Approach.

Reviewing your plan

If you fill out the online form here on our website, or approach one of us directly, we don’t need to see a long detailed business plan: we’d prefer that you save your time (and ours) by getting straight to the point: What is your business, and what’s different about it? How big is the opportunity?  What stage is the business at? And who are the team behind it? If we’re intrigued and think it might be a big opportunity, we’ll arrange a meeting.

Getting to know you

As the cliché says, we invest in people, not businesses.  So when we meet, we want to get to know you and your team, and understand your ambitions; and it’s your chance to see if we could be the right partners to help you build a game-changing business.  We’ll also want to understand the market better, perhaps speak to some of your customers, and discuss the challenges ahead.

Partner meeting

If we’re really excited about working with you, we’ll invite you to present (either in person or via video-conference) to the partnership – usually on a Monday afternoon.  Typically, this is a short presentation followed by a more in-depth Q&A.  After you’ve left the room, the partners will debate, and, if we decide to go ahead, we’ll send you a termsheet (an outline offer to invest in your business), usually within 24 hours.

Due diligence

Once we’ve agreed broad terms, we start deeper due diligence.  This usually takes 2-4 weeks (but can be longer for later-stage or more complex businesses), and involves reference calls, legal audit and sometimes a financial or technical audit.
Assuming no nasty surprises, we all sign the final documents and wire the money to your company’s bank account.

Ownership

We aim to have a significant but minority equity stake in the companies we back.  We don’t want to be majority shareholders because we aren’t interested in trying to run your business – we like founders who want to control their own destiny, and we like our interests to be aligned with them.

Ongoing involvement

Generally, one of the Balderton team will join your board; but most of the help we give comes between board meetings. Whether you’re hiring a new COO, expanding into a new market, or handling a sudden crisis, we aim to be the partner you turn to first for advice and support. We won’t know all the answers, but we’ll often know someone else in the Balderton team, or within the portfolio, or from our networks, who’s been in a similar situation. We succeed if you succeed – so we’re constantly reflecting on your business; and when you do need our help, we’ll work our guts off to support you.