Kike Oniwinde is a Forbes 30 under 30, World Economic Forum Shaper, and has won three national pitch competitions. Kike has been a high achiever since she was raised in East London, throwing the Javelin for GB whilst crushing her grades. In 2020, she raised £900,000 through crowdfunding for her business, BYP Network, a platform that empowers and connects black professionals to each other and to corporations. As a black female founder, Kike’s achievements haven’t come easy though, and she experienced push back from VCs making her feel like they “just didn’t want to invest”. However, Kike met Angels who believed in her venture and decided to get her community investing through a crowdfund.In this episode you’ll discover:How to set your valuation based on growth potentialHow to control timescales during your investment roundWhy you should take part in pitch competitions (even if you hate the idea!)

Fundraising Stories with Women Entrepreneurs

Kike Oniwinde, BYP Network - Valuing your true growth potential

Fundraising expert Julia Elliott Brown, the CEO of Enter The Arena talks with Tiffany Kelly, the founder of Beyond Bamboo.Tiffany has always been deeply passionate about the environment. She saw an opportunity for an online marketplace where consumers and businesses can source ethical and sustainable goods. This includes upcycled, restored and recycled as well as new products.Over two years in the making, Tiffany quickly realised that in order to grow, it was time to develop new technology and scale the team. With the goal of attracting an audience who normally purchases from Amazon, she knew how important it was to replicate the brand experience: from customer service to search to providing a seamless customer experience.Having had great success with a friends and family investment round, Tiffany shares some practical tips on approaching your pitch and the effortlessness of securing investment from investors with a shared passion. In this episode you’ll discover:How to pitch on your friends and family roundChallenging limiting beliefs and thinking bigTips for creating your pitch deck

Tiffany Kelly, Beyond Bamboo - Funding a passion-based business

Fundraising expert Julia Elliott Brown, the CEO of Enter The Arena talks with Kim Palmer, founder of Clementine.Amidst a sudden onset of panic attacks at work, Kim Palmer discovered the power of hypnotherapy as a game changer for staying calm. As a passive option for busy brains, hypnotherapy provides a relaxed and accessible way to find calm and change habits.Realising that she could help women worldwide, Kim achieved her long-held dream of building a business and launched Clementine in 2017, a hypnotherapy app to help achieve calm moments throughout the day.  After huge initial success, growth plateaued and Kim decided it was time to fundraise. Daunted by pitching, Kim set her own rules and approached pitches as conversations with the goal to find a good fit.What happened next was a huge call for any founder. This masterful manoeuvre has freed Kim up to use her strategic skills to stay ahead of what’s happening and get creative about the next phases of the business.In this episode you’ll discover:·     The resonance of building a product out of life experience  ·     Playing to your strengths and knowing when to engage help·     Taking charge of your pitchFor the full video interview, go to https://www.enterthearena.co.uk/e45-kim-palmer-clementine-knowing-when-to-bring-in-expert-help

Kim Palmer, Clementine - Knowing when to bring in expert help

Jess and Lou Alderson have tapped a fresh niche in the online dating market using Myers-Briggs personality profiling for a perfect match. They've taken their market by storm and in a short time, managed to raise over £700,000 in investment.Launching in January 2020, the sisters have gone from strength to strength despite the global pandemic. With the goal of building a marketable product as quickly as possible whilst they were still holding down full time jobs, Jess and Lou started with a 'friends-and-family' round. Then, with some early traction under their belt, they were ready to quit their jobs and undertake a more significant raise to launch a paid membership package and expand within the US market.With some big last minute hurdles including extreme money laundering checks, a disappearing investor payment and various unexpected hurdles, they managed to close their investment round on the very last day of the tax year.In this episode you’ll discover:The benefits of fundraising through friends and family for your starting roundDifferent questions from different investors – why you need to be prepared for varied points of interestThe importance of a lead investor to kick start your investment rounds 

E44. Jessica & Louella Alderson, SoSyncd - The importance of a lead investor

Fundraising expert Julia Elliott Brown, the CEO of Enter The Arena talks with Heinin Zhang, founder of YHangry.Heinin Zhang, Founder of YHangry, and her co-founder Siddhi Mittal recognised that people no longer entertain at home. In Heinin’s words “Millennials, as ‘Generation Convenience’, have killed the dinner party!” They established YHangry as a private chef service at an affordable price, offering an in-home complete service to take the hard work out of entertaining and have raised £1.1m of investment.Just as the business was taking off, the Pandemic hit. It would have been easy to admit defeat, how do you maintain a business with social gathering at the heart during lockdown? But Heinin and Siddhi pivoted quickly, recognising that eating and cooking were two remaining pleasures still possible during lockdown. They began virtual cooking classes and batch cooked delivery meals, cultivating their network of chefs while building their brand in the most unlikely time.As lockdown eased, the business began growing 40-70% month-on-month. Demand exploded and it became clear that the business needed to scale quickly. Heinin and Siddhi put together a very detailed plan to execute their fundraising goals, and it paid off with a raise of over £1M. In this episode you’ll discover…How to organise your fundraising like a military operationStrategies to find relevant investors rather than wasting time chasing all possibilitiesUsing KPIs to manage your investor CRM

KPI-based fundraising - Heinin Zhang, YHangry

Hele Väärsi raised money early on after founding 9Plus1, when she and her co-founder were still at the idea stage. Bravely seeking investment so early on, Hele strategically contacted VCs who she thought might have an interest in the product. This strategy proved successful as Hele secured investment from Voulez Capital in 2020, a specialist VC for female-founded businesses.In this episode, you'll discover…How to ensure you don’t waste time on VCs who won’t be a good fitStrategies for getting investors to connect with your product or serviceHow to answer prevention-based questions from investors effectively 

Answering preventive questions - Hele Väärsi, 9Plus

Anushi Desai started making snacks with popped lotus seeds as a side hustle whilst working as a management consultant at KPMG. She bravely handed in her notice with the “do it now or it might not happen” mentality and a sense of knowing it was time to do something else.Anushi and her co-founder self-funded to begin with, but as a product-based business, they needed investment early on. VCs offered them money - unusual for a young start-up - but they declined, as it didn’t feel like the right time.Anushi puts successful fundraising down to changing your internal narrative from ‘Asking for money’ to ‘Investors are welcome to join our journey. I’m offering them something of value’. Like many entrepreneurs, Anushi is always brimming with new ideas and gives tips on how to  commit to new things so your ideas are executed.  In this episode you’ll discover…How to discover what type of investment you needHow to change your internal fundraising narrative of ‘asking for money’Why you should say it out loud in order to commit to fundraising

Commit and take flight - Anushi Desai, Plant Pops

Pip brought her background in marketing and technology to the table whilst her co-founder, Kate, brought knowledge of psychology and family consulting. Their blend of skills were a perfect match for scaling the market changing business.Pip is an angel investor herself so had insider knowledge of how investors operate and what they look for. She reached out to those known to have an interest in companies impacting the world. After an SEIS friends and family round plus their first angel round, Pip and the team were preparing for the next angel funding round when they ended up in the high court! Court turned out to be a positive, cementing the business’ potential and Amicable raised investment during 2020, bringing the total to £1m. In this episode you’ll discover…Why the blend of skills between co-founders matters so muchHow to use angel investors’ different interests to your advantageThe significance of timing in your investment funding round

Timing is everything - Pip Wilson, Amicable

After growing the business organically for the first few years, Jennifer found an angel investor who not only invested money into Stitch & Story but mentored Jennifer and supported her to raise further investment rounds.In 2020, to help fast-track growth, Jennifer went on the hunt for venture capital investment, and made sure she did her due diligence on potential investors to get the right fit. Through all of this, Jennifer learnt to master her limiting beliefs, and nail the balance of building a start-up along with parenting and family commitments.In this episode you’ll learn:How investors can help you grow your mindsetWhy it’s important to conduct your own due diligence on investorsHow to recognise when your limiting beliefs might be holding you back

Due diligence on investors - Jennifer Lam, Stitch & Story

Ashleigh founded Bagboard as one of three co-founders who had never raised or run a business before. They initially funded it pre-launch through a ‘friends and family’ round of £500K, before raising £600K via crowdfunding in 2020. But the investment journey wasn’t easy. At the start of their crowdfunding campaign, they just weren’t getting the response they needed from investors. Why? Because their narrative simply wasn’t resonating. Ashleigh also found there were some differences in how investors treated her male co-founders, compared to how they treated her as a female founder, and wanted to face up the challenge.In this episode you’ll discover…Why it’s important to understand what investors are looking forWhen it’s okay to react and respond to investor feedbackHow scrutiny can be a positive thing

Nailing your investor narrative - Ashleigh Bishop, Bagboard

Mamamade was born in March 2019 and Sophie bootstrapped the business for around a year. Instagram was incredibly powerful in getting the word out and growing the start-up organically. Sophie didn’t let “perfection be the enemy” - brilliant advice from her husband to just get the product out there and refine afterwards.In 2020, at the start of lockdown, Sophie started raising investment via angels, meeting them online via Zoom calls. They raised £300K and the virtual experience was positive; with Sophie wondering, “how many meetings would we have had in person to get it over the line?”. Sophie had thought about seeking external investment since she started the business, but now thinks it’s wise to wait until the business is at the right point and you have happy customers on board.In this episode you’ll discover:Why you shouldn’t let perfection be the enemyWhat it’s like to raise investment virtuallyHow you’ll know the time is right to seek investment 

Don’t let perfection be the enemy - Sophie Baron, Mamamade

In 2020, Nicki raised over £150,000 of investment via crowdfunding to help her rocket fuel the growth of the brand, and she did it right in the middle of lockdown! Crowdfunding certainly isn’t a quick fix; it can be just as time-consuming as the traditional investment round, although it often happens faster. Nicki managed to juggle motherhood, run her business and raise investment all in tandem by getting super structured with her time.The exposure from crowdfunding can feel scary, and even more so when you’re raising investment during a pandemic, but Nicki pushed her fear to one side and kept positive by focusing on her ‘Why’; there’s a lot to be learned from her approach! In this episode you’ll discover…How to raise investment during a lockdownHow to manage feeling exposed when crowdfundingHow to juggle responsibilities and stay focused 

Raising during a pandemic - Nicki Philips, Niix

Patricia and Randa met through a local Facebook group, showing how it’s possible to find business partners in unlikely places. They attempted a first round of investment early which didn’t work out because of the common investor feedback “We need to see traction”. They bootstrapped for some time, building the product and getting several retail customers onboard.After multiple successful rounds totalling £300k, Patricia learnt that being pregnant whilst raising investment is possible and it’s best to address the elephant in the room transparently. She also learnt that it’s not just about money when it comes to finding the right investors; there are other factors.In this episode you’ll discover...Why it’s best to address the elephant in the roomWhat investors bring beyond moneyWhy you always need a plan B

Investment: It’s not all about the money - Patricia Salume, VeeLoop

Catherine started the business with her own savings initially, then got a start-up loan from Virgin which was useful, not only for the cash but for the help they gave her with the business strategy. Some entrepreneurs feel nervous about taking on debt, but Catherine believes in being relentlessly optimist.Before the cycling helmet launched, Catherine received a £150K investment from Angel investors from her extended network. Dashel qualified for SEIS, a scheme making it tax efficient to invest in start-ups. Catherine highly recommends using this as investors will get an added incentive to invest.Some investors suggested that Catherine may have undervalued the company and was asking for too little investment. The decision to go big fast, or take it slow can be difficult, but Catherine is happy that she chose to grow slowly.In this episode you’ll discover…Why the start-up loan should be on your list of optionsThe benefits of SEIS to you and investorsHow to make a balanced decision on valuation and investment amount

Go big fast or take it slow? - Catherine Bedford, Dashel

 In 2017, from her parent’s home in Nottingham, Claire self funded the business and over two years grew her customer base. At that point, it was time to raise pre-seed equity investment via crowdfunding, totalling £85,000.Before Claire went through the crowdfunding process, she didn’t feel confident in herself. After going through the stringent checks Seedrs perform, Claire realised Laza Flora was a very credible business.Summer 2020 was to be the big investment round for Lazy Flora, but that soon changed when Covid hit. Thankfully, there’s been an enormous demand for their urban garden plans as more people spend time at home. Whilst the fundraise didn’t happen, Lazy Flora has grown significantly.Claire recommends networking with other female founders to hear similar stories from others further down the road, to feel more accepted and normal as an entrepreneur.In this episode you’ll discover…How crowdfunding can improve your confidenceHow it feels to manage intense and unexpected growthWhy you can learn from and network with other female founders

Can crowdfunding give you confidence? - Claire Ransom, Lazy Flora

Inspirational interviews with female entrepreneurs sharing their honest stories on equity fundraising – the highs, the lows, the challenges… and top tips for how to be successful. Fundraising Stories is hosted by Julia Elliott Brown, CEO and Founder of Enter The Arena, serial entrepreneur and equity fundraising expert. Enter The Arena provides specialist one-to-one coaching for women entrepreneurs to enable you to raise finance, scale your business, achieve outstanding growth and and build long term value in your business

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Fundraising Stories with Women Entrepreneurs

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