Marie Eloy was attended by 1.3 million euros for the second round of his business Moves your box. She tells the endurance test that is the raising of funds.
Before engaging in a fundraiser, it is imperative to question the relevance of this choice which requires endurance and perseverance.
For my company, Move your Box, network referral business, I had to take it this way, because our economic model is based on the revenue generated by the membership. Gold, in us, these are two to three times less expensive than in the networks business mixed, so we need to raise funds before achieving the profitability expected.
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The first round table, in the amount of 400 000 euros, has been formed, as so often, the “love money”, that is to say, money that comes from my circle of knowledge, in this case, three entrepreneurs incredible that were already part of the committee’s strategic Moves your Box : Guillaume Richard, chairman of O2, Gonzague de Blignières, co-founder of Raise and Frédéric Lescure, the patron saint of Socomore. I met them each before Moving your Box and I had talked about since the beginning of this project. Once the company is created, I proposed to join the strategic committee. Their participation in the capital was decisive for the future. By believing in us, taking the risk to support us, we were simply allowed to continue the adventure and I will always be eternally grateful.
at the end of this first round table, we had six months to implement the proof of concept (POC) : to show that what we had drawn in the forecast was the road and that we were able to achieve in reality. We have defined a set of key indicators together and each week we informed our shareholders advances : cash, membership… Six months later, the POC was validated by the strategic committee. Everything that we had said, we made it, with of course a hard work and a lot of audacity. We could therefore proceed to the next step : a fund raising of € 1.3 million.
Dive into a world unknown
The constitution of this second round table is proving to be an adventure very different. It is a dive in a new world that is foreign to me and which I do not know the codes.
Our first job is to carry out an “on deck” : a presentation of Moving your Box to be sent to the investors : what is the problem ? Why Move your Box is the solution ? What is the market ? The economic model ? The key figures ? The profitability ? The impact of that ? Competitors ?
With Geraldine Cloërec, director of operations at Move your Box, we’ve refined over many weeks on this presentation as well as a projected five years. To be sure of our numbers, so that they are as realistic and consistent as possible, and then to choose the arguments the most powerful.
After you have tested this presentation on around us and among stockholders, you have to get started in the great bath : the send to potential future investors. Rizvan Rajani, then at SNCF development, gives me contacts and made me discover the site tilkee. By putting his presentation online on this site, send a link to the custom access to investment funds and business angels and we are warned of each playback deck. Feel dizzy to each notification. I can know exactly who has looked at, how long, what pages, how many seconds on every page…
I send to all of the funds that we would recommend or that I found on the web. Sometimes, I get an email saying that our case is very interesting, but that this does not correspond to their investment line. The link has not often been opened.
I send emails, I call, I try. I cash the refusal. I have the impression of being in front of a wall. Yet all of our signals are green, our activity is in line with our estimates and continues to grow. I put all my energy, and the team also, in the operations, since it is necessary that in parallel the development will continue and remain in conformity with the forecast.
” I hold meetings with our partners and with the members of the strategic committee in order to better understand how the investment world works and they too can talk around them in our company. I pick up my first appointment. The spiral begins to turn over.
In six months, on the phone or in person, in 1 minute or in 1 hour, I’m going to pitcher… more than a hundred times !
This is not the quality of the pitch that is in question. A fund raising process is inherently laborious. It is all the more so when it is not in the Tech pure, but in an activity that combines the human and the technological as Moving your Box. And even more when the company is headed by a woman.
What I remember
1. Demystify the vocabulary . The anglicism is very common : “Term sheets, due dil’, the rate of churn, closing, smart equity, post-money, etc” It should from the beginning take ownership of the definitions, often very simple, to not be désarçonnée in committee. After a few appointments, it is acquired.
2. Grind the forecast in all directions and have it validated by an accounting firm who knows the middle of the start-up. Validation is essential to avoid large errors. You don’t have the choice, it is necessary to delve into the numbers. Even if I took a lot on me at the beginning, I learned to appreciate this exercise and gymnastics. Nobody other than you will not translate as well to your vision numbers.
3. Treat the presentation . To repeat, show it around, adjust. It should be clear, without a zone of shadow, powerful, regularly updated, and how the present fluid and convincing.
4. Put all his energy into the pitch . The posture, strength, conviction, positive energy will be decisive. Investors – notably Business Angels – undertake as much on your personality as on the folder. It is better to yourself to be completely convinced, that they become it also.
5. Be patient and start as soon as possible . In total, our second strike will have lasted nine months. Six months of pitching and three months of implementation (negotiations, audit, preparation…) This also enables the investor to check that what you’ve announced in the coming three months is carried out well. It also allows them to test the strength of your nerves, the state of your cash flow and create bonds of trust between you.
6. Do not become discouraged in the face of a not . I’ve received a lot, and sometimes violent. The support of the entourage, and the team is crucial. It is like a horse. When one falls, one rises. And if it does not work at the level of a contact person, do not hesitate to hit the top or elsewhere.
7. Continue to develop the business while pitchant as much as possible : it is both the most difficult and the most important. Sometimes, I pitchais before jumping on a train to present the network and returning in the evening, I pitchais again. Suffice to say that the hygiene of life must be beyond reproach in order to take the shot. I was appreciative of the team that stayed the course and trust during these nine months, continuing to work with all his energy despite moments of doubt.
8. Well surrounded : the strategic committee, expert-accountant, lawyers, etc. They are essential to reach at the end of the exercise : the forecast, through to valuation, governance, responsibility, output and possibilities of relution… In my case, the investors of the first round table have also played a critical role.
9. Relying on its teams and to keep them informed of the process. Their motivation and energy are essential to the success of the operation. They are the ones who run the business on a daily basis as you are doing, you, the tour of investors.
10. Reassure investors on two points : the cost-effectiveness and/or impact and their output. Profitability and the impact will depend on your estimate. The output, that is, the possibility of recovering their costs in five years if they wish. Their promise to you ? It is of course difficult to be certain of what will happen in five years. But at least, you can demonstrate that you have thought about. Such a large group could redeem their units or you would like to redeem units to increase your % of ownership of the capital…
11. Allowing yourself to say no. You do not feel an investor, you don’t see yourself working with him in the future ? It is better to say no before the signature instead of living under stress for five years. Similarly, it is necessary to dip the hands in the sludge, in this case read the legal documents very long, and if certain clauses are not suitable for you, say no, or negotiate in exchange for other provisions.
12. And is it more difficult as a woman ? Yes.
A fundraiser is exhausting but it is even more important for a woman.
on The same day that I launched my “on deck”, was published in the tribune of the Sista indicating that only 2.6% of the investment fund are assigned to companies worn by a woman. What I observed throughout my exercise.
Few women at the head of fund, there are few women in the composition of funds, low number of women business angels (7%) = little women funded in the end.
A gross presumption of incompetence
A presumption of incompetence is still present and sometimes coarse. It happened to me several times after pitching falling apart – not in front of the investors, of course – as the attempt of humiliation was strong.
I have often wondered in these cases how many of the women had already been financed by their funds. Sometimes the answer was 0. “But we do not look at the genre, what counts is the folder”, I was responded-it. Result : the share of women entrepreneurs financed in their portfolio stagnated around 2%.
I also very often pitché in front of the assemblies composed of men only. And it is the “only” problem.
a glance of the life, a week after the official announcement of the closing of our fundraiser, Sista out an inspiring study carried out with BCG. Everything that I have felt during this adventure was finally translated into numbers.
We can no longer deny thes through the existing nor the need to act.
today I am on the board of directors of Move your Box investors extraordinary (Guillaume Richard, president of Yes Care, Gonzague de Blignières, co-founder of Raise, Frédéric Lescure, chairman of Socomore, Yannick Square of BNP Development, Patrice Hutin of Sofiouest, Stephane Lefevre-Sauli of Breizh up, Jean-Pierre Letartre, former president of E&Y France and western Europe, Thibaut Bechetoille, president of Growth plus) who are convinced of our impact on society. Among them, two women : Mylene Romano, entrepreneur and business angel, and, for Sofiouest, Alice Calvez.
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I hope that our action with Moving your Box will give the opportunity for more women to grow their business and therefore to invest in, or carry out fund raising activities. It is essential for a society that is more balanced, more efficient, more innovative… and that we like !