Register a Trademark - 7 Trademark Principles Every Founder Should Know
Trade marks are crucial assets that can make or break your brand. Obtaining trade mark protection for your key brand elements is essential in building brand identity, recognition and customer loyalty, as well as ultimately ensuring the longevity of the brand. They can also help add significant value to your intellectual property portfolio and by extension to your business. Here are seven key trade mark principles every founder should know.
Saturday 5 October 2024
Navigating the Necessary Documentation for Your VC Round: A Quick Guide for Founders
Raising capital is an exciting step for any founder in the growth and hyper growth phases of your startup journey. Whether you’re at pre-seed, seed, Series A stage or beyond, the core documents you’ll need remain fairly consistent across all rounds. While the content may evolve - such as increasing investor rights as rounds progress or heightened founder protections when shareholdings dip below 50% - the essential documents stay the same. When raising a round with external institutional investors especially, these documents are of central importance: the subscription agreement, shareholders agreement, articles of association and cap table.
Wednesday 31 July 2024
Navigating Founder Departures: Good Leavers, Bad Leavers, and Voluntary Leavers During Fundraising
Startups are as much about people as they are products, and especially the founders. So when negotiating with investors, one of the key risks that they will pick up on is “what happens if one of the founders leaves?”. This is always going to be a crucial discussion point for any growing team when assessing the future plans of a startup.
Thursday 18 July 2024
Advanced Subscription Agreements (ASAs): Bridging the Gap to Full Investment
Raising capital is one of the most challenging aspects of building a startup. Founders often set a target—say, £1 million—but frequently find that not all investors are ready to commit simultaneously. So, what should you do if you have some investors eager to invest now, but not enough to meet your total funding goal right away? This is where Advanced Subscription Agreements (ASAs) can be incredibly useful.
Wednesday 10 July 2024
A Reverse Vesting Quick Guide for Founders When Fundraising
Having a co-founder has many clear benefits but it also brings with it complex questions around the future and what if a co-founder wants to leave, and in particular, what should happen to a co-founder’s shares if they leave? One strategy that can help to safeguard a startup's future and ensure founder commitment to the cause is reverse vesting. In this guide, we'll explore what reverse vesting is, how it differs from traditional vesting, its importance during fundraising, and provide real-world examples of startups that have successfully implemented this mechanism to protect their interests whilst promoting long-term growth.
Wednesday 10 July 2024
Unlocking Millions: What Revolut's Employee Share Sale Means for Your Startup
Revolut, one of the UK's leading and most valuable fintech companies, is reportedly preparing to enable its employees to sell shares worth hundreds of millions. The estimated $500 million secondary share sale will be coordinated by investment bankers at Morgan Stanley.
Wednesday 10 July 2024
A Founder’s Handbook to SEIS and EIS: Practical Points and Application Process (Part 2/2)
Welcome back to our two-part series on the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). We will dive into the practical aspects of accessing SEIS and EIS, including the application process, the differences between applying for Advance Assurance before fundraising and submitting Compliance Statements after fundraising, and tips to ensure your startup is eligible for SEIS/EIS benefits. We also outline the expected timelines in the process, what to expect from HMRC, important considerations and risks, as well as practical tips from our experience with our clients.
Wednesday 10 July 2024
A Founder’s Handbook to SEIS and EIS: Rules and Benefits (Part 1/2)
As a founder of a UK company, understanding the core tax reliefs for potential investors is crucial when fundraising. Two of the most beneficial schemes available in the UK are the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). These schemes provide significant tax reliefs to investors, making your UK company a more attractive and highly incentivised investment opportunity. In this two-part guide, we will delve into the rules and practical points for founders regarding SEIS and EIS to help ensure you understand them and are in a position to benefit from them.
Wednesday 10 July 2024
Planning a VC Round? Here’s 9 Things Every Founder Should Know
Raising a venture capital (VC) round is a big step for any startup. It means investors believe your company is “venture-backable” (i.e. has the potential to grow rapidly and deliver a high return on their investment) and want to help it grow. But this also means dealing with some complex legal agreements and positions. Here’s a simple guide to help founders understand what’s involved.
Sunday 21 July 2024
Raising An Angel Round: Legal Must-Knows for Early Stage Founders
Raising capital is a pivotal step for many startups in their early stages seeking to accelerate growth using external capital, rather than grow organically. For many founders, approaching a funding round can feel daunting, even before deciding on strategy between raising from angel investors or venture capital (VC). Everyone begins from a standing start, and if you don’t have an existing investor network, it is a challenge!
Wednesday 10 July 2024
Understanding Share Dilution: A Guide for Startup Founders During Fundraising
Navigating the complexities of share dilution is crucial for startup founders, especially tech startup founders during startup fundraising, and/or when setting up employee share schemes like EMI Schemes (Enterprise Management Incentive). Share dilution occurs when a company issues new shares to raise funds or distribute to employees, which decreases the ownership percentage of existing shareholders. Managing this dilution effectively is key to retaining value and control in your company from pre-seed to series A and beyond.
Wednesday 10 July 2024
5 Investment Legal Terms Every Founder Should Know
Stepping into the world of startup funding can be as tricky as it is exciting. To help you navigate it, here we will explain the five key legal terms every founder should know. Whether you're just starting out or gearing up for a big funding round, understanding these terms will help you secure the best deals and protect your startup's future. Let's ensure you're well-prepared for your next investor meeting!
Sunday 21 July 2024