Financing and Growth Strategies for Start-ups

 On behalf of the Research Foundation of Cyprus and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Navigator is holding a 1-day training on financing and growth strategies for start-ups in Cyprus.

The objective of the training is to understand common industry practice for (a) attracting external financing of start-ups and (b) modelling and preparing for growth. These two issues are closely related, as investors want to understand how a start-up will evolve and what chances of success exist for a return on investment.

The training curriculum includes the following subjects:

1. Financing Options and Methods for Start-ups and Scale-ups

• Understanding the growth cycle: pre-launch; pre-revenue; growth
• Review of different investor types: FFF; angels; VC; PE; banks; EU funding; IPOs
• Investment criteria and expectations by investor type

2. Business Modelling and Financial Planning

• Developing a dynamic financial and operating model
• Assumptions; Workings; Profit/Loss; Capital Expenditure; Valuation Models
• Sales and revenue modelling; sales funnel optimization; non-revenue growth
• Expenditure modelling
• Capital expenditure and use of funds by start-ups
• Profit/loss model
• Key financial indicators, including NPV, IRR, start-up valuation
• Key operating indicators, including cash burn rate, runway, customer acquisition costs, active users, churn, etc.

3. Pitching and Term Sheets

• Know what to ask for: Use of funds; Fund release and disbursement mechanisms
• Preparing for and implementing investor due diligence
• Structuring a term sheet: common investors requests and terms
• Pre- and post-money valuation
• Dealing with equity dilution in the first and subsequent funding rounds
• Structuring a board of directors and start-up governance post-investment

4. Achieving Product Market Fit

• Development and launch cycles
• Customer feedback: UX / UI / CEM
• Service delivery and fulfilment issues
• Achieving customer share, customer engagement, segment/market share
• Pricing models and methods

5. Scaling up and Growth

• Selling methods and contracting, focusing on B2B and B2C
• Growth hacking and online growth methods
• Users and user management
• Revenue and conversion models
• Sales funnel optimisation
• Marketing, Selling & Public Relations
• Scaling up: Engineering, Orga, Customer Service, Contracting, Staffing

The training session is open only to innovative start-ups that have already been screened by the Research Foundation.

For further information, please contact us.