Boot Camp

Last week, we kicked off our Fusion Connect with Capital programme with our dynamic two-day Boot Camp. Boot Camp marks the beginning of our outstanding cohort's 6-month journey to raising transformational seed and pre-seed funding. It is also a chance for our cohort to meet the Fusion team and the Investment Experts who will support them through the highs and lows as they venture on their path towards achieving investment completion.

What makes Fusion’s Boot Camp Unparalleled?  

The wide array of leading investment experts delivering our workshops and seminars makes Fusion's Boot Camp stand out. Their diverse backgrounds range from serial tech entrepreneurs to legal partners and angel investors. Drawing from their extensive experiences, they supplied our cohort with the tried and tested tools and information to accelerate them towards investment completion. 

Day 1 

Day one began with a brilliant session covering personal and team credibility and investment mindset. It was led by investment readiness expert, Morgan Killick. With over 25 years of experience, he advises and mentors businesses to flourish from start-ups to established companies with multi-million-pound turnovers. 

After a quick break, David Levine, Principle at Manchester Angels, gave an essential overview of how to successfully raise investment. His session gave our cohort a thorough understanding of what investors want to see and must gain from a pitch deck as well as advice on finding investors and executing impressive campaigns. David provided the cohort with an opportunity to understand the mindset of an investor, which will be critical to creating impactful pitches. 

Everyone at Boot Camp was treated to a delicious spread for lunch, which was a welcomed moment of relaxation for our cohort and investment experts alike. Over a mouth-watering array of sandwiches and wraps, everyone had an excellent chance to get to know each other and talk about their expectations and anticipation for the Fusion programme.

Following lunch, Shruti Iyengar reported on the promising state of venture capital investment into the Space sector which has seen a 55% growth in seed investment over the last twelve months. After this thrilling update, Shruti then introduced the cohort to the importance of term sheets. Term sheets can be seen as a letter of interest from an investor and can mark the beginning of a negotiation process.  

After a quick break, Marla Shapiro gave an in-depth session on what investors are looking for. As the founder and CEO of angel syndicate, HERmesa, her session gave our cohort a rare peak into the mind of an investor. Our cohort now has a new perspective to examine their ventures through. 

No matter their sector or concept, every entrepreneur must navigate the legal side of business. However, this is no longer such a daunting task for our cohort as Jo Nisbet, corporate partner at Harper Macleod LLP, one of Scotland’s leading independent law firms and our legal expert delivered a highly informative session. She explained different types of investment and delved into the investment process, covering everything from the investment agreement to ancillary documentation.  

After an intensive but beneficial day of sessions, everyone had another opportunity to network and debrief at a well-deserved drinks reception. This was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the beginning of Fusion Connect with Capital and the innovative ventures of each entrepreneur in the cohort.  

Day Two 

Day 2 opened with one-minute pitches. We had asked our cohort to prepare a one-minute pitch before Boot Camp that they would then present to the investment experts and their fellow Space entrepreneurs. As each entrepreneur presented, it was incredible to see the sheer amount of ambition and talent in the room. After presenting, our investment experts and the Fusion team gave each entrepreneur invaluable feedback on the content and delivery of their pitch. This exercise has provided the cohort with an excellent foundation on which to further improve for the upcoming Demo Days.  

After a tea break, the cohort was given a valuable session on valuation methods by the Founder and Managing Director of South East Angels, Kristina Pereckaite. Her seminar provided essential methods to value businesses fairly and attractively for investors. Through this session, our cohort also learnt how investors approach valuation based on its risk/reward potential. 

Giles Moore is a former founder having created and grown several ventures and is now Regional Development Manager for Par Equity, therefore he is the perfect person to give a session on raise amounts. He delved into current trends in venture capital and the importance of an investment strategy that looks at the bigger picture. 

Founder of angelgroups, Martin Avison, followed Giles with a great session on investment asset base. He explained what angel investors are expecting from a company they will potentially back. From lack of commercial evidence to reports, he also dived into the many reasons why an investor may say no, to help our cohort avoid these scenarios. 

Operational investment readiness is about being ready to utilise investment when it lands and to prove that you have clear intentions for the money and are ready to make those a reality. Andy Grey led the final Boot Camp session on this essential topic which got the cohort thinking about how they will use investment money and how they should prepare.  

A thorough wrap-up session marked the end of an intensive yet foundational Boot Camp. This included an extensive Q&A session which gave the cohort a chance to have their burning questions answered. During which, everyone had a final opportunity to discuss the day’s teachings and collect any useful contacts before disbanding to start applying their new knowledge to their ventures. 

What’s next? 

We are elated to have kicked off Fusion Connect with Capital programme with such a great Boot Camp. The two-day event successfully gave the cohort the fundamental knowledge they need to reach investment completion and has armed them with the tools they need, as well as lasting connections with their fellow Space entrepreneurs. 

Over the next few months, our cohort of 14 Space entrepreneurs will apply everything they have learnt from Boot Camp to start preparing for the Demo Days in April and June. These will be their golden opportunity to pitch to active investors and initiate deals to secure seed and pre-seed funding. 

We greatly look forward to seeing how our Space entrepreneurs evolve throughout the Fusion Connect with Capital programme and drive the UK Space sector to new heights. 

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