Before Advisory · mandate
Your fundraising, run all the way to signing.
In equity or in debt, we structure the round, build the investor file, check the figures, and run the process alongside you.
Before Partners advises SMEs, mid-caps and growth companies on their fundraisings, in equity or in debt.
Investors read everything. The file must hold up.
Two things weaken a fundraising: an investor file that does not hold up, and preparation started too late.
An investor file that does not hold up stops at the first meeting.
The presentation, the business plan and the figures are read closely, and every question looks for what does not hold up.
A fundraising is prepared before cash gets tight.
Building the investor file, checking the figures and choosing the investors takes time. That time is taken beforehand, while the company can still wait.
A mandate, from preparation to signing.
It unfolds in four stages.
Preparation
We quantify the need, build the investor file and check the figures, before any approach.
Targeting and approach
We select the investors that match the company on their criteria (thesis), the amount they invest (ticket) and their timetable, and we set the order in which to approach them.
Negotiation
We compare the investors' offers (term sheets): valuation, dilution, governance, and what each one really leaves you.
Signing
We coordinate the investors' checks, then the final documentation and the shareholders' agreement, through to signing.
Two offers at €4m do not leave you the same amount.
Both investors bring the same amount, for the same share of the equity: 20%. A single clause separates them. With offer B, on the day the company is sold, the investor first recovers its investment, then takes its share of the rest. The example assumes a sale at €24m.
less for the founders, for the same amount raised.
- In €k
- Offer A
- Offer B
- Sale price of the company
- 24,000
- 24,000
- Investment first recovered by the investor
- —
- − 4,000
- Investor's share, 20%
- − 4,800
- − 4,000
- Left to the founders
- 19,200
- 16,000
Example with fictitious figures, on a liquidation preference clause; the founders hold the rest of the equity. No real case is represented.
Who runs your fundraising, and with what.
The founder of Before Partners, Stéphane Hincourt‑Thomassin, runs your fundraising himself. His background →
Direct
You have the same point of contact from the first figure to signing. Examining accounts is his original profession.
Before OS
Our platform takes on the mechanical part of a fundraising: the model, the documents, the data room. We do not start again from a blank page.
Equity or debt, for a growing company.
Financing a project
You have an acquisition, an investment or a stage of development to finance. The need is quantified before it is presented.
Financing what comes next
Your cash runway is getting shorter. The investor file must be ready before cash gets tight.
The right investors
We turn to funds, business angels, family offices or lenders, and we select those that match you on their criteria and the amount they invest.
What the mandate produces.
- Structuring the roundWe set with you the need, the cash runway, the choice between equity and debt, the dilution you accept, and the timetable.
- DocumentingWe produce the file that investors will read: the presentation, the business plan, the data room.
- Checking the figuresWe deliver a financial model that holds up to questions: its assumptions are traceable, its scenarios are set out, and it is consistent with the accounts.
Figures that hold up, offers read to the end.
We check your figures before showing them, we read the offers to the end, and we put equity and debt on the same table.
Figures that hold up
Every assumption in the model ties back to the accounts. Investors' questions do not bring the model down.
Offers read to the end
We compare the offers on what you are really left with, once valuation, the investor's rights and governance are counted.
Equity and debt, on the same table
We look at both, and we compare what each one costs and what it leaves you.
A fundraising that finances acquisitions, or a sale ahead?
The transaction is then led from the inside: we prepare the company, we look with you at what is handed to an outside firm, we run the process, then we follow up on what was signed. That is Before Leadership, your company's M&A function, before the transaction, during it, and after signing. The fundraising is run within it, along with the rest.
What we are asked most often.
What does a fundraising advisory mandate cover?
A mandate that covers three things: structuring the round (financing need, equity or debt, dilution, timetable), documenting it for investors (presentation, business plan, data room) and validating the financial model (traceable assumptions, scenarios, consistency with the accounts). Before Partners runs it for SMEs, mid-caps and growth companies, through to signing.
What is the difference between a fundraising mandate and an outsourced M&A function?
The fundraising mandate covers a fundraising, from preparation to signing, when it is your only transaction. If the fundraising finances acquisitions, or if a sale follows, the transaction is led from the inside: that is Before Leadership, the company's M&A function, run on a fractional basis.
Who do you raise funds from?
Funds, business angels, family offices or lenders, depending on whether you raise equity or debt. We select those that match the company on their criteria (thesis), the amount they invest (ticket) and their timetable, and we set the order in which to approach them.
Let's talk about your fundraising.
We look at where your investor file stands, your cash runway, and what needs to be in hand before approaching investors.
Book a call — 30 min →