Seeking new equity, debt, or investor exits in 2023/24: Webinar Top 10 Takeaways

Last month we heard from a fantastic panel of speakers who took part in our webinar aimed at founders, entrepreneurs and management teams looking to raise capital or change capital structures in the next 12 months. 

Speakers included Ella Donegan (Goodwin), Hemal Fraser-Rawal (White Star Capital), Freddie Kalfayan, (Smedvig Capital), Mark Norbury, (Scenic Advisement), and Ruffena Capital’s Robin Rowland Hill. This was the first of a series of funding webinars we will be hosting over the coming months.

You can watch the full recording here. 

Here are our Top 10 Takeaways:  

1. The early stage market (Pre-seed, Seed, and Series A) is very competitive right now, getting a lot of focus, and having shown resilience in a difficult market
2. If you’re raising money or planning to, be prepared for a detailed and potentially long due diligence process! 
3. Reviewing and resetting your share preference stack can help to attract investment 
4. Raising debt alongside equity can benefit entrepreneurs, giving them extra time to find growth equity by increasing their cash flow runway
5. The era of “cheap money” is over;  inflation is more persistent than forecast, and higher interest rates have made capital more expensive. However, many commentators expect interest rates to reduce over the next couple of years
6. The market will continue to be choppy for businesses looking to raise equity or debt over the coming year, however private debt offers some unique advantages
7. The crises of the last few years have been the birthplace for some very interesting businesses. As the current market reset recedes, the best businesses will rise! 
8. This is a very strong market for secondary transactions although sellers should expect a strong discount to the market price to attract a buyer 
9. The fundraising outlook will continue to be challenging over the coming months, however we expect things to show slow improvement
10. Despite the challenges we will continue to see the more compelling businesses raising Seed, Series A, and Series B funding!

If you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss any of the fundraising options covered during this webinar and practical next steps for your business, please get in touch with the team at team@ruffena.com.