A seed-stage liquid biopsy diagnostics company with a novel biomarker platform and a founding team out of an academic lab. The science was differentiated. The raise was not going well.
Two problems, both common and both fatal if left alone. The story spanned diagnostics and a longevity thesis, which meant every investor conversation started with the investor trying to work out which company they were being pitched. And the raise had been sized to the ambition rather than to a milestone — a number that required believing the whole roadmap rather than the next eighteen months of it.
A 103-item diligence tracker across twelve sections, with a companion guide setting the evidence standard expected at this stage for each item — so the founders could see the gap between what they had and what a seed investor would ask for.
A consolidation memo reducing that inventory to the small number of items that were actually blocking.
Support through narrowing the deck to the diagnostics thesis alone, and prioritising a single lead indication.
A resized raise, sized to a defined milestone rather than to the roadmap.
An investor FAQ mapped item by item to the data room, so every anticipated question had a document behind it before it was asked.
The raise is in market against a narrowed thesis and a completed diligence pack.
Most seed rounds that stall aren't underpriced. They're under-specified. Narrowing the ask is usually the fastest way to make it fundable.
Last reviewed August 2026
Consolidating a cross-jurisdiction group ahead of a pilot plant equity raise
Equity raise financial model and group financial preparation for a pilot coated spherical graphite processing plant with associated upstream mining operations
USD 45,000,000
pre-money valuation
Rebuilding the finance function underneath a Series A extension
Equity round with a parallel non-dilutive debt workstream
Finding the cash wall the growth model concealed
Pre-raise financial review — identified a projected cash shortfall in the out-year driven by regulatory spend, receivables build and instrument capex stacking in one period
Tell us the transaction and the timetable. If it is not something we should run, we will say so.