Raising your first startup funding isn’t a straight path. It is a combination of ambition and confusion and being haphazard a lot. I thought having a great idea was enough. Spoiler alert- it was not. The next thing was an uncontrollable ride of funding errors, pitch fails and then, success.

Here’s what worked, what did not and how to raise smarter.

The Vision That Started It All

My B2B SaaS product was created to help small manufacturers optimize their supply chain with the idea of cleaning up the procurement process plaguing so many small and medium-sized enterprises through thousands of stories told to me. It is an exciting thought, and with investment banking being the future of the startup world, it felt like money was within a pitch.

What I had:

• Passion which would stop a room
  I trusted the issue that was being resolved and was passionate about creating something that could make a difference. I can say countless words about our vision. However, passion though significant, does not seal deals.
  
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
  We had an operational model. It was not exactly beautiful, but it demonstrated that we were able to perform. In fundraising for startups, even a basic MVP can be your biggest asset early on.
• One Progressive Customer
  One of our SMEs had begun utilising our platform and this gave us a small insight into product-market fit. Just a single customer will tell a lot to some kinds of investors as long as you emphasize it properly.

• A Two Person Founder Team
  As a team, we were very lean, committed and wearing many hats, including just me and my co-founder. We were skilled technically and in the domain and we were full time.

However, as it turned out to me later, those elements are not enough to get you funded.

What I lacked:

•  A Strategy for Business Valuation
  I was at a loss for words when an investor inquired about the value of our business. I hadn’t even researched business valuation software or known what determines a startup’s value, particularly for a non-profit organization. I discovered the hard way that narrative, traction, and benchmarks are just as important to valuation as numbers. I later used the free business valuation tool from FundTQ, which provided me with a range that was reasonable and suitable for investors.
• A Pitch Deck That Is Precise and Powerful
  Our initial pitch deck was a complete mess, with slides that were overly wordy, lacked a visual narrative, and lacked important components like financial projections, expectations for post-money valuation, and a well-defined go-to-market plan. The errors were typical of a pitch deck. No investor made it through.
• Investor Intelligence
  I was emailing VCs blindly,without knowing their average ticket size, sector focus, or investment stage. I was unaware that locating investors is a real skill that calls for investigation, customisation, and knowledge of what each investor is actually seeking.
•  Unaware of Investment Banks
  I was not aware of the role of Investment Banking Services into start-up financing. Did they perform the role of  Middlemen? Advisors? All I understood was that they were threatening, and I did not know how and when to address them.

What Didn’t Work ?(Mistakes I Made Early On)

• Absence of a clear value proposition
  I was unable to sum up our product in a single sentence. That is an issue. Certain investor types seek clarity. Without clarity, there would be no funding.
• Weak First Impression = Poor Pitch Deck
  We skipped over the basics— I hadn’t read up on pitch deck mistakes, and it showed. I left out essential slides like go-to-market strategy, unit economics and post money valuation expectations.
• No prepared business valuation
  When an angel investor asked, “What’s your startup worth?”I went into a panic. I had no data. Software for zero business valuation. No responses.
•  Constructed a poor pitch to investors
  I was sending Series B-focused VCs decks. I had no idea how to locate investors who fit into niche markets like medical equipment startups or seed funding.

A big lesson? Investor fit is important.

What Finally Worked?

After a few rejections, I paused. I stopped pitching and started listening. And that made all the difference.

• Refined My Pitch Deck (Thanks to Templates)
  I discovered well-structured templates of pitch decks that founders can use and restructure my entire story. Every slide served a definite purpose: there were the problem statements, the financial projections. The narrative was flowing now and investors remained with the deck up to the end.
• Understood My Business Valuation
  Using FundTQ’s free Business Valuation Tool, I finally got a realistic idea of what my business was worth—even without revenue. The tool provided me with a ballpark, using the market standards, founder risk and average ticket size in our industry.
• Built an Advisory Boards
  I brought in two experienced mentors as advisors—one from manufacturing, one from investment banking services. Their connections gave me opportunities that I would not have realised.
• Proof of Traction
  We acquired two retaining customers and enhanced the retention rates. It wasn’t scale yet, but it was validation—something all types of investors look for, especially in fundraising for startups in India.
• Investor Fit
  I quit looking at VCs and enrolled in a local startup network where I discovered two angel investors. We had a common space as they had invested in medical start-up equipment previously. This orientation altered the whole mood of our discussions.

The “Yes” That Changed Everything!

It took five months of cold emails, personal introductions, investor meetings, and 12 rejections until I got to hear the words every founder was hoping to hear: We are in. Not a mega-round, with 50 lakhs of seed funding  in the form of equity. Still, it was sufficient to draw out some runway and recruit a sales team, as well as plan a bigger round. The initial “yes” not only confirmed my business, but all the failures that I had gone through.

The learning? It is not enough to find somebody to give you the check, but to find the alignment with the investors, trust, and non-money value.

Final Takeaways for First-Time Founders:

If you’re preparing to raise your first startup funding, here’s what I wish I knew at the beginning:

• Stop chasing  funding—chase clarity. Learn about your customers, your business model and your vision. Confidence is created through clarity.
• Take advantage of the appropriate tools. FundTQ’s business valuation software helped me estimate valuation credibly. Do not wing it but support it with data.
• Get the right people to talk to. Not every money is good money. Seek out investors that match your stage, vision and industry.
• Show traction. A success even in minor victories is important. All those lead to a reduction in perceived risk: early customers, back orders, use cases.
• Don’t get discouraged. All the no takes you to an improved yes. Remain strong, and take lessons about rejection.

The other essential point which should be comprehended is that both fundraising vs bootstrapping  are acceptable, depending on the desired rate of growth, on your level of risk aversion and on the market in which you operate.

Ready to Raise Your First Startup Funding?

Here’s how you can begin the right way:

• Determine the value of your company first. Try the free Business Valuation Tool from FundTQ.
• Tell your story correctly. Get FundTQ’s  Founders’ Pitch Deck Templates here.
• Recognise the expectations of investors. Discover the differences between Equity vs Debt Financing as well as the seed funding process.
• Make contact with the appropriate individuals. Learn how to locate investors by round size and sector.
• To begin with, if you’re entering deep tech, building a medical device startup, or scaling SME strategies, make the most of your first round of funding with a strong plan.

Conclusion:

In fact, proving that you have created something worthwhile is far more important than merely impressing investors with hype when trying to secure your first startup funding. Rejections are inevitable. Of course, the fundraising process will have mistakes. But money is not the only thing which makes belief to rise higher, but the combination of clarity, traction, and storytelling.

And this is all the difference.

Any successful economy is supported by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). They constitute almost 30 percent of the Indian GDP and play a very vital role in terms of employment generation and innovation. Nevertheless, the development of an SME to its next phase may necessitate planning, investment, and assurances of external players. In this blog, we’ll explore practical SME growth strategies centred around three core pillars: funding, business valuation, and investor engagement.

Even as a wannapreneur at the beginning stages, or as a leader of a fast-growing company, you can learn a thing or two to reach the next level of growth.

Understanding SME Funding Options

Selecting an effective funding provider may define the pace and sustainability of  your SME Growth Strategies. The following is an analysis of popular choices of funding and how they measure up to each other.

1. Bank Loans & NBFCs

Most suitable: SMEs that have stable revenues and collateral.

Advantages: Reduced interest rates, organisation repayment, reputation increase.

Disadvantages: Time-consuming delay of approval, income limitations, very often asset backed security.

Additional Insight:

Government schemes like CGTMSE provide collateral-free loans via banks for eligible SMEs. NBFCs are slightly more flexible than traditional banks, offering faster disbursal with higher interest rates.

2. Government Grants & Schemes

Most suitable: Early-stage company, start-up ventures in priority areas of operation (such as manufacturing, agri-tech).

Advantages: Non-dilute, innovative promoting, industry specialised incentives.

Disadvantages: competitive implementation, red tape and poor cover.

3. Angel and venture capital investors

Ideal for: High-growth SME Growth Strategies in Fintech, D2C, technology, and healthcare.

Advantages: Network access, mentorship, and a sizable capital inflow.

Disadvantages: Frequent performance reporting, high expectations, and dilution of equity.

4. Crowdfunding and Revenue-Based Financing

Ideal for: Companies that concentrate on goods or steady sources of income.

Advantages: It include crowd validation, quick funding cycles, and no equity loss (revenue-based).

Disadvantages: Platform fees; reliance on marketing; lower capital limits.

The Fundraising for healthcare will depend upon the goals in the greatest capacity; whichever stage of growth or stage of growth the business also belongs; Therefore, you should always be evaluating the type of capital needed for the state of your operation and your tolerance for risks since the wrong type of capital might end up exerting pressure on misaligned interests.

Accurate Business Valuation: Why It Matters for SMEs

It is a must that you know what you are actually worth as a business before you go knocking on the door of any investor or financial institution. It is not only about wowing investors when valuing a business rather; valuation is a tool used in strategic planning exercises.

Following are the importance of valuation to SMEs:

Investor Confidence: The data-driven realistic valuation depicts professionalism and readiness.

Equity Negotiation: Avoids giving away excess stock at below the amount of capital.

Internal Planning: Assists in identifying future funding and strategic requirements.

A. Common Valuation Methods for SMEs Valuation methods:
Usually valuation methods can be classified into four categories which are

1. Discounted cash flow (DCF)
   How it works: Projects cash flows out in the future, and discounts those to the present.
   Suitable to: Cash flow businesses where the growth is predictable.
2. Comparable Company Analysis
   How it works: Applies valuation ratios (e.g. multiple of revenue/EBITDA) of comparable businesses.
   Applied to: SMEs whose sector is competitive and has public/private comparables.
3. Asset-Based Valuation
   How it works: it is a measure of the value of the company at its assets less its liabilities.
   Applied To: Best suited to companies dealing in real estates, manufacturing firms and companies that undertake trading in physical goods.
4. Pre Revenue Valuation ( Scorecard Method )
   Appropriate to: Operating startups, which do not yet earn revenues.The reasons are founder experience, product stage, market size or competition.

B. Useful:

Online Business Valuation Calculators: FundTQ provides an easy-to-use online Business Valuation Calculator website for startups in early or growth stages to obtain a quick estimate for SME Growth Strategies.

Financial Advisors: For intricate ownership arrangements or investor negotiations, it is best to seek advice from an accountant or valuation expert. Whenever you raise money, make changes, or hit a big growth milestone, you want to take another look at the ongoing process of valuation.

What SMEs Should Know About Pitching to Investors?

Even a great business idea does not accomplish anything unless the person is able to pitch it. How you present your pitch deck and the deck itself can cause an investor to succeed or fail.

A. Must-have Slides in an SME Pitch Deck: 

• Problem Solution: Clearly state the customer’s issue and the solution.
• Business Model: Describe your unit economics and sources of income.
• Traction and metrics: Sales, customer growth, customer retention and profitability.
• Market Opportunity: Trends in the market and the segmentation of TAM, SAM and SOM.
• Marketing Plan: Partnership building, customer acquisition, and sales channels.
• Financials/Projection: Gross margins, cash burn, and revenue projections.
• The Work Request: Please submit an application once you’re able to clearly state the amount of money you are seeking, and what will be the expenditure? (Hiring, tech, marketing, etc.)

Additional Tips:

• Make it no more than 10-12 slides.
• Use pictorials, not  slide.
• Modify the pitch to suit types of investor (angel and VC).

B. Top Pointers in Investor Conferences:

• Do Your Homework: Check the past assets of an investor, areas of interest, and way of medical startup funding.
• Be a Storyteller: Stop using slides and speak about the purpose, your reason, and a long-term impact.
• Clarity on Unit Economics:  There are risks in every business. Honor them and demonstrate mitigation means.
• Have a Data Room Ready: Share your data room, legal documentations and investor updates after your meeting.

Develop your presentation with advisors or mentors then take it to the VCs or angel networks. The more well you present it and communicate, the more the probability of turning interest to commitment.

How FundTQ Supports SME Growth?

The world of SME Growth Strategies and in particular its financial aspect as well as the interaction with investors can be quite confusing. And this is where FundTQ comes into play as a clever, convenient platform which is made to make the process of the development of the Indian startup and SME as easy as possible.

Here is where FundTQ can assist:

A. Easy Business Valuation

Whenever you want any form of funding the first thing is to learn what your business is worth. At FundTQ, there is a free business valuation calculator for Indian SMEs. 

• No guesses and complicated spreadsheets.
• It is the best option with first-time entrepreneurs and small companies.
• Will assist you to not underrate or over-rate your business.

B. Investor-Ready Tools

Valuation is not the only dependency of FundTQ. It provides you with read-to-use pitch deck templates, investor checklists, and support of due diligence. Whether it is seeing an angel investor or applying to any VC fund, the platform has it covered that your documents and data is pitch perfect.

• Get access to Indian-specific SME pitch deck frameworks.
• Obtain storytelling, financial modeling, and KPIs tips.
• Set up a data room that would intrigue sincere investors.

C. Smart Fund Discovery

There are hundreds of investors in India, which target various sectors and phases, which makes this part a significant challenge to look at the suitable funding partner. FundTQ makes this much easier with hand-picked list of funding types, such as angel networks, VC funds all the way to government schemes.

• Narrow down the opportunities on your stage, sector, and geography.
• Find the right investors or grants in line with your business model.
• Conserve time by targeting the best founders and make a focused pitch to them.

D. Learning and Community Resources

A lot of SME Growth Strategies are associated with tools, but it is also associated with continuous learning. The FundTQ provides access to master webinars and guides along with success stories so that you can pick it up through influence.

• Follow the SME funding trends and valuation.
• Find out the ways peers have raised capital.
• Learn best practices about compliance, tax and growth.

To summarise, FundTQ enables 360 support to SMEs to fundraiser, and it all starts with a valuation and investor readiness, pitching, and finding a match. It enables small business owners to secure funds with ease, minimise errors, and concentrate on the most important part, the increased SME Growth Strategies of their businesses.

Final Thoughts:

Every company has a different path to succeed as an SME, though there are a set of basing pillars that one can learn to win a higher possibility to scale up sustainably like funding, valuation, and investor engagement. Such measures do not only release capital but also increase your credibility and visionary outlook and help in SME Growth Strategies to help your business. Has somebody to assist in valuation or pitching? FundTQ offers free tools to start now. Once you learn how to price your company for sale or perfect your pitch deck, FundTQ provides easy-to-use resources for the Indian SMEs.

The healthcare sector is on the rise, and the current technological advancements in the field of biotechnology, telemedicine, digital health, and diagnostics driven by AI redesign the healthcare provision. But when it comes to medical startups, the situation is different. And a list of challenges associated with medical startups includes maximal R&D expenses, addressable regulatory challenges, and the long runway to profitability. That’s why medical startup funding is critical to transforming your healthcare vision into reality.

Whether you are a provider of a medtech product, a digital health app or a biotech platform, this primer will put you through what you should know on how to raise money on your medical start up in 2025.

Why Do Medical Startups Need Funding?

Starting a medical company and growing it needs a lot of money. In contrast to the traditional tech startups, medical enterprises have to encounter:

Research and Development (R&D): Prototyping requires upfront investments between clinical trials, lab tests, and prototyping.

Time to Market:medical products may require a long time to become commercially viable and there is a challenge of sustaining themselves without outside support.

Regulatory Approvals: Obtaining regulatory approvals of these authorities such as CDSCO (India), FDA (U.S.) or EMA (EU) is a time- consuming and expensive process.

Recruitment of Experts: Be it medical-related personnel, regulatory consultants and lawyers, costs are high when employing expertise.

The best medical concepts can never become a reality without funding and even the most revolutionary medical ideas will never be available to patients, given lack of enough  Medical Startups funding.

Also Read: Funding Sources for Medical Device Startups

Types of Funding Available for Medical Startups:

1. Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping can be defined as personal saving or re-investment of early revenues. This will exert complete control over you and has no equity dilution but would be appropriate mostly at an initial stage.

Optimal Uses: MVP creation, basic research and confirmation.

2. Grants and Government Programs

There are a number of government organizations that provide non dilutive grants to medical start-ups involved in solving public health problems or which are involved in innovation.

Examples:

India: There is provision of seed and equity assistance in BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council).

International: SBIR/STTR (U.S), Horizon Europe (EU).

Advantages: There is no equity loss; they can be accompanied by mentorship and networking.

Disadvantages: Good job opportunities but it is competitive in the process needed to apply to it and time-absorbing.

3. Angel Investors

Angel investors are people with high net worth that invest in startups at the early stage in exchange for an ownership share. Investors in medical industries usually have a background in that industry and can provide knowledge of the industry.

Hint: Try to focus on angel networks with a life sciences/medtech focus (e.g. Indian Angel Network, HealthTech Angels).

4. Venture Capital (VC)

Venture capitalists fund medical startups at scale, and are only interested in growth-ready based ones with intellectual property or proven traction.

• Advantages: Capitals, networks and strategic advice.
• Disadvantages: Dilution of equity and extreme growth pressure.
• The prominent healthcare VCs in India and world are the following:
• India India Life Sciences Fund, Bharat Innovation Fund
• Global: OrbiMed, Sequoia Healthcare, Sofinnova Partners

5. Strategic Partnerships

Hospitals, health insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies will usually invest in or joint venture with possible medical startups.

Scenario: A chain of hospitals purchasing the coinvestment in a remote patient monitoring-based startup.

6. Crowdfunding

In a more efficient way, the crowdfunding equity can also be used (Tyke or SeedInvest) or reward-based campaigns (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) that can give the funds collected and confirm demand on the market.

Use Case: Suitable to medical gadgets or health-related products that could be sold directly to the consumer.

Read More: How to do Fundraising for Healthcare Startup?

How to Prepare for Medical Startup Funding?

1. Conduct a Business Valuation

Find out what you start up is worth before you go out to investors. Investors will be interested in knowing how they came to the conclusion of valuation.

Make use of such tools as:

• Business valuation software – FundTQ
• Equidam
• BizEquity
• MyValuator

When it comes to very young startups, pay attention to the size of the potential market, IP property, and experience of the team of people who are launching it.

2. Compile a Good Presentation

An attractive pitch deck must include:

• Problem-solution
• Market opportunity
• Product overview
• Clinical validation or scientific validation
• Business model
• Go-to-market tactics
• Estimates of finances
• Regulatory strategy
• Ask & utilization of funds

Your introduction needs to be fine tuned to medical investors who realise that longer time frame, as well as regulator risk, is a factor.

3. Proof Your Concept

Present data that your product is effective and has a true solution. Examples include:

• Hospital pilot projects
• Buyer letters of intent
• Finished feasibility studies or clinical trials
• Validation removes the risk aspect on the side of the investor.

4. Learn the Regulatory Environment

Your financing strategy should take into consideration timing and expenses regarding authorization by such organizations as:

• CDSCO -Central Drug Standard Control organization (India)
• FDA- Food and drug Administration (USA)
• CE Marking- EU

When there is a roadmap toward compliance, investors will feel confident.

Where to Find Investors for Medical Startups?

Finding an appropriate investor is fifty percent of the game. Start here:

1. Start-up Accelerators and Incubators

Such programs provide seed capital, mentoring and access to investors.

India Examples:

• BIRAC’s BioNEST
• KIIT-TBI (medtech)
• Social health innovations- Villgro

Global Examples:

• Y Combinator (Healthcare batch)
• IndieBio
• JLABS Johnson and Johnson

2. VC Firms in healthcare

Conduct quality research of the VCs portfolio as well and pitch only to those that have made prior investments in healthcare or even medtech.

3. AngelList & LinkedIn

Promote a good reputation and interface with prospective investors. Strategically use filters in order to reach out to sector-wise and geographic-wise investors.

4. Events and Demo Days

Sell your idea:

• BioAsia
• TiE Global Summit
• HealthTech India Summit

The cool thing about all these platforms is that you can develop visibility and warm introductions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Possibility of Overvaluation: It is also possible to over- Value without product-market fit and put a potential investor off.
• Understating Regulatory Costs: Omission of the regulatory strategy may be a warning sign.
• Unclear Go-to-Market Plan: You need to make a vague point on how you will get customers.
• Ignoring Clinical Validation: In the majority of medical startups, the possibility of testing and/or proving concepts is a must.
• Bad Financial Predictions: Unrealistic and baseless financial predictions can kill the interest of the investor.

Tools to Help You Raise Medical Startup Funding

Make use of these resources to expedite the fundraising process:

1. Business Valuation Software

• Business Valuation Tool By FundTQ
• These platforms assist you in utilizing industry-accepted models to demonstrate the worth of your startup.

2. Pitch Deck Templates

• Pitch Deck Templates by FundTQ
• Slidebean
• Startup Decks on Canva
• Sequoia’s Pitch Deck Template (medical customization)
• These aid in organizing your narrative and producing decks that are suitable for investors.

3. Predictive Financial Model Templates (for SaaS & MedTech)

• Excel Templates for CFI
• As appropriate, incorporate R&D expenses, regulatory schedules, and reimbursement plans into your models.

How FundTQ Helps with Medical Startup Funding?

FundTQ is an effective fundraising enablement tool that makes the capital-raising process seamless as far as early-stage medical startups are concerned. Tailored specifically for sectors like healthcare, medtech, and biotech, FundTQ connects founders with curated investors who have a strong interest in medical startup funding. The platform provides more than platform-level matchmaking capability, with functionality to create investor-ready-made pitch decks and bespoke financial models, taking into account clinical development pathways, regulatory approval processes, market entry plans, and the like. FundTQ assists startups to ensure that they have due diligence level documentary preparation as they make a very strong, compliant, and professional pursuit case before the investor. Regardless of whether you are looking into angel investment, venture capital, or venture partners, the FundTQ company will help you simplify the whole process and increase the likelihood of a successful medical startup funding round tremendously.

Final Thoughts

It’s both a science and an art to raise for medical startups funding  in 2025. There has never been a better moment to look for funding as long as you are ready because healthcare innovation is attracting the attention of investors worldwide. Make demonstrating clinical value, long-term scalability, and regulatory readiness your top priorities.Adopting that traction into grant realities, you begin angel or VC stage funding. Avoid the common pitfalls in the absence of the correct resources and ingenuity in fund-raising.

Whether we’re talking about an AI-based healthcare solution, a diagnostic platform, or a life-saving device, funding will be important for expanding your impact. With the right strategy, your medical startup funding may save some lives and move your idea onto the innovation platform.

 

When you’re building a startup ,it may seem that you are selling a dream  and have not yet earned profits. But investors invest in dreams regularly- provided they have a good story and strong potential behind them. So how does startup valuation without revenue actually work?

What are the fundamental drivers, approaches and the practical logic employed by investors when they are analyzing pre-revenue startups? Let us find out.

Why Valuation Still Matters Without Revenue?

Your startup is valuable even if you don’t make a single sale. Pre-revenue assessments are crucial for:

• Choosing the appropriate amount of equity to forfeit during fundraising
• Having reasonable expectations for investments
• Bringing in the proper kind of investors

Valuation is a strategic tool used by startups in long-term planning, negotiations, and fundraising services. It all comes down to risk versus potential for investors.

Key Factors Investors Consider in Pre-Revenue Valuation:

Investors rely on qualitative and proxy measures of potential in the absence of revenue. The following are the most important factors they consider:

• The Founding Team:

 Investors placed their money on people. Without generating any income, a solid team with complementary abilities, domain knowledge, and a track record of success can greatly increase your startup valuation without revenue.

• Market Potential (TAM, SAM, SOM):

Large markets are what they desire. Clearly define your serviceable available market (SAM), serviceable attainable market (SOM), and total addressable market (TAM). The upside for investors is increased by a higher TAM.

• A prototype or product:

Having a concrete solution, whether it’s an early prototype or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), demonstrates dedication. Bonus points for validating the product-market fit.

• Non-Revenue Traction:

Traction is important even in the absence of paying users:

1. Beta testers
2. Waitlists
3. Measures of engagement (DAUs, MAUs)
4. Collaborations or experimental initiatives

These signals lower investor risk and show demand.

• Business Plan and Revenue Generation Strategy:

A well-defined monetisation strategy is crucial. Freemium, subscription, or licensing? Demonstrate how you will generate revenue.

• Competitive Environment and Distinction:

What distinguishes you from your rivals? This aids investors in comprehending your distinct moat and value proposition.

• Prospects for Exit and Vision:

How they will generate a return is what investors want to know. What are your plans for the next five to seven years? IPO? Purchasing? Your pitch deck will be more investor-ready if you have a clearer exit strategy.

Also Read: What Is the Typical Ticket Size Raised Through Investment Banks?

Popular Valuation Methods for Pre-Revenue Startups:

While traditional revenue-based methods don’t apply, these frameworks are widely used:

• The Berkus Method 

It gives five important success factors monetary values:

Effective concept

1. A prototype
2. Team Quality
3. Strategic alliances
4. Sales or the launch of a product
5. usually reaches a maximum of $2 million to $2.5 million.

• Scorecard Valuation Method:

It evaluates your startup against comparable ones that have received funding recently in your area. Factors such as the team, market, product, stage, etc. are assigned weights.

• Risk Factor Summation Method:

It begins with the average pre-money valuation and makes adjustments according to 12 risk areas (such as technology, management, and laws).

• The Venture Capital Method:

It is based on the desired ROI and anticipated exit value. finds the valuation for today by working backwards.

• Discounted Cash Flow (DCF):

Though uncommon for pre-revenue startups, it is feasible if future cash flows are fairly predictable.

Real-World Example: Valuing a SaaS Startup With No Revenue

Let’s say you’re evaluating a SaaS startup that:

• Holds an MVP
• Is founded by a top-tier MBA graduate and a former Google engineer.
• 2,000 beta users were acquired in just three months.
• Plans to bill $49 per month
• Works in a market worth $500 million.

Applying the Berkus Technique:

• $500K for a tech prototype
• $500K for the founding team
• Traction of beta users: $250K
• Market potential: $250K
• IP & monetisation plan: $500K

Pre-money estimate: 

• About $2 million
• They forfeit 20–25% of the equity if they raise $500K at this valuation.

This demonstrates how investor discussions can be supported by the quantification of qualitative aspects.

Tips to Improve Valuation Without Revenue:

The following strategies will help you increase your valuation before you start making money:

• Enhance your pitch deck: To communicate effectively, use a well-designed pitch deck template for startups.
• Expand your user base or waitlist: Traction includes even free users.
• Emphasise team strengths: Capable founders are what investors want.
• Make your business plan better: Demonstrate your strategy for scaling and making money.
• Keep a record of everything: To compare yourself, use a free business valuation tool.
• Obtain mentions from partners or the media: increases social proof and credibility.

Also Learn about: A Guide to Investment Banking Services for Startups and Enterprises

Common Mistakes Founders Make in Pre-Revenue Valuation:

Steer clear of these warning signs that could undermine your perceived worth:

• Excessive expectations for valuation
• Absence of a defined monetisation plan
• Disregarding the competitive environment
• Not determining the size of the target market
• Pitch decks that are generic or inadequately organised
• Insufficient preparedness for investor due diligence
• Investors value professionalism, clarity, and realism

What Investors Really Want?

When evaluating a startup valuation without revenue, investors search for indications of:

• Fit between the founder and the market
• Scalability
• Early traction, despite its qualitative nature
• Capacity for execution
• A vision with the ability to leave

They are investing in the capacity to transform that idea into a profitable business, not just an idea. Tools like fundraising services or automated valuation platforms can help you align with these expectations.

How FundTQ Helps With Startup Valuation Without Revenue?

Let’s now discuss FundTQ, a platform that assists startups in overcoming funding and valuation obstacles, particularly during the pre-revenue phase.

1. Automated Support for Valuation

FundTQ provides valuation frameworks designed with early-stage startups in mind. The platform recommends a reasonable valuation benchmark by examining your team, traction, market size, business model, and product readiness. This keeps your startup from being overhyped or underpriced.

2. Templates for Investor-Ready Pitch Decks

A funding conversation can be made or broken by a well-designed pitch deck. FundTQ offers real-time feedback and startup-friendly templates to ensure your deck:

• Hits all critical investor checkpoints
• Aligns with your valuation
• Tells a compelling story with data

3. A Fundraising Strategy Led by Experts

FundTQ links you with advisors who focus on pre-revenue startup fundraising. They will:

• Help you decide what kind of valuation to request
• Assist in improving your equity split
• Get ready for enquiries from investors.

4. Market Analysis & Comparisons

FundTQ gives you the ability to strategically position your startup—not just on the basis of hope, but supported by data—by providing you with access to market sentiment, competitor valuations, and current funding trends.

5. Enhancement of Investor Credibility

You are already pre-screened with a verified valuation and a well-defined plan when you approach investors through FundTQ. This improves your credibility and raises the likelihood that you will receive funding.

FundTQ helps you close the gap between your dream and a deal, whether you’re getting ready for a seed round, angel investment, or bootstrapped pitch.

Conclusion 

Valuing a startup with no revenue is both an art and a science.  Despite the small number, potential and storyline are powerful. Familiarize yourself with the techniques, speak out clearly and back up your arguments with facts and examples.

Whether you are pitching angel investors or getting ready to raise a seed round, smart tools, such as free business valuation calculators, investor-ready pitch decks, and expert fundraising services will help you increase credibility when pitching angel investors or a seed round.

Do you need assistance writing your story? Use our proprietary tool to obtain a free valuation estimate or download our startup pitch deck template.

Startup valuation without revenue is all about future value. Tell a story worth investing in.

Are You Prepared to Receive Funding?

Get professional advice suited to your startup’s stage, download your investor-ready pitch deck template, and begin with FundTQ‘s free valuation tool.

The goal of startup valuation without revenue is to present an appealing future. Turn that future into money with FundTQ’s assistance.

FAQs:

1. Can a startup really be valued without any revenue?

Indeed. Many startups are pre-revenue, particularly in their early phases. To determine value, investors consider qualitative elements such as your team, market potential, prototype, traction, and business plan. The most important thing is that these indicators point to potential for the future.

2. How can a non-revenue startup be valued most accurately?

It has no standard answer. However, the Risk Factor Summation, Scorecard Method, and Berkus Method are the most popular ones

3. How can FundTQ help me with my startup’s valuation?

FundTQ streamlines the procedure by providing:

• Tools for automated startup valuation
• Templates for pitch decks that are ready for investors
• Feedback on the fundraising plan in real time
• Access to experienced fundraising advisors
• Industry comparisons and market benchmarks

Raising capital is an important part of any startup’s growth journey.Yet, countless founders make the same avoidable errors when it comes to startup fundraising.  If you make these fundraising mistakes, it may slow down your development and weaken trust among investors.

If you’re learning how to raise startup capital,this guide describes the most common Startup funding challenges, and how they can affect your business outcomes and effective measures to overcome each one.

1)Lack of Clear Fundraising Strategy:

Many founders jump into the funding process without a solid fundraising strategy. They focus on collecting funds, without mentioning exactly how much they are seeking, how it will be spent or on the expertise and background of the investors.

Common Problems:

• Missing a solid plan for how to raise startup capital.
• Targeting the wrong investors.
• Statements that are unclear about how the funds are spent.

How to Avoid It:

• Determine how much money you will need, the purpose of it and when you will require it.
• Match investors to deals by considering their data points related to investment targets, funding stages and current portfolio.
• Use business valuation software to determine your realistic startup worth.

A defined road-map helps you set internal objectives and makes investors feel confident in your plans.

2) Problems with the pitch deck : 

The way you structure your pitch deck can weaken your chances before you meet with the investor.However, many startups have trouble creating a mission statement that is simple, meaningful and understandable. If the pitch deck template is not well made, investors could lose interest almost immediately.

Common Problems:

• Slides that include lots of complicated words or unwanted information.
• There is no seamless story or main point.
• Failing to include the business model, evidence of early-stage success and detailed financial projections.

How to Avoid It:

• Use pitch deck templates to cover essential elements in a compelling way.A strong pitch deck should cover:
  – Problem & solution
  – Market opportunity
  – Product
  – Traction
  – Revenue model
  – Team
  – Competition
  – Financial projections

• Keep the text simple and comprehensible, emphasise the story and highlight what investors will gain.
• Be confident and stick to your pitch within 10 minutes.

3) Targeting the Wrong Investors

One of the most overlooked fundraising mistakes is pitching to any investor with capital. Not all types of investors are perfect for what your startup needs.

Common Problems:

• Focusing your time on people who are not in your target market.
• Not knowing what investors hope to achieve.
• Applying for capital from VCs instead of angel investors.

How to Avoid It:

• Organise investors according to what they have invested in before and what they are looking at currently.
• Try using resources like FundTQ  to pick suitable investors for your venture.
• Make sure your pitch is in line with an investor’s experience and investment history.

Making a well-thought-out list of outreach ideas helps you attract the partner who fits what you are looking for.

4) Raising at the Wrong Time:

The moment you ask for a raise is equally important as the raise itself. If you raise money when you are undervalued or overvalued, it can add new stress to the situation.

Common Problems:

• Attempting to raise money before the product is successful in the market.
• Allowing the business to struggle from a lack of funds.
• Attempting to raise funds in an off investment period.

How to Avoid It:

• Set up main performance metrics to show before asking for money.
• Raise the capital at least 6-9 months before you require it.
• Regularly send updates to investors so they feel connected to the business.

5) Ignoring Deal Terms:

A lot of startups find themselves in trouble by choosing unrealistic valuations or neglecting the details in term sheets.

Common Problems:

• The prices are set assuming future success despite the lack of solid results now.
• Signing bad investor terms because of a desperate need for capital.
• Failing to grasp the meaning of dilution, preferences and how equity is split.

How to Avoid It:

• Use comparable and business valuation software to back up your ask.
• Learn what cap tables, convertible notes and SAFEs involve.
• Consult experts in investment banking for startups to negotiate fair deals.

Also Read: Top 7 Reasons Startups Fail

Are You Skipping Expert Help in Your Fundraising Strategy?

One of the most common fundraising mistakes startups make is trying to handle the entire startup fundraising process alone. Even though being independent may be seen as impressive, it could result in delays, issues with who to target or terms that are not favourable.

Instead, smart founders build a strong fundraising strategy by involving experts who understand the real challenges of how to raise startup capital.

That’s where FundTQ steps in.

FundTQ is here to give you advice on raising capital effectively. Whether you’re refining your pitch deck, identifying investor-fit, or figuring out how to raise startup capital, FundTQ connects you with:

• Financial consultants
• Fundraising advisors
• Startup accelerators
• Investment banking for startups

They can offer you support by:

• Upgrading your pitch deck in order to be noticed by serious investors
• Connecting you to investors who are interested in your area of industry and your stage
• Protecting you from unwanted legal or financial problems in your term sheet

FundTQ helps you all the way, from getting your business ready to pitch to completing final negotiations. You’ll get help avoiding the common startup mistakes and making your fundraising efforts more efficient and investor-ready.

Conclusion 

Avoiding these fundraising mistakes could be the difference between securing the capital you need or watching your startup stall. Strategic, realistic and prepared thinking gives you more chances for success in business, whether you are starting out or are an experienced business person.

From building a clear fundraising strategy to presenting a winning pitch, and from timing your raise to valuing your business wisely every step matters. Surround yourself with the right people, lean on expert tools like business valuation software and pitch deck templates, and don’t hesitate to seek guidance from investment banking professionals. The process of securing funds might be difficult, though with a proper plan, you can make it work long-term and watch your company progress. 

Safety and quality are non-negotiable in the pharmaceutical world. Pharmaceutical quality assurance is critical to ensure that medicines are safe and effective and meet the highest requirements. In this article, what is pharmaceutical quality assurance, why pharmaceutical quality assurance is essential, and types of quality assurance in pharmaceuticals will be explained.

What is Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance?

Pharmaceutical quality assurance (QA) guarantees that medicines are produced and delivered safely and reliably. It relates to all aspects of pharmaceutical process development, production, packaging, and delivery. The main objective of QA is to ensure that every drug complies with all the strict requirements for quality, safety, and efficacy before reaching the patient.

Key Features of Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance

• Focus on Safety: QA ensures that the medicines you use are safe to take and free of harmful contaminations.
• Regulatory Compliance: Quality Assurance helps organizations adjust to the applicable national and international regulations established by regulatory bodies, namely the FDA in the U.S. and the EME in Europe.
• Consistency: Medicine must be the same every time, with the same effect, if one intends to take it in any batch of medicine.
• Proactive Prevention: QA prevents errors from happening through the process rather than fixing problems after something has happened.

Why is Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Important?

Pharmaceutical companies produce products for the health and well being of people. The consequences of an error are serious. Here are some reasons why QA is critical:

• Protecting Patient Health: QA is committed to ensuring that medicines work as they should and are not contaminated or defective. This ensures patient safety and effective treatment.
• Building Public Trust: Good quality products build the trust of doctors, patients, and regulatory agencies, which helps companies have a good reputation.
• Meeting Regulations: All countries have strict laws for producing and selling medicines. QA ensures compliance: no fines, no product recalls.
• Preventing Financial Losses: There are some good reasons for this — QA ensures issues are identified early, before they result in costly recalls, lawsuits, or damage to a company’s reputation.

Types of Quality Assurance in Pharmaceutical

Companies use several types of QA methods to maintain the highest standards of quality and safety. Let’s take a closer look at the most common types of quality assurance in pharmaceuticals:

1. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)

GMPs are guidelines that assure consistency in the quality, reproducibility, and safety of manufactured medicines. They cover everything from the cleanliness of the factory to equipment maintenance, staff training, and record keeping.

Why It Matters: GMP avoids contamination and ensures consistent product quality, maintaining trust in pharmaceutical products.

Example: A tablet factory must regularly clean and calibrate its machines to avoid dosage errors or contamination.

2. Good Laboratory Practices (GLP)

One thing that GLP addresses is ensuring that all laboratory tests are performed properly and accurately to produce accurate and reliable results. These are very important tests to perform during the drug’s development phase.

Why It Matters: Trustworthy test results ensure that only possible safe drugs advance through the early phases of development.

Example: Studying a brand new drug’s stability at assorted temperatures to determine how it should and shouldn’t be stored.

3. Good Clinical Practices (GCP)

Clinical trials test new medicines on humans, and GCP is how scientists can ensure the safety of the participants. It also ensures that trials are ethical and provide scientifically valid results.

Why It Matters: It protects the rights and health of trial participants and provides accurate data for regulatory approval.

Example: Informing participants in a trial they are taking part in before agreeing to participate.

4. Good Distribution Practices (GDP)

Part of GDP is ensuring that medicines are stored, handled, and transported safely so they reach patients in good condition.

Why It Matters: Improper storage or handling can cause a medicine to not work or be harmful.

Example: Transporters carry vaccines in temperature-controlled containers to prevent spoilage.

5. Good Pharmacovigilance Practices (GVP)

GVP means tracking medicines being sold to ensure their safety and effectiveness. It also applies to collecting reports of side effects and acting if any new risks are discovered.

Why It Matters: Identifies and manages risks to public health that may not have become evident during the clinical trials of new medicines.

Example: Searching reports of a rare side effect of a newly approved drug.

6. Quality Management Systems (QMS)

A QMS establishes policies and procedures to maintain the quality of pharmaceutical products throughout the pharmaceutical process. It includes regular audits, corrective action, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Why It Matters: QMS ensures that the companies have order and consistency of producing every product meeting the same high standards.

Example: Software tracks every step of the manufacturing process and documents it for product reordering.

Are you a startup in the pharmaceutical industry looking to raise funds but unsure of your business value?

Just like pharmaceutical companies rely on Quality Assurance (QA) to ensure safety and effectiveness, FundTQ’s business valuation software ensures you have an accurate valuation in minutes, helping you confidently secure funding. Plus, get a pitch deck template to present your startup in the best light to potential investors!

The Role of QA in Pharmaceutical Industry

QA forms the foundation for the successful and safe delivery of pharmaceutical products. It guarantees that all medicine that ends up in the hands of patients lives up to those standards. Here are some key roles of QA in pharmaceutical industry:

1. Ensuring Product Safety and Effectiveness:

QA ensures medicines are safe and effective by monitoring each step, testing raw materials, reviewing manufacturing processes, and inspecting the final product. This comprehensive approach guarantees quality and compliance throughout the production cycle, meeting safety and efficacy standards.

2. Improving Efficiency:

QA systems optimize processes, remove unnecessary waste, and save time without compromising quality.

3. Supporting Regulatory Compliance:

QA ensures that all production and testing comply with government and international regulations. This is essential to obtaining approval to sell various medicines in different markets.

4. Protecting Company Reputation:

QA helps preserve the company’s reputation by holding high standards, so that errors that would merit recalls or injure patients do not occur.

5. Encouraging Continuous Improvement:

QA supports a culture of continuous improvement and ensures that companies meet new challenges and stay ahead in the game.

Also Read: 9 Challenges In The Pharmaceutical Industry Faced by Startups

Real-Life Examples of QA in Action

• COVID-19 Vaccine Development: QA played a crucial role in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of COVID 19 vaccines before approval.
• Medicine Recalls: QA teams investigate the cause, correct the issue, and prevent it from happening again when they find defects.

Conclusion

Medicines’ safety, effectiveness and reliability depend on pharmaceutical quality assurance. By following the various types of quality assurance in pharmaceutical, companies can prevent errors, protect patients, and maintain trust. Other than being a regulatory requirement, there is much more to QA in a pharmaceutical industry than the ever increasing regulatory requirement alone, and it is a foundation for a successful and ethical pharmaceutical business.

QA ensures that medicines remain at their high standard at every step of the production process, ensuring that they are GMP, GLP, and GVP certified. It’s central to our ability to develop safe, effective treatments and improve lives worldwide.

FAQs

Healthcare is powered by the pharmaceutical industry, but navigating through the space to reach success is an arduous road for even the start-ups. Startups in the pharmaceutical space in India suffer from unique challenges in the pharmaceutical industry that impede their capacity to scale and innovate. These are a series of obstacles for these startups to overcome, from stringent regulations to high costs.

In this article, we shall delve into nine major challenges in the pharmaceutical industry that startups must face to succeed and how to handle them along the way.

Also Read: 9 Ways of Fundraising for Startups 

Challenges Faced by Pharmaceutical Industry Startups

Following are the challenges faced by pharmaceutical Industry:

1. Regulatory Compliance and Approval

For startups, one of the toughest challenges in the pharmaceutical industry is navigating regulatory approval. India follows a complex documentation, clinical trials, and inspection approval process involving the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). In India, market entry may be delayed by 2 to 3 years due to the approval of new drugs. 

The cost of doing so for startups is then compounded by compliance and the expertise necessary to meet stringent guidelines. Fines, product rejections, or even lawsuits are a distinct possibility for any failure to meet regulatory requirements. For young companies trying to gain market entry, this is a major hurdle, and key challenges in the pharmaceutical industry related to compliance are only more acute when you’re working with new formulations or medical devices.

2. High Research and Development (R&D) Costs

But pharmaceutical R&D is one of the most expensive aspects of the industry. It currently takes up to ₹1,500 crore (USD 200 million) to create a new drug in India, including clinical trials, research, and testing. These financial burdens become a problem for startups, especially for those that have limited funding.

Additionally, the percentage of failure in drug development is high, and many drugs that are tested never make it through to the market because of unexpected side effects or inefficacy. Pharmaceutical industry challenges are high hurdles for startups that don’t have the financial backing of large companies. In order to overcome this, startups need to strive for strategic partnerships, government grants, and get venture capital funding to fund their R&D.

3. Access to Funding and Investment

One of the key obstacles for pharmaceutical startups is raising funding. The investment in the pharmaceutical industry faces challenges of high risk and time, and investors are usually reluctant to invest in it. Pharmaceutical startups differ from tech startups in the fact that pharmaceutical startups may need several years to bring a product to the market, and unlike companies in the tech world, they can’t generate revenue quickly.

In India, pricing regulations have made pharma investors more cautious about the risks, and such an atmosphere is hardly the right time for pharma investments. The startups need to make a strong business case, showcase their product’s potential, and show a clear pathway to profitability in order to attract investment. Valuation calculators and pitch deck templates from FundTQ can be useful tools to help pharmaceutical startups create strong investment pitches and get a good feel for the size of their market.

4. Intellectual Property (IP) Protection

Protecting initiatives in the pharmaceutical industry is a huge issue for startups, since securing patents and trademarks is difficult to begin with. Patents in India are long drawn out and expensive, taking as much as 5 years on average to achieve. Lack of intellectual property protection can mean that big competitors reproduce their products, and that can lead to erosion of the startup’s market share.

The key challenges in the pharmaceutical industry regarding IP protection are further complicated by issues like counterfeiting, especially in emerging markets. Early IP protection is key for the new pharmaceutical startups, as it guards the innovations and keeps them competitive.

5. Market Competition and Brand Recognition

The Indian pharmaceutical market is highly competitive, with domestic and foreign players competing to capitalise on it. For startups in particular, creating a strong brand that’s distinct from your competition is a difficult challenge, especially against physical giants who have deep pockets and extremely recognisable brands.

The rising interest in generics complicates competition in the pharmaceutical industry by swamping the market and making it hard for new startups to distinguish themselves.To win trust from the healthcare professionals and the consumers, these startups have to first concentrate on niche products, quality assurance, and targeted marketing strategy.

6. Supply Chain and Distribution Challenges

Pharmaceutical startups need a robust and efficient supply chain. Nevertheless, challenges in the pharmaceutical industry related to a supply chain perspective can even be demanding. Inherently, it is difficult for startups to get their hands on reliable suppliers, navigate logistics, and ultimately comply with the rule of the eyes, as it is for the highest level of agencies and the pharmaceuticals.

Infrastructure problems, transportation delays, and supply shortages in India cause supply chain disruptions. Building relationships that scale with distributors and logistics partners, coupled with investments in technology to streamline day-to-day operations, are key for businesses that are within the pharmaceutical startup space to overcome these challenges.

7. Pricing Pressure and Cost Control

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) regulates the price of essential medicines in the Indian government. While this helps to keep medicines affordable for consumers, it also creates key challenges in the pharmaceutical industry for startups. Since startups have to operate at a government-mandated price, the margin between the price you sell on and the variable cost of labour, equipment, and energy becomes a critical factor in whether the startup survives.

Pharmaceutical startups ensure compliance with the pricing regulations by managing production costs, exploiting the advantage offered by technology in cutting down operating costs, and optimising the supply chain processes.

8. Talent Acquisition and Retention

A major challenge in acquiring a pharmaceutical startup is an inability to acquire the skilled professionals for the areas like R&D, regulatory affairs, marketing, and production. The pharmaceutical sector is in high demand of qualified talent, and sometimes it becomes hard to attract people who can match the sector and the industry level when in competition with big multinational companies offering more benefits.

9. Technological Advancements and Adaptation

There is great technological transformation occurring in the pharmaceutical industry. AI-driven drug discovery to blockchain for transparency in the supply chain, emerging technologies are transforming the way pharmaceutical companies work. But the implementation of these technologies has presented pharmaceutical industry challenges, especially for startups with limited resources.

To integrate new technologies in drug development, production, and distribution processes entails enormous upfront investment of infrastructure and expertise. While these technologies can mean better efficiencies, lower costs, and higher quality for their products for Indian pharmaceutical startups, they have to carefully evaluate the costs before committing heavily.

Also Read: Fundraising for Healthcare Startups

Conclusion

There are indeed a number of challenges in pharmaceutical industry start-ups ranging from regulatory guidelines and research and development costs-with talent acquisition to technology adaptation. It, however, does not prevent pharmaceutical start-ups from finding alternative pathways around such impediments as successful funding, strategies, and strategic partnerships. When it comes to raising funding for startups or simply to catch up on your business planning, tools like valuation calculators and pitch deck templates can be your saviors. And these resources can be helpful to startups presenting their value proposition to investors and more broadly positioning for long-term success.

Both innovation and consumer preference are reshaping the beauty and personal care sector, and PE is cashing in. As the industry shows no signs of slowing down (statistical data predicts the global beauty and personal care market will exceed $716 billion by 2025), private equity firms have been turning their sights to this sector, viewing it as a stable, high-margin, high-growth vertical that is only getting more interesting as the rise of e-commerce converges with moves towards sustainability.

Private Equity Firms Betting Big on Beauty

The beauty and personal care space is blowing up, seriously… And among the various sectors it encompasses, private equity finds its pot of gold. Private equity-backed deals comprised roughly 40% of all beauty-sector mergers and acquisitions (M&A) over the last twelve months, according to a number of recently released industry reports – indicative of an increase that is likely to bring some welcome relief for brands suffering from the impacts of COVID-19.

This investment spree is driven by the increased emphasis on innovation in skin care and clean beauty as well as wellness-driven product categories. In line with the growing demand of markets aligned with health and sustainability, PE firms are paying more attention to its related brands.

Recent Big Deals in Beauty

Some of these include the fairly large newspaper and government public deals that seem to be new over the past year:

• Advent International took the majority investment in Olaplex, the performance hair care brand who have achieved cult status. This transaction further demonstrates the emphasis on premium quality in general, but also on science-informed formulations.
• Il Makiage, a DTC beauty brand that uses data analytics and AI to deliver personalized recommendations, raised $29M via LCatterton, showing the role of tech in today’s beauty.
• Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake in BeautyQuest Group, which manufactures and distributes branded and private-label hair care, skin care, and other personal care products. The deal suggests that more value is being placed on companies that provide cross-category innovation, appealing to investors.

Private equity GPs are also stocking up on the wellness and self-care trend, with their sights set on companies specializing in supplements, personal care products, and men’s grooming.

Private Equity Eyes India’s Expanding Beauty & Personal Care Market

India’s steadily growing beauty and personal care market, expected to rise at a CAGR of 6.5% during the next five years has garnered significant attention from private equity firms. Given the expected improvement in per capita income as middle-class spending accelerates in an increasingly modernised country blessed with fast-growing internet penetration and e-commerce platform adoption, India is being viewed by global investors for what it is: an emerging market.

Many global PE firms with big Indian experience have made bold moves in this market over the past few months.

Warburg Pincus Joins Indian Beauty Revolution Through Cash-Infusion Good Glamm Group, A Digital-First Beauty And Personal Care Giant That Owns Brands Like MyGlamm, POPxo & Plixxo The move highlights the attractiveness of D2C beauty brands in India.

TPG Growth Acquires Pre-IPO Stake in Nykaa, India’s Leading Beauty Products E-commerce Platform Nykaa’s successful listing on the Indian stock market in turn turned the heads of investors going long on India’s e-tail sector.

Sugar Cosmetics – Earned investment from L Catterton, a multinational firm and one of the largest beauty pure-play investments in India. The investment will help Sugar grow its overall volume and product rollout as the brand looks to quickly expand online and in-store.

Puig Acquires Kama Ayurveda IBN Almost one-quarter of the globe away in Spain a culture rich in age-old tradition and history.

These investments highlight the outlook that global PE giants are having as part of their beauty and personal care portfolios in India, given the presence of demographic boon; a growing appetite towards wellness habits, and developments shifting towards digital-first or D2C (direct-to-consumer) models.

Numerous Trends Enabling Global Investments In Local Markets

Several broader global macro trends are contributing to the increase in private equity capital commitments, including:

Digitisation: In emerging markets such as India, there is already a fundamental transformation in the way beauty products are marketed and sold with e-commerce and social media platforms leading the charge. Investors too are betting on digital strategy and data analytics-powered customer experiences which is why they are backing brands like Pinduoduo.

Sustainability and Clean Beauty: Brands that are clean, cruelty-free, and sustainable are taking significant capital as consumers demand a more eco-friendly approach to cosmetics. More and more Indian brands like Mamaearth specializing in toxin-free beauty products are stepping up to the plate and catching investor attention.

Personalisation and Innovation: Global PE investors seek businesses that provide custom solutions to a variety of consumer demands. Investors are especially interested in brands that leverage technology for personalized beauty offerings.

Future Outlook For India’s Beauty Sector

With private equity capital still flowing steadily into India’s beauty and personal care sector, analysts believe the landscape could evolve further with an increased focus on innovation, product diversification, and market consolidation. This opens the door for foreign investors to invest capital with an expectation of growth in India, given its young population and increasing demand of premium and sustainable products.

The beauty market in India is expected to grow significantly on account of increased consumer consciousness, disposable income, and inclination towards wellness-oriented beauty products. This will mean that startups and independent beauty brands, which are usually more tied to disruption, become better supported as a result.

A few American leading Beauty Brands are now planning to raise funding also from Global Private Equity players and for that is on boarding with FundTQ as their exclusive advisor for the round.

The founder growth Partner of FundTQ, commenting on the current market trends in Beauty and Personal Care said “Evolving consumer behavior, coupled with growing private equity investment is reforming the global beauty and personal care industry. An interesting way in which this ecosystem is growing is the significant participation of global investors in accelerating innovation and scaling of Indian brands to new levels. It shows the amount of potential opportunities for top Indian brands like this when it comes to global growth,” he says.

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Valuing new businesses is one of the most challenging tasks in finance. Unlike established companies, startups often lack historical data, have uncertain business models, and face high failure rates. These factors make traditional valuation methods less effective. However, understanding these challenges and adapting conventional techniques can help investors and entrepreneurs estimate a startup’s potential worth. This guide delves into the unique difficulties of valuing startups and explores strategies to navigate these complexities, ensuring that both the business and investors can agree on a fair valuation for successful fundraising.

How Should New Businesses Be Valued?

Perhaps the most fascinating and difficult valuation task is valuing fledgling companies. This is a problem that many investors, including venture capitalists, startup funds, and business angels, encounter when attempting to assess if a new initiative has the potential to be an attractive investment opportunity.

The conventional methods for valuing reasonably established enterprises have been extensively discussed in Firm Valuation. This section’s goal is to help you comprehend the unique difficulties that come with valuing startup companies and explore ways to modify conventional valuation methods so that they may at least roughly estimate the prospective financial worth of a new endeavor.

The valuation of firms is not a precise science. This is particularly valid for new businesses. Nevertheless, the process of carefully evaluating a startup’s financial viability will provide us a better grasp of the business case and, ideally, assist us in identifying the critical success determinants and value drivers that investors and management should pay particular attention to.

Challenges in Valuing Startup Ventures

When trying to value startup companies, we are typically confronted with a set of additional challenges such as:

1. No Historical Data:

Without a financial history, it is more challenging to make meaningful judgments about significant value drivers like growth, efficiency, cost structure, etc.

2. Tangible Assets (if any):

A startup’s value is mostly based on potential future investment prospects. There aren’t many, if any, valuable tangible assets.

3. No Revenues, Negative Earnings:

Without representative sales and earnings, standard relative valuation measures like the P/E ratio and the EV/EBITDA ratio are useless.

4. Lots Of Uncertainty In The Business Model:

The future of the business model is far from obvious. The company does not yet have a comprehensive plan for marketing and advertising, despite having a beta version and a small number of test clients in place.

5. High Probability Of Failure:

The majority of new businesses fail. Failure must so be taken into account while valuing.

6. Positive Free Cash Flows Are Years Away:

Anticipated break even and positive free cash flows are frequently in the relatively far future, regardless of the sales and marketing plan. If predicting the sources and uses of finances for the upcoming month might be difficult for startups, making long-term estimates that extend beyond break even is a more formidable task.

Check your business valuation in just 10 minutes

7. No Comparable Firms:

Finding publicly traded companies with a comparable business strategy will also be difficult for a startup with a truly novel idea. The lack of similar companies makes it more difficult to validate the business strategy and estimate important valuation characteristics like a fair growth rate of the pertinent cost of capital.

8. Additional Risks:

Startups frequently face other “systematic” risks as well, like finance issues, survival issues, and technical difficulties. These extra risks are usually not taken into account in full when assessing the cost of capital with comparable enterprises.

9. Hockey Sticks:

Startup companies’ revenue projections usually look like a hockey stick: flat for a few years, then sharply rising after that. Regretfully, most businesses never reach the stage where their earnings begin to rise. When they do, the growth period is frequently shorter and less dramatic than expected.

10. Management Flexibility:

The management has freedom in how the firm is launched because the majority of significant investments are made in the far future. For instance, if demand is not as strong as anticipated, it might invest less or promote an alternative sales channel. Such adaptability in management may represent worthwhile actual choices. Nevertheless, the majority of conventional valuation techniques have difficulty accurately capturing these genuine options.

11. Dependence on Funding Rounds:

Start-ups sometimes require many investment rounds to finance their expansion. The valuation process can become more complex as a result of valuation changes that occur between fundraising rounds, contingent upon investor opinion, market conditions, and the company’s progress.

12. Subjective And Biases:

Start-up valuation is subjective in that it relies heavily on assumptions, market trends, and investor sentiment. Divergent growth projections and varying degrees of risk tolerance among investors might lead to divergent value.

These difficulties make it more difficult to put together a business or financial strategy, estimate capital costs, use relative valuation, and employ discounted cash flow techniques. Or, to put it another way, they complicate corporate value.

Still, in order to acquire capital, a business needs a financial plan. It must specify in this plan how much money it needs, when it needs it, when capital suppliers can anticipate receiving their first payments, and when they can expect to withdraw their investment. Pro forma income statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets are among the documents needed for this financial strategy. This financial strategy can serve as a foundation for our company’s valuation.

The main focus of this module is to discuss the application of standard valuation techniques in the context of startup firms. In particular, we discuss:

• How to modify the DCF-approach to obtain a very approximate potential valuation of the business in order to facilitate acquisitions.
• How venture capitalists typically value companies
• How to calculate the issue price of an equity offering based on its prospective valuation
• How to guard against “dilution” in upcoming funding rounds for investors
• How option pricing can be used to capture the true option value of fledgling companies and when it cannot.

The business and the investors must also agree on a price in order to raise capital. It’s implied from the difficulties raised above that this won’t always be simple. Most of the time, an entrepreneur has far higher expectations for his business than do possible investors. Finding a transaction structure that takes into account the varying tastes and expectations of both sides will therefore be essential. The “Deal Structuring” module provides detailed instructions on how to identify these structures and subsequently enable deals.

Also Read: Business Continuity Plan

In managing and growing their companies, seasoned entrepreneurs prepare for unforeseen circumstances. Operations disruptions could cost your firm a lot of money or cause serious losses. But when issues emerge, business owners and entrepreneurs who create a business continuity plan (BCP) can be ahead of the game.
Discover the definition, potential uses, and operation of business continuity plans (BCPs) in our overview.

What’s a Business Continuity Plan?

Any company may have disruptions in its operations. Occasionally, a calamity strikes without warning and does more damage than anticipated to corporate operations. Being ready for these interruptions can help you reduce risks and protect yourself from unfavorable circumstances.
A business continuity plan (BCP) is a collection of procedures and actions that are typically documented in a document and serve to maintain stability in the event of operational disruptions. In the event of an unanticipated disruption, this paper assists in proactively solidifying systems and procedures to keep things operating.

Companies should write business continuity plans to encompass a wide variety of unexpected occurrences. These may include:

• Natural disasters
• Power outages
• Public health emergencies
• Civil unrest
• Cyberattacks
• Supply chain issues
• Reputational damage
• Acts of terror

How to Create a Business Continuity Plan?

Plans for business continuity might vary greatly from firm to company. Business continuity plans should, however, generally include explicit policies, recovery plans, and backup plans for promptly resuming regular business operations and restoring vital business functions.

Key steps to creating your plan:

1. Assess And Identify Vulnerabilities.

Assemble your teams to produce an analysis of the business impact. The analysis ought to encompass potentially catastrophic disruptions and their potential effects on finances and operations. Think about discussing:
– Essential business operations a summary of the essential company functions that must continue in the case of an unforeseen interruption.
– Potential dangers to essential company operations a list of the most plausible dangers unique to the company. Potential hazards can be found with the aid of a risk assessment and business impact analysis.

2. Create And Prepare Your Plan.

Enterprises must concentrate on their recovery procedures, reaction, correspondence, and the duties and responsibilities of team members carrying out strategies. BCPs ought to contain:

– Accountable parties: a personnel and team roster called the continuity team, which is in charge of carrying out the business continuity strategy.
– Strategies for preventing and regaining business disruptions: The strategies and procedures for resuming vital business operations are described in these policies’ particular operational and backup plans.
– Key personnel, emergency personnel, suppliers, etc. can be reached at: a directory of people to contact on the business continuity team for assistance in implementing backup plans and resuming operations.

3. Test And Train.

Once your plan has been created, test it and train continuity teams. If staff members haven’t rehearsed carrying out the strategy, even a carefully designed one may not succeed. You ought to:
Describe the procedures used to test business continuity plans a summary of the steps involved in ensuring that a company’s emergency or disaster plans will function as intended.

4. Update Your Plan.

These policies can and ought to be “living, breathing” documents that are routinely examined and revised as necessary. Make sure a plan is in place for routinely testing, evaluating, and reevaluating plans.
Depending on the type of business, a continuity plan’s actual contents will change. In order to determine the biggest and most likely threats to their operations and to choose the best course for business recovery, businesses frequently conduct risk assessments and business impact analyses.

Business Continuity Plans vs. Disaster Recovery Plans

“People frequently discuss business continuity and disaster recovery planning together. The two ideas complement one other. Even though the terms are occasionally used synonymously, it’s crucial to understand their distinctions.

Here are some key differences between the plans:

1. Business Continuity Plans

• Plans that are specific and proactive about how a company will respond in the event of a disaster or other unforeseen business interruption.
• Address a variety of situations, both little and large.
• These programs may concentrate more on holistic prevention and preparation.

2. Disaster Recovery Plans

• Outline procedures in advance for reacting to emergencies.
• Record a company’s response to a significant incident so that it may resume safe, regular operations.
• Discusses information technology, data security, and strategies for recovering data access and backup data in the event of a disaster.

Why are Business Continuity Plans Important?

Plans for business continuity play a crucial role in an organization’s entire risk-management approach. They serve as the cornerstone for a company’s strategy for emergency management and disaster preparedness in all situations. Building your company’s resilience in the face of future unpredictability starts with a business continuity plan, or BCP.

If a firm doesn’t have a solid business continuity plan—and related paperwork, such a catastrophe response plan—it can find itself in a precarious situation when an unforeseen incident occurs. Plans for business continuity are in place to assist mitigate both short- and long-term risks and to offer a route back to stability.

Supplement business continuity plans with other risk-management documents, like succession plans, to ensure comprehensive proactive protection. Businesses can reduce risk more successfully the more ways they can support their operations in the case of an emergency or disaster. In fact, in the event of a disaster, doing so can assist safeguard your company’s revenue.