The Green Light Programme

The Green Light Programme is a light touch investment readiness programme that takes place over 5 weeks on a regular basis throughout the year.

The aim of the programme is to assist London based tech founders to reach a credible position to raise early seed-seed stage funding. Throughout and following your time with us we will leverage our connections within the London Investment scene to introduce you to and set up meetings with early stage VC and angel investors in your sector. We are a cross sector part ERDF-funded programme that’s free for founders to take part in – all we ask for is founders who are driven with a strong product and keen to make the most of the advice and opportunities provided to you by your time on the programme!

 

Programme Structure

This is a light touch programme and as such all we ask for is five afternoons of your time over a 5 week period as well as your mentor meetings which will take place as and when suits yourself and your mentor.

The afternoon sessions consist of four workshop sessions covering:

• Introducing the London Investment Scene

1. • Introduction to the London scene and the investors working here
   • What motivates a Crowd Funder/ Angel/ VC/ Corporate VC and how do you pitch to them?
   • Preparing your Teaser Deck – information you need and what will turn off an investor straight away!

• Investment Masterclass

1. • Three hour session where we bring in one VC and one Angel to go over their approaches to investment
   • The VC/Angel process and what each investor looks for
   • How do you find the right investor for you and what questions should you be asking them?
   • You’re in a meeting with an investor you aren’t pitching to – make the most of it!

• Pitch Doctor 2 and Investor Lounge

1. • How to sell yourself and your startup to get that funding!
   • Perfecting your deck – you’ve learnt the basics, now put that into practice and make a deck that will grab your investor’s interest.
   • 3 key questions every investor will ask, and how to nail your response

• Pitch Workshop

1. • Three and a half hour session on presenting in an authentic and credible manner
   • Led by Amy Tez, a former actor turned performance coach, this session will focus not on what you present but how – come ready to informally pitch your startup (no slides) and receive and give feedback to your peers.

After the sessions we put you forward for the Investor Lounge where we introduce you to the investors in our network! A bit like founder speed dating, investors will book you in for up to four half hour one to one meetings in the space of two hours. PLEASE NOTE as investors book in meetings for themselves we cannot guarantee who you will meet during this session.

In addition to these sessions each founding team will be connected with a mentor to advise them on their personal investment strategy including deck re-hauls, investor hit lists, and any other investment related queries you may have.

After you have completed the formal programme we will continue to work with you to introduce you to investors and help you close your round. Our aim is to get 50% of startups funded or onto another support programme in the 3 months following your time working with us.

 

Programme Dates

We run the Green Light Programme every 5-6 weeks with the exception of August and December. We understand that fundraising and running a business are both time-consuming activities so if your schedule for the next month doesn’t allow you to join the next cohort don’t worry! We can always put you on a later programme that better suits you.

Below are the dates for the next three programmes, if you would prefer to join a particular programme then please specify this in your application.

 

4th September – 3rd October

04/09/18 – Introduction

06/09/18 – Investment Masterclass

12/09/18 – Pitch Doctor

18/09/18 – Pitch Workshop

03/10/18 – Investor Lounge

 

17th October – 14th November

17/10/18 – Introduction

23/10/18 – Investment Masterclass

25/10/18 – Pitch Doctor

31/10/18 – Pitch Workshop

14/11/18 – Investor Lounge

 

20th November – 14th November

20/11/18 – Introduction

22/11/18 – Investment Masterclass

27/11/18 – Pitch Doctor

29/11/18 – Pitch Workshop

12/12/18 – Investor Lounge

 

Programme Requirements

We’re a cross sector programme so don’t require you to focus on any particular area, so long as your startup is using technology to provide a real world solution that people will use.

Startups join us at varying stages of the fundraising process. Some will have raised a small round before, others will be raising for the first time after bootstrapping or going for a Friends and Family round. As a rough guideline we tend to work with founders raising £250,00 – £1.5m. What you will be expected to have achieved to date will depend on your startup and the area you work in so if you’re not sure whether you’re eligible drop us a note and we can advise you on next steps.

The programme is fully funded by Capital Enterprise’s part-ERDF funded project CASTS so is completely free for you to take part, as long as you are based in London (you will need to provide evidence to prove this).

 

Sounds too good to good to be true… What’s the catch?

No catch! At Capital Enterprise it is our mission to provide outstanding support to founders growing a business at every stage of their journey. To this end the Green Light Programme aims to guide and advise you through what can arguably be the most challenging stage for any young business.

 

Testimonials…

“The Green Light Programme was fantastic – it introduced us to a range of VCs, including one who became a core investor, and helped us to articulate what we’re doing in a much more effective & snappy way, which is critical when talking to any investor”

Mark Nicholson, CEO, Vivacity Labs

“The Green Light Programme helped Popsa transform ourselves from a bootstrapped MVP to a rapidly growing startup that has generated more than half-a-million pounds in revenue – all in the space of a year.

The mentorship and access to their network was hugely valuable. If you’re prepared to listen and put in the effort then your startup’s chances of success will unquestionably be improved.”

Liam Houghton, CEO, Popsa