Index and AvP launch Startup Banking service to bridge early stage funding gap in Europe

The lifecycle of early stage startups is a feedback loop between two states: developing a product and raising funding. The better the product, the better the chances at funding. The more flush with cash the startup, the more room for product improvement there is.

Startups don’t have it easy, though. Even if the product is solid, netting investment is an uphill battle. Fundraising is a process of convincing people with money to make an emotional decision based on objective metrics. An opaque undertaking to begin with, and often a guessing game as to which investors will be receptive to your pitch. And it costs time – a lot of time.

Contrary to large corporates – which can afford to hire an investment banker to take care of financial matters and attract funding – many early stage startups struggle to position themselves in a favourable light to the right selection of investors.

Stacking the deck against startups even further, investors in Europe’s most advanced tech ecosystems are notoriously risk-averse. Data (collected between 2016 and 2017) from our intelligence platform Index shows that in the European ecosystem, the survival rate for seed-stage funded startups to Series A is below 20% – and that’s the generous interpretation.

Index and Amsterdam Venture Partners (AvP) are collaborating to fill this gap by launching Startup Banking, a metrics-driven, hands-on approach to fundraising for startups.

The new partnership offers early stage European startups the expertise of investment banking at favourable terms and affordable rates. It can help startups raise their Seed or Series A round by combining the experience of AvP’s former investment bankers with world-class machine learning and matchmaking algorithms developed by Index.

A certified name in the European startup world, the tried and tested intelligence platform Index was used at our 2017 conference to successfully set up over 3,800 meetings between startups and investors over the course of two days.

Measure, match, meet

Startup Banking is a metrics-driven approach to fundraising. This means Startup Bankers help you make your company’s metrics insightful to investors. Based on their knowledge of what data-oriented investors are looking for when making funding decisions, Startup Bankers will coach you through developing a strategy by initially identifying, calculating and monitoring relevant KPIs.

Working closely with you and your team, they will craft a narrative and a tailor made pitch for investors and distribute it to the most suitable ones in their international network.

Finally, they will keep the investors updated on your progress and make sure to get you a meeting with them.

How to sign up

Whether you already have a proposal deck and want to get into the market or you’re just starting out, startup bankers can coach you through the process, freeing up time so you can focus on what’s important: the product.

Startup Banking is a bespoke service for startups looking to get funded, and is focused on select companies with an international focus and ambition for exponential growth. Keen to see what this is all about and whether your startup fits the bill? Fill in the application form to request an intro call and take the first step towards getting funded.