A History of Raising Capital at Stage 1 Financial

We are a highly focused agency that specializes in working with venture-backed, consumer businesses. We have the privilege to see young businesses grow and succeed, but we also take a lot of pride in the help we provide our clients in securing more capital. As the saying goes, cash is king, and we aim to see all our clients become royalty.

Here is a brief rundown of how our clients have done in finding financing.

• Total Capital Raised in 2021 was $79M, lead by Beauty at just north of 40M in total investments
• This represents a 101% (more than $39M) increase over 2020
• Beauty leads the way with an almost $30M increase year-over-year

When it comes to prepping, networking, and securing venture capital, we have a proven track record. We will continue to update this data set as time passes and more deals are closed, so keep an eye on this article for updates.

Raising funds can be a challenging, stressful experience. This is especially true if you’ve never raised capital before. You don’t want to sacrifice too much of your business equity, but you also don’t want to miss out on the right opportunity to accelerate the growth of your business. The good news is you don’t have to blindly tackle this on your own. We at Stage 1 Financial are here to lend a hand and be your guide.

Our Transaction Services team has helped many businesses find and secure funding. This roadmap will share their expertise and experience with you as you begin to look at finding funding. Not every raise happens exactly the same way, but in general, you can expect the processes to take six to nine months. When working with professionals like our transaction services team, you will cover the following steps on your journey to find an investment.

Prep Work: Clean the Books

It’s time to bust out the broom because the first step is cleaning your books. The devil is in the details, and you have to have all those little details cleaned up and ready to survive some intense scrutiny. It may not be the most exciting place to begin, but that’s why Stage 1 Financial is here. We will give your books the works to ensure that you can pass any inspection.

Milestone #1: Financial Model

Once your books are in order, we can set our eyes on the first milestone: building your financial model. In simple terms, this means creating a budget that shows where your business will be in the next 2 to 3 years. The tighter and more accurate you can get this model, the better positioned you’ll be in raising capital.

Milestone #2: Review Your Deck and Pitch

This is the phase that benefits greatly from experience and insight into the mind of investors. There are plenty of other accounting and finance firms that can provide adequate assistance with the other steps, but this is where Stage 1 Financial becomes indispensable. We will help coach you on speaking with potential investors and provide guidance on your investor deck so that it is dialed in and ready to wow.

Milestone #3: Due Diligence

No one is going to invest in your business without thoroughly reviewing your accounts. Potential investors will bring in their own team to review the accuracy of your financials. This is not a “fake it ‘til you make it” kind of situation. If everything is above board and the numbers are compelling, everything should transition smoothly to the next phase.

Post Work: Implement and Report

Once you’ve secured the funds, the work is just beginning. Now that you have brought in investors, they will often want to see quarterly or even monthly reporting. Stage 1 Financial is here to help build out those reports and help you to maintain a healthy relationship with your investment team. In some cases, you could also be required to do a yearly audit. That means keeping accurate and timely financials will continue to be important.

The Stage 1 Financial team is here to support you through the whole process. We can get your books ready, build out your model, set up intros, help pitch your deck, work with you to figure out who is the best investor for your business, secure the funds, and—most importantly—make sure those funds are then used to bring more success to your company. Now that you know the road map of what raising funds looks like, the next step is to reach out to us and start this process for your business.

Written by
Marissa Rudolph
A CFO at Stage 1 Financial

A major success has come to Made by Nacho as they closed a Series A round of funding led by CAVU Venture Partners. This $14 million investment comes as no surprise as Made by Nacho has quickly established itself as a strong pet food brand, backed by celebrity chef Bobby Flay and his famous cat Nacho.

They continue to be focused on providing innovation and aim to be the first true lifestyle brand for cats. These added funds will enable Made by Nacho to expand their offerings from their current four categories and 27 SKUs.

“We are happy for the Nacho team for securing this deal. This will allow the brand to accelerate its growth and deliver its wonderful product to more consumers. We are excited to be a part of this journey with the Nacho team!” shared Elena Minton, a CFO at Stage 1 Financial.

The future is looking bright for Made by Nacho. Cat owners owe it to their lovable pets to give this quality product a try. All of us at Stage 1 Financial are grateful to be a part of Made by Nacho’s journey, and we are extremely pleased to see them succeed and secure this much-needed round of funding.

Discover more partner news here!

Splendid Spoon has been making big moves in the meal delivery market by focusing on mainly smoothies, bowls, and soups, all of which are plant-based and delicious. They just closed a Series B round of funding in the amount of $12 million, which was led by Nicoya. 

We at Stage 1 Financial can’t wait to see the growth they will be able to achieve with this infusion of cash. Their plans for the added funding include scaling their product line and continuing to hire diverse team members to add valuable perspectives on their business and the market as a whole. 

“We’re extremely pleased to see Splendid Spoon secure this deal. It’s well deserved and will bring them to another level. We’ve loved working with them and look forward to accomplishing even more together,” shared our CEO Katy Triefenbach.

Stage 1 Financial and Splendid Spoon share the unique trait of being female-led, and it’s something we celebrate and encourage. Splendid Spoon has one of the many female founders with whom we work and is a great example of an ambitious startup that is growing fast and making waves in their industry. 

Discover more partner news here!

It is our great pleasure to announce that our client Sanzo has closed their series A round of funding! They have been doing amazing work in the beverage industry since their inception in 2019. They raised $10 million led by CircleUp Growth Partners and several other investment groups. 

Stage 1 Financial has been a strong believer in Sanzo and its sparkling water. Our Transaction Services team has been working tirelessly with them to obtain this round of funding. It’s been an amazing partnership that just goes to show what can be accomplished when a smart startup teams up with specialists who know the venture capital market. 

Our Head of Transaction Services, Kayleen St John had this to say, “We’re thrilled for Sandro Roco and all of team Sanzo on their latest fundraising milestone! This team is truly unstoppable and the Transaction Services team is proud to have supported the brand through the fundraising process. We’ll all be seeing a lot more from Sanzo as they roll out to nationwide distribution at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Panda Express this year. Selfishly, we’re also hoping this might mean even more delicious flavors added in the near future– Cheers to team Sanzo!”

This new round of funding will bring new opportunities for Sanzo to expand into new markets and to explore new flavors inspired by Asian fruits and other ingredients from that part of the world. The future is bright for Sanzo and we are excited to be a part of their journey. 

Discover more partner news here!

Shaka Tea has been acquired by King’s Hawaiian!

Our partner Shaka Tea, a beverage company based in Hawaii, has found a kindred spirit in King’s Hawaiian, a family-owned business with roots in Hawaii.

The details of this deal have not been shared, but Shaka Tea will continue to run independently, retaining all 21 staff members. King’s Hawaiian has been a big fan of Shaka since the beginning, with an investment in one of their previous funding rounds.

Shaka will continue operating out of Hilo, Hawaii. They have grown by triple digits over the last three years and are now in 8,000 stores with a goal of being in 20,000 stores before the end of 2022.

Read the full press release here

Discover Shaka Tea:

Championing sustainable agriculture and abundance.
Shaka Tea was founded in 2016 by Honolulu born and raised Bella Hughes and her husband Harrison Rice. Since 2018, Shaka Tea has called Hilo, Hawai’i home.

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We’re excited to offer a huge congratulations to our partner Yolélé on obtaining funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub) through Prosper Africa. They’ve been awarded a $1.98 million grant.

The story of  Yolélé is the story of Fonio. Fonio is an ancient grain that is gluten-free and drought-tolerant and has been around feeding the people of West Africa for 5,000 years. Now it’s a popular snack choice in America and quickly spreading globally thanks to Yolélé.

Yolélé is teaming up with another West African brand, Mali Shi SA, to develop Fonio into a viable cash crop to meet growing demand globally. The two companies are collaborating to create a new venture called WAAG (West African Ancient Grain).  Their hope is to build over 13k jobs in agriculture for the Mali region in West Africa as they substantially increase the production of Fonio. They will be sourcing the Fonio from thousands of smallholder farms. WAAG will also provide training in better agronomic practices to help improve the production of these small farms.

Read Yolélé’s full press release here.

Discover more partner news here!

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