Overview

Raising capital is not a fundraising exercise. It is a business exercise disguised as one. The investors you want will decide in the first thirty minutes whether you understand your own business well enough to be trusted with theirs. Everything before, during, and after the pitch is about that trust.

These engagements cover the full arc: readiness diagnostic, positioning and narrative, investor targeting, materials, meeting preparation, term-sheet negotiation, and close mechanics. I've raised international capital myself, sat on both sides of the table, and closed deals with strategic investors including a major European telco. What I bring is not a template deck. It's a read on what's true, what's saleable, and what's still missing.

What I Do

Investor readiness is a scoped, honest look at how a fund partner will read your business the day you send the deck. Nothing gets fixed by making the slides prettier. The work is on the business, the story, and the mechanics of the round.

Capital raise engagements include:

• Investor readiness diagnostic covering metrics, story, financials, team, and gaps
  
  

• Round strategy for pre-seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, or bridge rounds, or strategic investment
  
  

• Narrative and positioning for the round
  
  

• Investor deck build, restructure, or stress-test
  
  

• Financial model review, cohort analysis, and scenario planning
  
  

• Investor targeting: Tier 1 VCs, sector-specialist funds, strategic investors, family offices
  
  

• Warm-intro strategy across European, US, and Asian investor networks
  
  

• Pitch preparation, mock investor sessions, and post-meeting debrief
  
  

• Term-sheet review, negotiation strategy, and close mechanics support
  
  

• Bridge planning and existing investor communication
  
  

• International PR and media strategy for round momentum and investor visibility
  
  

• Coordination with legal counsel and CFO/financial partners for round execution and close mechanics

  
  

Structure follows what stage you're at. Pre-round, mid-round, or in a live negotiation. Every scope is different. Engagements are scoped and priced up front. There are no hourly rates.

How I Work

The work begins with a two-week readiness diagnostic. Metrics, story, financials, team, and the pattern underneath. Investors will read all of it whether you show it or not, so the smart move is to see it first, together.

From there, we build the round. Positioning, materials, targeting, meeting prep, and post-meeting course correction. If the round is already live, I step in mid-flight and help with the specific mechanics: negotiation, term sheet review, or a stalled process that needs unblocking. If a term sheet is on the table, I sit with you on the numbers, the covenants, and the second-order consequences that are easy to miss until they are signed.

Fundraises don't get won by luck. They get won by knowing the answers to questions the room hasn't asked yet.

A well-run round is rarely just about the deck. Legal counsel, financial modelling, PR positioning, and investor relations all need to be moving in parallel. I coordinate that stack: corporate lawyers, CFO or fractional CFO support, PR and media partners, and the introductions themselves. You show up to every investor meeting with a coherent business behind you, not a scattered set of advisors.

Why It Matters

Every wasted investor meeting has a compounding cost. Your time. Round momentum. Reputation with the investor community you'll want back for the next round. A single week of preparation with someone who has raised capital themselves often replaces months of trial and error.

Capital raise advisory is not about being coached on how to pitch. It's about knowing which round is the right one, at what valuation, from what type of investor, on what terms, and what to do if the process stalls. That is what turns a fundable business into a fundable round.

What You Can Expect

Founders, CEOs and management teams raising with Szel & Partners typically see:

• A cleaner, sharper investor deck built on what actually matters

• Faster investor conversations because the narrative lands the first time

• Higher-quality investor meetings driven by warm intros

• Better term sheets through stronger negotiation preparation

• Fewer stalled processes and faster close mechanics

• You walk out of the round more informed than you walked in

• Full-stack round coordination: legal, financial, PR, and investor relations moving in one cadence

Whether you're raising your first Seed, negotiating a Series B term sheet, or bringing a strategic investor to the table, the difference is having someone in the room who has closed rounds themselves, not just advised on them.