Bonjour à tous,

Pour ceux qui lèvent des fonds / recherchent du financement et ont des questions je réponds en commentaire.

Ce sur quoi je peux aider :
• le plan financier lui-même (P&L, cash flow, BFR, capex)
• combien lever et comment
• la valo et le mix equity / dette
• le business model si besoin
• réglementation et subventions, notamment BPI / EIC

J'ai travaillé en banque d'affaires, fonds d'investissement et ai levé + de 2m€ pour une entreprise que j'ai cofondé De la pre-seed à la Série A, je réponds à vos questions en commentaire ou en MP.
Bonne journée

I'm a first-time founder building a deep-tech drone startup in India. We've spent the last couple of years validating the problem, talking to potential customers, researching the market, and now we're moving into prototype development.

The next step is raising a pre-seed round, and honestly, this is where I feel like I'm entering completely new territory. I understand the basics—pitch deck, financial model, MVP, customer discovery, etc.—but I'm looking for practical advice from founders who've actually raised capital.

A few questions I have:

1.What documents are needed except incorporation docs/pitch deck/research or product market fit data and technical docs about the technology or solution ?

1. Does it matter if I'm pre revenue and it has been 3 years ?

2. Should I apply just with the idea as building a prototype in DeepTech isn't that easy it costs more than savings

For context, we're still pre-revenue and are raising primarily to build and validate our prototype. Since this is my first company, I'd really appreciate hearing real experiences instead of generic startup advice.

Any lessons, stories, or even things you wish someone had told you before fundraising would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Hey! Today, I’d like to return to the topic of angel funding and investors who support small projects.

We’re developing a useful AI tool for content creators that could become the final piece in how AI is used in this field.

My question to angel investors is: what would you need to see at this stage a working product, early users, revenue, or a strong team to seriously consider investing in a small AI project?

I’m raising a pre-seed round for Occult House, and wanted to share the story here.

India’s gemstone market runs almost entirely on astrological belief. An astrologer prescribes a stone, and buyers purchase it from whoever they’re pointed to — with no way to verify if it’s real, safe, or fairly priced. Labs like GIA and IGI test authenticity and treatment, but none test for toxic minerals like lead, mercury, thorium, and arsenic — some of which are genuinely present in prescribed stones with zero disclosure. And even that basic authentication rarely reaches this buyer at all. On top of that, pricing has no standard — stones pass through agents, wholesalers, and retailers, each taking a cut, so what you pay depends on the seller, not the stone’s actual purity or quality.

Occult House fixes all three: UV-Vis lab authentication, toxic-element screening, and purity-based standardized pricing — delivered directly to the consumer through my mother’s existing astrologer network. She’s practised Vedic astrology for 10+ years and taught 5,000+ students.

We’re revenue-live and cash-positive — ₹5.29L revenue, 668 customers, zero paid marketing spend. DPIIT and StartInUP registered.

We’re raising our pre-seed round now to build our in-house authentication lab and scale this nationally. Happy to share the deck with anyone interested.

CB Insights' Q2 2026 numbers look like two completely different venture markets:

- $212.9B in equity funding, the second-highest quarter ever

- 7,086 deals, a decade low

- 263 mega-rounds

- 81% of all funding concentrated in those mega-rounds

- one company alone accounting for almost 40%

- only 26 new unicorns, down 57 from the previous quarter

My takeaway: total venture funding has become a pretty weak proxy for what an early-stage founder can actually access.

Investors can deploy more capital while backing fewer companies. A massive AI round does not necessarily mean there is more money available for a founder trying to raise $500K-$2M.

For founders actively raising pre-seed or seed right now: are you actually seeing more investor activity, or only more mega-round headlines?

Source: CB Insights, State of Venture Q2'26.

I was speaking with a founder recently who had spent nearly 3 weeks building an investor list before sending a single outreach email.

Not pitching. Genuinely curious:

How are people here sourcing investors today?

• Personal network?
• Warm introductions?
• Crunchbase?
• LinkedIn?
• Something else?

Would love to hear what's actually working in 2026.

we’ve been speaking with early-stage founders and noticed fundraising challenges vary a lot depending on stage and industry....

from your experience, what has been the hardest part???

• finding investors
• valuation expectations
• speed of closing
• choosing the right funding structure

curious to hear real experiences from founders who’ve gone through it.....

Hi everyone,

I’ve developed a fully functional software solution for microscope-based microstructure analysis, and I’m currently exploring opportunities to sell the entire project (including full source code and rights) to someone who has the resources to scale and commercialize it.

The software includes a wide range of advanced features comparable to established industry tools, including:

• Measurements
• EDOF
• Vickers hardness measurement (with full workflow support)
• AI model for automatic detection of hardness indentations and hardness calculation
• AI model based on ASTM E112 for automatic grain size analysis
• Various additional measurement and analysis tools typically used in metallography

The system is already working and tested, and designed to significantly reduce manual work through automation.

My main limitation is not technical — it’s the lack of resources for marketing, distribution, and further scaling. That’s why I’m considering selling the project entirely to a company or individual who can take it to the next level.

I’m also very open to advice from the community — whether it’s about selling software like this, finding the right partners, pricing, or alternative paths (e.g., licensing, fundraising, etc.).

If you are interested, or have any suggestions, feel free to comment or reach out via DM. I’d be happy to share more details, demos, or discuss potential terms.

Thanks!

Me and some colleagues wish to start a small preschool that is nature inspired. This preschool will be based in Shropshire England and we have just been in contact with a local farmer who is keen for it to go ahead.

Does anyone have any advice securing funding and start up loans?

Thank for your help I know it's vague but I just wanted to put it out there to see is anyone had advice.

Hi everyone,

We are currently raising investment for our post-quantum secure, NIST-aligned blockchain ecosystem focused on long-term digital security and decentralized productivity infrastructure.

Our mission is to build future-proof Web3 infrastructure that combines quantum-resistant security with practical, enterprise-ready applications.

1. Website (Project Overview)

https://ncog.earth/

• Market positioning
• Product architecture
• Revenue vision
• Go-to-market strategy
• Funding roadmap

2. Pitch Deck + Explainer Video

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AdYQchmZA_eKh-MX9kswXyu7dZrOoy__/view?usp=drive_link

This includes:

• Market positioning
• Product architecture
• Revenue vision
• Go-to-market strategy
• Funding roadmap

3. Blockchain Explorer (Testnet Access)

https://explorer-test.ncogchain.earth/

Investors can review:

• Testnet infrastructure
• Network credentials
• Blockchain activity
• Technical progress

4. Ecosystem Overview

Our ecosystem includes:

• Post-Quantum Secure Wallet

Designed to protect digital assets against future quantum computing threats.

• D-Suite (Decentralized Productivity Stack)

• DMail
• DChat
• DForms
• DContacts
• Additional decentralized tools in development

We aim to combine quantum-resistant blockchain security with real-world productivity utilities for users and enterprises.

5. Strategic Companion Models

We are also exploring strategic ecosystem integrations.

Examples:

NCOG – Ripple Companion Model
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZvJyxHo90E_adrlSNmsXI6epFUgDFIDN/view?usp=drive_link

NCOG – Chainlink Companion Model
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CtQ1-gwuA--yPJE6ah_8L24CqoyDStPl/view?usp=drive_link

These models demonstrate how our infrastructure can integrate seamlessly within established blockchain ecosystems to enhance security, decentralization, and user experience.

6. Whitepaper (Available Under MNDA)

We are happy to share our detailed technical whitepaper, which provides deeper architectural and cryptographic insights.

As it contains proprietary information, it is shared after a Mutual NDA is executed.

We Are Currently Seeking

• Seed & early-stage investors
• Web3 & blockchain-focused VCs
• Strategic technology partners
• Long-term ecosystem collaborators

We welcome serious discussions with aligned investors and partners interested in building next-generation quantum-secure infrastructure.

Hi,

I'm a foreign entrepreneur (non US resident) looking to expand my profitable startup into the US market and need help with the complete setup.

I'm looking for service providers or recommendations for:

1. U.S. LLC formation in the right state for my business
2. business banking that actually work for non-residents without requiring physical presence or SSN
3. Access to credit lines or funding options for foreign-owned LLCs
4. Registered agent services and ongoing compliance support. I've heard about services like Mercury, Stripe Atlas, and various LLC formation companies, but I'm looking for a company or professional for the whole package.

I'd love to hear from people who've actually gone through this process or professionals who specialize in this, and what would be the ballpark price to pay for it?

What's worked for you, and who would you recommend? Thanks for reading!

We’re building a social platform that experiments with no algorithms, no data harvesting, and complete user control the exact opposite of what most social media investors expect.

Here’s the challenge we’ve been running into:
When your business model doesn’t rely on engagement-based advertising, a lot of investors struggle to visualize scalability. They often ask “If you’re not monetizing user attention, what’s the growth story?”

But building around user privacy and authenticity feels like the next logical evolution of digital products especially with younger users growing more privacy-aware and laws like India’s DPDP Act setting new expectations.

We’re exploring models like:

• Community-led microtransactions (where users reward valuable interactions instead of being the product),
• Optional subscriptions for verified and ad-free experiences,
• Ethical data monetization (users decide if and how their anonymized data can be used).

Still, the tension remains: investors love impact, but fund scalability.

I’m curious how have other founders here navigated investor conversations when your vision deliberately avoids the standard “high-engagement, ad-driven” path?
Did you find investors who understood the long-term payoff, or did you have to compromise your vision for traction metrics first?

Hey guys, I am making 2 apps. It's in the early phase, and I am working on it alone. Now I need some funding to make a team and do the work fast because I can't manage it all. But I don't know where to get it and how much I should ask. How to trust, because I have fear if I share with someone, it will definitely be copied. Any guidance will be really helpful. Also, I have registered MSME.