Fundraising in Silicon Valleywith 500 Startups

Prepared by Sean Percival in partnership with Startup Norway

My Quick Life Story

500 Startups at a Glance

“500 Startups is the most active seed investor in Silicon Valley tech companies”

The Silicon Valley Tech Venture Capital Almanac, Fall 2013

850+Investments

$100MDeployed

4Years

500 Startups Values

•Be Bold, Be Humble•Move Fast, Break Things• Challenge Yourself, and Others•Be Diverse, and Diversified •Have Fun, Make Money

500 Startups Is Global

About the 500 Startups Accelerator

• Next program starts in Mid-Oct• Program runs for 4 months with a break over the holiday• Demo Day sometime in early February

• We make a $100K investment for 7% of your company• There is a $25K program fee• We invest through a convertible security structure

Upcoming Dates

Investment Details

• 4 batches a year with 30 companies per batch• Strong focus on marketing, design and fundraising• 200+ of the best mentors in Silicon Valley and beyond

General

What are we looking for?

• A live product (MVP or more)• Some initial traction (although the more the better)

• Momentum in your metrics• Diversity in your team and/or customers• Amazing international companies• Founders who are full-time focused• Don’t be an asshole (unless necessary)

You should have a few of these:

Funding Raising in Silicon Valley

Hacks for Fundraising in the Valley

• Leverage the accelerators for validation • Use AngelList• Have the right corp structure (Delaware C-Corp)

• Find brand name investors/advisors• Have a presence in the valley• Be confident, and sometimes arrogant

Failure is OK

Get in Contact

Email: sean@500.coTwitter: @percival and @500startupsIRL: Visit Mountain View, California