01
13/20
Financial readiness
Revenue is meaningful, but the model needs stronger linked assumptions, scenario logic, and margin evidence.
RaiseReady sample report
A boardroom-grade view of investor readiness.
This preview shows how a founder receives the diagnostic result: a conservative score, the issues investors will probe, capital routes that fit the current evidence, and the 90-day work needed before serious outreach.
Executive read
The raise is credible, but not yet clean enough.
A serious investor would likely engage with the market opportunity and customer proof, then slow down around revenue concentration, valuation support, and whether diligence material can be produced quickly.
The right next step is a focused preparation sprint: rebuild the forecast around evidence, document pipeline quality, clean up governance records, and translate the capital ask into measurable milestones.
Recommended timeline
45-75 days
Spend the first month on financial model discipline, data-room cleanup, and a sharper use-of-funds bridge before formal outreach begins.
5
Readiness dimensions
3
Critical red flags
3
Capital route matches
90
Day action plan
Score anatomy
Five dimensions investors will test.
The score is deliberately conservative. It rewards evidence that can survive diligence and penalises claims that still depend on verbal confidence.
02
12/20
Governance
Core structure exists, but the cap table, client contracts, tax status, and IP records need a clean diligence file.
03
15/20
Traction
Demand is credible. Retention, sales conversion, and reachable market size need to be translated into funder language.
04
14/20
Team
Founder-market fit is strong, but investor-ready profiles and reduced key-person dependency would strengthen the case.
05
14/20
Investment readiness
The ask is plausible. Valuation logic, return case, and use-of-funds milestones need sharper evidence.
Investor scrutiny
What investors will find first.
A strong report is not polite wallpaper. It names the points that will slow a raise down and turns them into specific preparation work.
High priority
Traction quality
Customer concentration risk
If one customer drives too much revenue, investors will discount the quality of traction and ask whether growth is repeatable.
Fix: Add a customer concentration schedule, renewal status, and pipeline evidence showing how the revenue base diversifies over the next 12 months.
High priority
Negotiation risk
Valuation without enough support
A valuation that is not tied to market evidence, revenue quality, or milestone logic can weaken the negotiation before the model is reviewed.
Fix: Build a valuation bridge using revenue multiples, dilution sensitivity, runway needs, and milestone-based capital deployment.
Process risk
Diligence
Data room not yet investor-ready
Slow or incomplete diligence creates friction and can make the business look less prepared than it is.
Fix: Prepare a clean folder structure covering corporate records, tax, contracts, IP, financials, cap table, pipeline, and key operating metrics.
Investor fit
The most credible capital routes right now.
The report separates realistic investor routes from nice-sounding distractions, then explains what each funder type will need to see.
Moderate to strong fit
Near-term route
Early-stage venture or angel syndicate
These investors will focus on market urgency, founder-market fit, revenue growth, repeatability, and whether the capital can create a clear step-change in traction.
Approach note: Tighten the model and deck before asking for terms. Lead with retention, pipeline evidence, and use-of-funds milestones.
Moderate fit
Strategic route
Strategic or corporate investor
Strategic investors will look for distribution fit, product adjacency, customer proof, and whether the partnership creates commercial leverage beyond money.
Approach note: This route becomes stronger once the company can show pipeline conversion and a defensible commercial wedge.
Not yet
Documentation-heavy route
Development finance or impact-linked capital
These funders will require stronger governance, compliance, job or impact metrics, and heavier documentation than the company currently appears ready to support.
Approach note: Revisit later if the business can evidence development impact and prepare a more complete compliance pack.
Preparation plan
The 90-day RaiseReady action plan.
The plan prioritises work that changes investor confidence, not cosmetic polish. Each item should make outreach cleaner, faster, or more defensible.
Rebuild the financial model
Create a linked forecast with revenue drivers, gross margin, headcount, runway, downside case, and use-of-funds milestones.
Prepare the diligence data room
Centralise CIPC documents, SARS status, shareholder records, IP assignments, client contracts, financials, cap table, and pipeline support.
Sharpen the investor narrative
Rewrite the deck around the problem, customer urgency, competitive wedge, traction quality, capital ask, and investor return logic.
Map the investor universe
Separate likely angels, early-stage funds, strategic investors, and non-fit capital providers before outreach begins.
Advisory Pack
Turn the diagnostic into an investor preparation sprint.
A real qualifying report unlocks the R1,999 Raise Advisory Pack: investor shortlist, 45-minute strategy call, and pitch deck quick-review with written feedback.