Social Startup Labs  

Social Startup Labs is a mission-driven agency that helps early-stage businesses make a difference by providing expert marketing and capital-raising services. With a focus on the Australian ecosystem, they offer expertise in equity crowdfunding, social media management, and digital solutions to help startups achieve growth and create lasting impressions. In just one-year, Social Startup Labs has supported 20+ startups, helping them raise over $8 million in investments. Their end-to-end crowdsourcing services has set a new standard for excellence, while driving impact across sales, media visibility and customer engagement.

Notable clients include PhycoLife who raised $1.17M and Nexba, who raised $1.2M cumulatively through a multi-faceted global campaign across Birchal in Australia and Crowdcube in the UK and the EU. Other successful partnerships include Grow it Local, Phyco Health, and Vitadrop all who have benefited from Social Startup Labs’ innovative approach to capital raising and marketing campaigns.

Through their commitment to socially conscious businesses across sectors, Social Startup Labs equips founders with the tools to secure investor interest and scale their ventures effectively.

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FB Ventures x Social Startup Labs – Partnership

FB Ventures sees synergies for founders with Social Startup Labs on advertising, marketing, and supporting your capital-raising campaigns. Social Startup Labs specialises in capital raising and scaling for founders with everything from advertising and email marketing to video creation.

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Blog Content – Q&A

Question 1 – What is the first step in raising capital?

A well-defined problem, solution and value proposition and business model serves as the essential first step when you are raising capital, guiding your approach to attracting investors and conveying the startup’s vision.

What founders should know about investor requirements

When seeking to raise capital, you should prepare to meet various investor requirements, including:

Value Proposition

Clearly articulate what makes your startup unique and value through the identification of the problem and how the solution stands out.

Business Model

Develop a solid business model that outlines your plans to generate revenue.

Pitch Deck

Create your pitch that summarises the business, highlighting the opportunity, market analysis, competitive landscape, financial projections, and the team’s qualifications.

Financial Models

Prepare detailed financial projections that include forecasts for revenue, expenses, and profitability, so investors assess the potential ROI and financial stability of your startup.

Types of securities offered

Decide on the type of securities offered such as convertible notes and SAFEs (Simple Agreements for Future Equity).

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Define your target to identify the right investor

Start by identifying the type of investors you will target, whether it is wholesale/sophisticated or retail. The cheque sizes you pursue will greatly influence your investment structure and guide your fundraising efforts.

High-Net-Worth Individuals

If you're targeting large cheque sizes from high-net-worth individuals, be prepared for greater involvement. These investors often prefer direct shareholding for them to have a say in company decisions.

Sophisticated Investors

For smaller cheques, consider employing an Equity Roll-up. This structure facilitates consolidating multiple investments as a more efficient way to attract funding from sophisticated investors.

Engaging Retail Investors

Explore Crowd-Sourced Funding (CSF) for retail investors, granting individuals to make smaller investments, helping to build a community around your startup.

Generic Expression of Interest (EOI)

If you're uncertain about your target investors, running a generic Expression of Interest (EOI) can be beneficial.

You can gauge interest in your startup with a pool of potential investors, and to refine your investment approach based on their feedback.

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Question 2 – How can FB Ventures support me in this stage?

At FB Ventures, we are here to provide support to manage your capital-raising campaign, connect with investors and help to structure your investment offer. Here are the tools you can take advantage of so you can get started:
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Opportunity Campaign Builder

Our intuitive Opportunity Campaign builder is designed to attract investor attention by allowing them to submit an Expression of Interest.  

You can showcase your startup’s unique value proposition and potential to stand out in a competitive market.  

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Investor Connection Platform

Our marketplace serves as the heartbeat of startup-investor connections. Here, you can present your vision to a broad audience of investors eager to discover the next big innovation. The centralised platform can account for seamless connections so you can focus on building meaningful relationships with investors who can align with your startup’s mission.

Structuring Support

With so many compliance and regulatory requirements to consider, raising capital can be quite overwhelming. Our team provides comprehensive support, helping you understand these complexities and help you convert initial interest into tangible funding via an appropriate structure.

From traditional equity investments to innovative crowdfunding approaches, we are here to help you navigate the advantages and challenges of each method, ensuring you find the perfect fit for your venture.

Question 3 – How can I maximise investor management on the platform?

1. Online Presence  

As a platform, FB Ventures provide a user-friendly environment for you to build an online page for your capital raise to streamline your launch fundraising efforts. By creating an Opportunity Campaign, you can effectively showcase your venture and invite investors to engage with your profile.

With startups often struggle to gain the attention they need to succeed, potential investors are thereby unaware of their existence, while lacking the necessary connections to engage with suitable investors.

To simplify access for investors, consider generating a QR code that links directly to your Opportunity Campaign. This QR code can be included in your pitch deck or business cards, making it easy for interested investors to access detailed information about the stage of your startup growth and the investment opportunity. This not only reduces the pressure on investors but also allows you to focus on determining the right investment structure to support scalability.

2. Networking with Purpose  

Building genuine relationships is key to effective investor management. You should actively participate in industry events, pitch competitions, and webinars where potential investors are present.

Distribute your QR codes to ensure investors have easy access to your information. After attending a startup competition, they have the option to register their interest to keep the venture at the top of their minds.

3. Using Data to Your Advantage

During networking events, it can be challenging to remember who expressed interest in your venture, especially if you’re busy following up. Fortunately, the platform makes it easy for you to monitor views on your campaign, providing valuable insights into investor interest.

4. Be consistent and proactive

Consistency and proactivity in your communication efforts are key to maintaining investor interest. You should send regular updates after they have registered their interest and follow up with investors to keep them informed.

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Question 4 – Different investment structures to consider.

Direct Shareholdings

Direct shareholdings refer to the ownership of shares in a company that investors acquire directly, giving them a stake in the business. Through this form of investment, shareholders can have a direct relationship with the company, including the right to vote on key matters, receive dividends, and influence decisions that contribute to the startup’s direction.

How do I know if this type of funding is for me?

As a startup, direct shareholding offers access to substantial capital, allowing you to raise significant funds from a limited number of investors to accelerate growth and development initiatives.

Equity Roll-Ups

An Equity Roll-Up consolidates multiple investors into a single entity, resulting in just one entry on the cap table. Instead of having numerous individual investors listed separately, you will see only one line that represents all of them. This structure allows the ERU to function as a single shareholder in your company. The capital contributed by the investors is aggregated within the ERU, and each investor receives a share proportional to their investment.

How do I know if this type of funding is for me?

If you are planning to raise additional funding rounds in the future and want to streamline your cap table, an ERU might be the right option for you.

Equity Crowdfunding

Equity Crowdfunding enables you to secure funding by offering shares to a wide range of investors, including both retail and wholesale participants. This approach opens access to invest in startups and early stage businesses, giving the opportunity to tap into your network of followers, community members, customers and partners to invest.

How do I know if this type of funding is for me?

Special conditions apply to equity crowdfunding, including RG261 for Australia based companies. This source of funding works well for startups and small businesses under $25 million in annual revenue.