Startup consultations

Our Startup advisory desk encompasses expertise in all facets of commercial negotiations; be it financial modelling with precise timelines, milestone based projections charting future value, valuation research or a cap-table reengineering unlocking hidden synergy.
We have successfully completed a portfolio of both buy and sell side transactions of varying complexity and are veterans of contracting, agreement engineering and deal structuring. We are sticklers for commercial, legal, tax, and FEMA compliance in our practice and our philosophy of hand holding clients through the same is evident through our testimonials.
We are comfortable advising all aspects of strategies from origination through to transaction closures and are creative in our thought processes within this realm.
Our flagship services

• Financial Modelling
• Valuation Research
• Pre-Investment Preparatory Services
• Cap Table Advisory
• Advisory on ESOP & Mentor Pool
• Investment Agreements

Transaction Advisory

A successful M&A transaction (Mergers and Acquisitions) takes weeks and months to execute – the entrepreneurs, M&A advisors, and the counsels burning the midnight oil are the typical closing stories of every other M&A.
The real preparation starts much before and involves a number of strategic and operational tasks – development of the M&A thesis; arriving at (and driving) the valuations, gearing up for due diligence, setting up and installing internal controls, information systems and so on. Not all transactions happen in the natural course – most of them are driven by well-thought-out and thorough strategies developed and executed over a period.
Be it be private placements, start-up investments, mergers, acquisitions or hive offs, we work with clients to execute transactions successfully. With our solid experience in commercial, legal & tax optimal structuring of transactions, we ensure that the commercial intentions and expectations of all parties to the Transaction are achieved, while ensuring full compliance with applicable regulations. Over the years, we have helped numerous entrepreneurs to seek and close successful funding rounds/exits.
We, at FinLead, have handled multiple M&As end-to-end, with a niche focus in the technology sector – We work alongside the entrepreneurs to make sure that the deal is well conceptualized, well negotiated and well executed.

Investment Banking

Every entrepreneur, in his growth reaches a launchpad where external capital becomes the fuel for launch. The scenario presents a myriad of considerations with far-reaching consequences for the business case. “Is it the right time to raise capital? Should I really give up my hard-earned equity? If so, how much should I sell and at what price, and at what cost? Who should I sell to? How do I find them? How do I convince them?”, the maze twists and turns.
It is at this rite of passage, that a true investment banker earns validation for the profession. It is an age-old playbook, with qualitative aptitudes defining the differentiation. As a natural evolution to our M&A and transaction advisory practices, FinLead now operates a boutique investor introduction agency within our umbrella. We ask tough questions to our entrepreneurs, we learn from them, we argue, we agree, and then we raise capital if we believe you have the right case. Once we believe you and your business case, we share the risk of your capital-raising endeavour. From the moment you sign an agreement with us, we assume fiduciary responsibility. We help you draw your pitch deck, draft your financial models to the decimal, evaluate your valuations, prepare clean data rooms, introduce pre-screened investors, train you on the art of pitching, negotiate, and then finally close the deal alongside you.

VCaas

Institutional Investors and Corporates build their investment portfolio in two ways. They either create a venture capital team internally from scratch, hiring talent and developing the culture, or they find trusted advisors. And we at FinLead have codified a set of best practices that allows institutional capital to gain knowledgeable access to ‘startups’ as an asset class. We work with our institutional partners right from the beginning, defining their investment strategy, creating deal pipelines, and advising on the existing ones. Through due diligence, we will corroborate and mitigate your risk, prequalify ideas, and will make sure you have a concierge experience during the transaction stages. We will provide actionable intelligence in simple templates and give our honest, qualitative opinions, and realistic indications.

Web3

The blockchain big bang brought forth a revolution in the ideological perception of ‘Decentralization’ powered through cryptocurrencies. NFTs became dime a dozen, Web 3.0 manifested, and the use case genie got out of the bottle. The metaverses began expanding and our collective resources started revolving around DAOs’ orbits.
Cart pullers began earning tokens by playing video games all day and homeowners started trading hedge fund strategies in crypto exchanges to put down digital downpayments for real houses. ‘Transparent’, ‘trust less’, and ‘permission less’ systems of Web 3.0, solved the time old inefficiency of “why would I trust you?” with immutable action triggers etched in noble code. It became open to all and controlled by none.
A new era has begun and we are well versed in its lingo. Let’s talk DeFi?