Strategies for Faster Capital Raises

July 25, 2024

Introduction: Why Efficiency Is So Important in Capital-Raising

A successful online capital-raising campaign requires two things: time and resources. The effort you invest can produce incredible results, but in order to get the most out of your campaign, efficiency is key. The longer a fundraising campaign drags on, the more resources it consumes and the greater the opportunity cost for your business. That's why raise efficiency isn't just a nice-to-have—it's a critical factor that can determine the success of your capital raise and, by extension, your business.

But what exactly do we mean by raise efficiency? At its core, raise efficiency is about maximizing the amount of capital raised while minimizing the time and resources expended. It's about creating a smooth, streamlined process that allows you to connect with the right investors quickly and convert their interest into committed capital. In this post, we'll explore how to do just that, with a particular focus on how the right fundraising platform—like DealMaker—can significantly boost your efficiency.

Key Factors Affecting Fundraising Efficiency

Before we dive into strategies for improvement, it's crucial to understand the key factors that impact fundraising efficiency. These include:

a. Platform Usability

The capital-raising platform you choose plays a pivotal role in your campaign's efficiency. A user-friendly platform makes it easy for both you and your potential investors to navigate your offering. Features like intuitive interfaces, streamlined document management, and automated compliance checks can significantly reduce friction and speed up the investment process.

b. Data Accessibility and Analysis

In today's data-driven world, having access to real-time, comprehensive data about your capital raise is invaluable. This includes data on investor behavior, campaign performance metrics, full-funnel visibility, and more. The ability to quickly access and analyze this data allows you to make informed decisions and pivot your strategy as needed.

c. Investor Communication

Effective, timely communication with potential investors is crucial for maintaining momentum in your funding campaign. This includes everything from your initial outreach to ongoing updates and responses to investor queries. The easier it is to manage these communications, the more efficient your raise process will be.

d. Brand Presentation

How you present your brand and your investment opportunity can significantly impact the efficiency of your raise. A clear, compelling, and professional offering page can help you attract investor interest and convert that interest into commitments more effectively.

e. Support and Guidance

Navigating the complexities of a capital-raising campaign can be challenging, especially for first-time raisers. Having access to expert support and guidance can help you avoid common pitfalls, optimize your strategy, and ultimately raise funds more efficiently.

Strategies for Improving Efficiency

Now that we understand the key factors affecting raise efficiency, let's explore some strategies for improvement:

a. Streamlining the Investor Journey

One of the most effective ways to improve raise efficiency is to streamline the investor journey. This means creating a smooth, intuitive process from the moment an investor discovers your opportunity to the point where they make a commitment.

Strategies for streamlining the investor journey include:

  • Hosting your offering on your own website with a clear “Invest Now” button
  • Using a compelling headline and “sizzle reel” as your digital elevator pitch
  • Making key information easily accessible on your offering page
  • Reducing the number of steps required to invest
  • Automating as much of the process as possible, including document signing and ID verification

b. Leveraging Real-Time Data for Quick Pivots

In capital-raising, as in business, agility is key. By leveraging real-time data about your campaign's performance, you can quickly identify what's working and what's not, allowing you to make rapid adjustments to your strategy.

For example, if your data shows that a particular type of investor is showing more interest, you can quickly shift your focus to target similar investors. Or if you notice that certain marketing messages are resonating more strongly, you can double down on those messages in your outreach.

c. Personalizing Investor Outreach

Generic, one-size-fits-all approaches to investor outreach are rarely efficient. Instead, personalizing your communications based on investor preferences, behavior, and stage in the investment process can significantly improve your conversion rates.

This might involve segmenting your investor list and tailoring your messaging for each segment, or using data on investor behavior to time your follow-ups for maximum impact.

d. Optimizing Your Campaign's Brand Presence

Your brand presence is often the first thing potential investors encounter, so optimizing it can have a significant impact on your raise’s efficiency. This includes:

  • Crafting a clear, compelling narrative about your business and investment opportunity
  • Creating professional, eye-catching visuals that communicate key information effectively
  • Ensuring consistency across all touchpoints, from your campaign page to your pitch deck and beyond

e. Utilizing Expert Support and Guidance

Don't underestimate the value of expert support and guidance in improving your campaign’s efficiency. This might come in the form of mentorship from experienced founders, advice from financial advisors, or support from your fundraising platform's team.

Leveraging this expertise can help you avoid common pitfalls, optimize your strategy based on best practices, and navigate complex regulatory requirements more efficiently.

How DealMaker Enhances Fundraising Efficiency

While the strategies above can be implemented to some degree regardless of your capital-raising platform, choosing the right platform can significantly amplify their impact. This is where DealMaker shines.

DealMaker was built from the ground up with efficiency in mind. Here's how it addresses each of the key factors we discussed earlier:

  1. Platform Usability: DealMaker offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface that makes it easy for both companies and investors to navigate the financing process. Features like one-click investment and automated document management significantly reduce friction and speed up the process.
  2. Data Accessibility and Analysis: With DealMaker, you have access to real-time, comprehensive data about your campaign. Our advanced analytics tools allow you to quickly identify trends, track performance, and make data-driven decisions.
  3. Investor Communication: DealMaker provides robust tools for managing investor communications, including automated updates, personalized messaging capabilities, and an integrated CRM system.
  4. Brand Presentation: Unlike some platforms that constrain your ability to present your brand, DealMaker gives you full control over your campaign's look and feel. This allows you to create a professional, branded experience that resonates with your target investors.
  5. Support and Guidance: DealMaker offers dedicated support from fundraising experts who can provide guidance throughout your campaign, helping you optimize your strategy and navigate any challenges that arise.

By addressing these key factors, DealMaker helps companies raise funds more efficiently, often leading to faster, more successful raises.

Conclusion: The Impact of Improved Efficiency on Overall Raise Success

Improving efficiency can have a profound impact on the success of your capital raise. By streamlining processes, leveraging data effectively, personalizing communications, optimizing your brand presence, and utilizing expert support, you can:

  1. Raise funds faster, allowing you to get back to focusing on your core business sooner
  2. Reduce the resources (time, money, personnel) required for your capital-raising efforts
  3. Improve your conversion rates, potentially leading to more capital raised
  4. Create a better experience for your investors, which can lead to stronger relationships and potential follow-on investments
  5. Gain valuable insights that can inform not just your current raise, but future efforts as well

In today's competitive landscape, efficiency can be the difference between a successful raise and a struggle. By focusing on the factors and strategies we've discussed, and by choosing a platform like DealMaker that's designed to maximize efficiency, you can give your capital-raising efforts the best possible chance of success.

Remember, fundraising isn't just about the destination (the amount raised), but also about the journey. A more efficient fundraising process not only helps you reach your goals faster but also sets you up for long-term success by allowing you to build better investor relationships and gain valuable insights along the way.

So as you prepare for your next raise, ask yourself: How can I make my fundraising more efficient? The answer to that question could be the key to your next successful round.

Monogram Case Study - DealMaker (Embed)

When VCs said no, Monogram turned to retail investors. That decision powered their rise from startup to publicly traded company—and even helped them raise an additional $13M privately after their Nasdaq debut.

Monogram at NASDAQ celebration

The Challenge: Raising Capital on Their Terms

The Challenge: Raising on Their Terms

Monogram Technologies was founded with a bold vision: to revolutionize orthopedic surgery with a robotic joint replacement system using custom 3D-printed joints. The market for this technology is massive—approximately $19.6 billion, with over 1 million knee replacements per year. But it's a capital-intensive, regulation-heavy space—and traditional VCs weren't biting.

Instead of compromising, co-founders Dr. Doug Unis and Ben Sexson went all-in on a different path: retail capital. Why?

  • Control and ownership: Not only were they able to raise the capital they needed to grow the business—they did it on their own terms.
  • Long-term asset: They wanted to build an army of true believers who wanted to see the company succeed and would continue to reinvest over the years.
  • A value-add network: Raising from retail allowed Monogram to amass a waiting list of thousands of patients eager to participate in future trials.
  • Aligned incentives: Their mission to improve patient outcomes and build a better future for those struggling with joint pain resonated with retail investors.

The Power of Retail: Monogram's Capital Journey

Start Date End Date Type Platform Amount Raised # Investors
3/13/193/31/20A+SeedInvest$14,588,6686,000
11/16/201/16/21A+StartEngine$2,965,5018,000
1/17/212/18/22A+StartEngine$23,647,85314,082
7/15/223/16/23CFDealMaker$4,673,0002,249
3/1/234/8/23A+Republic$232,275120
3/1/235/23/23A+DealMaker$15,958,3645,198
5/18/23-Nasdaq listing
7/2410/24Unit OfferingDealMaker$12,990,1032,745

Monogram Capital Raise Timeline

Monogram's first direct-to-investor raise was a $14.6M round in 2019. Since then, Monogram has raised retail capital six additional times, using Reg A+ as a springboard to a Nasdaq listing in 2023.

Each raise brought in new believers—and more importantly, kept bringing them back. That's the long-term power of retail capital. It's not just one campaign—it's a compounding asset that grows with the business.

$80M+
Raised across seven campaigns
~40,000
Investors championing Monogram's vision
20%
Of each raise came from previous investors

Marketing Excellence

DealMaker Reach provided strategic investor acquisition services, helping Monogram connect with the right audience through high-impact channels.

Premium Publications

Targeted campaigns in premium publications like Morning Brew captured qualified investors

High-Engagement Webinars

Engaging events that generated over $4.3 million in investments

Community Building

Strategic approaches that fostered a loyal shareholder base

Investment Momentum

Innovative approaches that amplified investment momentum

Monogram's Journey to Success

Monogram's journey has been defined by relentless innovation, strategic fundraising, and breakthrough advancements in robotic-assisted joint replacement. From early-stage research to a Nasdaq listing and beyond, Monogram's milestones reflect its evolution into a pioneering force in orthopedic surgery:

  • Filed its first patent application in 2017
  • Conducted clinical studies at UCLA and University of Nebraska
  • Expanded the team with key hires
  • Attracted a top-tier advisory board to guide clinical innovations
  • Signed their first distribution partnerships
  • Made headlines with cutting-edge live demonstrations
  • Secured 501(k) FDA clearance for the mBôs surgical system

Nasdaq Debut & Beyond

In May 2023, Monogram Orthopaedics successfully listed on the Nasdaq—a significant milestone offering liquidity and growth opportunities for the company.

For most companies, that would be the end of their story in the private markets. But for Monogram, it was just the beginning of a new chapter.

Public perception says you can't raise privately post-IPO. Monogram proved that wrong.

Defying conventional fundraising norms, Monogram raised an additional $13 million from private investors, powered by DealMaker. This move highlighted the power of a dedicated investor community and provided additional strategic growth capital. Meanwhile, strategic digital marketing for the private offering helped boost the public share price—a win-win for the company and its investors, both public and private.

This was retail capital at its best: strategic, repeatable, and aligned.

One vision. Zero compromises.

This wasn't a one-time raise. It was a multi-year capital strategy.

Retail capital helped Monogram:

  • Go from concept to commercialization without relying on VCs
  • Retain ownership and control in a high-burn industry
  • Build a base of loyal shareholders who invested not once, but over and over again
  • Uplist to the Nasdaq, and still keep raising post-IPO

This is what makes retail capital different. It doesn't expire—it compounds. And DealMaker is built to maximize that long-term value.

Dr. Doug Unis Quote
Ben Sexson Quote

Ready to Raise Capital on Your Terms?

Whether you're pre-revenue or post-IPO, DealMaker gives you the infrastructure, support, and strategy to raise from the people who believe in you most.

Explore Raising Capital with DealMaker
DealMaker Logo

The ultimate technology for raising capital online

Talk to the experts
The ultimate technology for raising capital online - talk to the experts