Cambridge Startup Funding: Pre-seed to Exit Programme
Secure your spot before orientation begins.
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COURSE STARTS
April 19, 2023
Enrol by April 25 2023
PRICE
$2,500Payment options
Improve funding outcomes for your new business venture. Learn how to structure your project so it is more investable, communicate the investment merits of your project, be more efficient in the fundraising process, and improve the terms of investments.
Length:
6 weeks
Language:
English
Effort:
7-10 hours per week, self-paced online learning
Cambridge Startup Funding: Pre-seed to Exit Programme
Demystify the process of start-up fundraising from pre-seed to exit
Secure your spot before orientation begins.
00
: 00
: 00
: 00
Improve funding outcomes for your new business venture. Learn how to structure your project so it is more investable, communicate the investment merits of your project, be more efficient in the fundraising process, and improve the terms of investments.
Length: 6 weeks
Language: English
Effort: 7-10 hours per week, self-paced online learning
Why Study Startup Funding?
The University of Cambridge's Startup Funding: Pre-Seed to Exit six week online programme goes beyond what first-time entrepreneurs and seasoned founders leading high-growth companies must understand when raising capital – especially at a venture’s earliest funding stages (seed to Series B). The programme will cover exactly how to fund a venture and navigate critical inflection points along a company's growth trajectory to achieve either a successful exit, or long-term operational viability.
This programme walks you through, step-by-step, how to improve your funding outcomes for your entrepreneurial project. You will learn how to structure your project so it is more investable, communicate the investment merits of your project, be more efficient in the fundraising process, and improve the terms of investments.
University of Cambridge has been responsible for over 140 startups since 2011, and these companies have raised over £1.9b in equity investment across more than 400 rounds. Notable spin-outs include gene therapy company Quethera, voice-controlled AI platform VocalIQ, and AI cyber defense company Darktrace.
"This programme equips you with knowledge that fuses together the two important perspectives that drive successful development for start ups—the fundraising skill set and the managerial competencies and skills that will help you balance the steps forward and the decisions needed to go from pre-seed through exit."
Stylianos (Stelios) Kavadias, Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation and Growth
Co-Director of Entrepreneurship Centre, CJBS
Academic Director, Advanced Leadership Programme
Is This Right For You?
The Cambridge Startup Funding: Pre-seed to Exit programme is designed for entrepreneurs looking to acquire direct experience in:
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Developing a plan for an investable project
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Accurately assessing the financing stage of a new venture
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Using a framework to develop a funding roadmap for a new business based on a venture development framework
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Identifying the right investor for a project at each development stage of the new venture
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Developing an effective pitch deck to secure funding
Programme content
Module 0: Orientation
An overview of the programme, how to use the platform used to deliver it, and an introduction to the community of fellow innovators and leaders.
Module 1: The Fundraising Journey
Explore foundational investment concepts, sources of funding, term sheets and the Markides Framework to initiate the process of developing a fundraising road map with key milestones.
Module 2: The Pre-seed Stage
The earliest stage of funding a new company, the "pre-seed" stage refers to the period in which a company's founders are first getting their operations off the ground. Working in a team environment, you will define a strategic position, understand how to evaluate investor fit and develop a pre-seed funding round pitch for an actual business venture.
Module 3: Seed-Stage
Seed capital refers to the type of financing used in the formation of a startup. Funding is provided by private investors—usually in exchange for an equity stake in the company or for a share in its profits. Much of the seed capital a company raises may come from sources close to its founders including family, friends and other acquaintances. Obtaining seed capital is the first of four funding stages required for a startup to become an established business. During this module, you will develop a pitch for seed-stage investors.
Module 4: Series A Funding
Series A funding refers to an investment in a privately-held startup company, after it has shown progress in building its business model and demonstrates the potential to grow and generate revenue. Combining research, strategic planning, valuation methods, sociology and storytelling, you will move into pitch development for series A investors.
Module 5: Series B Funding
Series B funding is the second round of funding for a company that has met certain milestones, and is past the initial startup stage. Building on the Series A pitch, you will prepare a Series B funding pitch to investors.
Module 6: Exit
Understand how additional financing options become available for growth and expansion opportunities once a business has matured, as well as ways to evaluate acquisitions or mergers with other companies. You will also deconstruct pitches, and collaborate on a final pitch to complete the funding cycle.
What you will gain
- Proof of knowledge through the prestigious Certificate of Completion issued by the Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
- A powerful professional network from building connections with a global cohort of leaders, influencers and programme participants
- Coveted industry knowledge from market-driven curriculum designed and delivered to the standard of an elite academic institution
- Acquisition and retention of new skills supported by an AI-driven learning platform, individual and team-based programming, and individual success coaching
Your Academic Programme Directors
Robert (Bob) Wardrop
Programme Director
Management Practice Professor University of Cambridge Judge Business School
Bob is an economic sociologist interested in understanding how and why channels and instruments of finance emerge outside the traditional financial system and how this impacts regulators, incumbent financial institutions and consumers. In addition to his role at the University of Cambridge, Bob is a member of the Steering Committee for the Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery (C2D3), an interdisciplinary research centre at Cambridge bringing together expertise from across academic departments and industry to drive research into the analysis, understanding and use of big data. Prior to pursuing his academic career in 2010, Bob had an international career as a professional investor, most recently as a Managing Director in the investment group of one of the largest privately-owned companies in the United States, where he was responsible for a portfolio of European corporate debt and equity investments. He has held several board directorships and advisory roles with academic, governmental and commercial organisations over the course of both his academic and non-academic career.
Stylianos (Stelios) Kavadias
Programme Director
Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation and Growth, Co-Director of Entrepreneurship Centre, CJBS, Academic Director, Advanced Leadership Programme
Stelios has spent his career researching and teaching on the challenges of innovating and growing across the company lifecycle; topics include Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategy Execution across a number of institutions (CJBS, Georgia Tech, INSEAD, Darden Business School, ALBA). He researches business model innovation, scale-up strategies, and strategic pivots that makes start-up efforts succeed or fail. Stelios holds a MS in E&CE from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and a Ph.D. from INSEAD in France. Previously he was the Steven A. Denning Chair in Technology and Management at the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech, and a Fellow of the Batten Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia.
Your programme instructors
Additional instructors will be added up to the programme commencement date.
Guest experts
More than 30 experts from around the world, including University of Cambridge faculty and industry leaders, draw on their expertise to provide a window into the change and potential opportunities in how to fund a venture and navigate critical inflection points along a company’s growth trajectory.
Guest experts
Additional guest experts
Rob Genieser - Managing Partner, ETF Partners. / Simon Thorpe - Managing Partner, Delta2020. / Danny Bin - Co-Founder, MisenBox. / Thabo Lenneiye - Co-Founder, MisenBox. / Ariane de Bonvoison - Start-up and Founder Coach, Former VC and Entrepreneur. / Tim Guilliams - CEO, Healx. / Stefanos Capsaskis - Senior Associate, Dept of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, University of Cambridge. / Maelis Carraro - Managing Director, Catalyst Fund. / Suranga Chandratillake - General Partner at Balderton Capital.
How you will learn:
Cambridge Startup Funding: Pre-seed to Exit Programme is an online programme built specifically for busy executives. The programme design incorporates cognitive and neuroscience research to help busy professionals learn faster and more efficiently through the use of AI to enhance the collaborative learning experience and build rapport among programme participants.
- Digital videos or audio content, augmented by material created exclusively for the course
- Quizzes and exercises designed specifically to help you understand and retain new information
- Dialogue with expert instructors and your peers via discussion forums and small group sessions
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Simulations and other carefully crafted interactions to provide an engaging learning experience
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Real-life examples that place information in context to help you understand how the concepts delivered in the programme material can be applied to your work environment
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AI coaching to improve your and your team’s collaboration
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Startup Funding: Pre-seed to Exit Programme is delivered as part of a collaboration with University of Cambridge Judge Business School and Esme Learning. All personal data collected on this page is primarily subject to the Esme Learning Privacy Policy.
© 2021 Esme Learning Solutions. All Right Reserved.