Service Marketplace
DeepTech
Hospitality
F&B
Web3
Healthcare
eCommerce
Research & SustainabilitySaaSResearch & SustainabilityPharmaceuticalsService MarketplaceDeepTechHospitalityF&BWeb3HealthcareeCommerceResearch & SustainabilityFAQ
Common Questions,
Answered.
The questions founders ask most in the first call, before deciding whether to work with us or go it alone.
How long does a fundraise actually take? +−
Audit to term sheet: 8-14 weeks. Full close adds 3-6 weeks. Seed rounds: 4-8 weeks. Series A-B: 10-16 weeks. Assumes readiness before outreach.
What do I need in place before starting a fundraise? +−
Clear business model, 12+ months financial history, CA-certified P&L, clean cap table, market validation. Seed: founder credibility. Series A+: unit economics. Readiness assessment is step one of every engagement.
Do you work with pre-revenue companies? +−
Yes, selectively. Need a moat, deep domain expertise, distribution advantage, or strong early traction. No credible case: we tell you which milestones to hit first.
Equity or debt: which is right for my stage? +−
Pre-revenue: equity. $60K+ MRR: venture debt viable. Profitable: traditional debt. We cover this in the readiness assessment and structure accordingly.
Are your investor introductions actually warm? +−
Direct existing relationships only. Every investor briefed on your company before the intro. No blasts, no automation, no cold databases.
Which sectors do you have the deepest investor access in? +−
Strongest networks: SaaS/B2B, D2C, Fintech, Healthcare. Active in EdTech and Climate/Deeptech. Network spans Seed through Series C across India.
What if I'm not ready to raise yet? +−
We tell you, with a 3-5 item gap list. Fix in 4 weeks, close in 10, instead of grinding 6 painful months. Significant gaps: milestone-based re-engagement.
How are you different from an accelerator? +−
Accelerators take 5-8% equity, do cohorts, intro to demo day attendees. We're dedicated advisory: no equity, no cohort, targeted intros only. Better for Seed+ with product and early revenue.
Can I hire you for just one stage, or do I have to commit to the full process? +−
Modular by design. Engage us for the full journey, or pull us in on a single stage: a readiness audit, a pitch-doc build, an outreach campaign, term-sheet negotiation, or close coordination. Scope is sized to what you need.
Can you upgrade my existing pitch deck, or does it have to be built from scratch? +−
Both. If your deck is close to investor-grade, we run a sharpening pass: narrative tightening, slide-by-slide critique, structural reordering, and benchmark against current market standard. If it is not close, we rebuild. Same for financial model, one-pager, and data room.
What does cold omnichannel outreach look like and does it actually work? +−
Sequenced campaigns across email, LinkedIn, and founder networks. Each investor researched, every message personalised, response tracked. Warm intros convert higher per touch, but cold campaigns expand reach by 5-10x and surface investors no warm network can reach. We typically run both in parallel.
Do you help with term-sheet negotiation, or do I need a separate lawyer? +−
We negotiate the commercial terms alongside you: valuation, liquidation preference, anti-dilution, board, protective provisions, vesting, option pool. We do not replace a corporate lawyer for legal drafting and FEMA/RBI compliance, but we coordinate with your counsel and translate every clause into plain English so you know what you are signing.
What support do you provide after the round closes? +−
C-level advisory on request: post-close investor communication, board prep, KPI reporting cadence, next-round strategy, and bridge financing if runway tightens. Available as an ongoing engagement or ad-hoc.
Testimonials
What Founders Say
About Working With Us.
For Founders
Ready to Start
Your Raise?
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. We map your investor profile, score your readiness, and show you exactly how a GMAV engagement works for your stage. No pitch, no pressure.