Navigating Communications During Funding Rounds

In a webinar with PRSA Technology, Elaine Stiles, Group Vice President at Business Wire, discussed making the most of funding news and capturing media attention.

For those working to turn ideas into reality, businesses depend on funding to secure their next phase of growth. As entrepreneurs and startups embark on this path, effective communication plays an important role, engaging investors, partners, and other stakeholders.

Learn more about the stages of funding, the importance of a communications strategy, and how a wire service can effectively disseminate investor relations news.

Funding Rounds

Funding or financing rounds, often described by sequential ‘series,’ refer to the stages a company completes to secure investor capital. Funding helps fuel growth and operations and typically progresses as the company matures and achieves specific goals. These are the most common stages of funding:

Seed Funding: An initial stage of funding, seed funding takes place when the company is in its early stages of development. Funds are usually provided by angel investors, friends, family, or venture capital firms. This stage of funding helps startups develop a minimum viable product (MVP), conduct market research, and validate their business idea.

Series A Funding: Series A funding is often the first significant round of institutional funding. Typically provided by venture capital firms, funding helps the company scale its operations and expand its customer base. At this stage, the company has gained some traction, demonstrated potential for growth, and has a solid business plan.

Series B Funding: Following Series A, Series B funding is for companies that have achieved a level of market acceptance and revenue growth. It involves a larger investment to help the company further develop its products or services and expand into new markets.

Series C Funding: For more mature companies that are already generating substantial revenues, at this stage of funding, the company is looking to accelerate growth, expand globally, or acquire other companies.

Late-stage Funding: Late-stage funding includes Series D, E, F, and beyond, depending on the company's growth and funding needs. These rounds are generally aimed at established companies that are looking to fund specific initiatives or prepare for an initial public offering (IPO).

Pre-IPO and IPO: The final stage of funding for some companies is the Pre-IPO stage, where they raise capital before going public. During the IPO, the company issues shares to the public and becomes publicly traded on the stock market.

Not all companies go through every stage of funding, and the names of the funding rounds may vary in different regions or industries.

Communicating Your Rounds of Funding

Effective communication is key throughout the stages of funding. Developing a thorough marketing and communications strategy will help keep you organized and your key audiences informed.

Here are the types of communications that companies typically share during each stage of funding:

Seed Funding

Startups create pitch decks to present their business model, value proposition, market opportunity, and financial projections to potential investors.
Companies prepare comprehensive business plans that outline their vision, mission, target market, marketing strategy, financial projections, and growth plans.
Concise and compelling elevator pitches are used to quickly communicate business ideas to potential investors or stakeholders.

Series A Funding

Companies share growth updates that include their growth metrics, user acquisition, revenue, and market traction to demonstrate progress and attract Series A investors.
Evidence of market validation, such as customer testimonials, case studies, or partnerships, shows that a startup’s product or service meets a market need.

Series B Funding

Product development updates highlight product or service enhancements, new features, and technological advancements to attract Series B investors looking for scalable products.
Startups communicate their expansion plans, which may include entering new markets or segments, and how the funding will fuel this growth.

Series C and Late-Stage Funding

Financial performance updates include detailed financial reports, revenue growth, profitability, and cash flow statements that demonstrate financial stability and are compelling to late-stage investors.
Market leadership communications emphasize startups as disruptors and showcase their competitive advantages compared to other players in the industry.
As a company nears an IPO, its IPO communications may share progress in meeting regulatory requirements, financial audits, and market readiness.

Pre-IPO and IPO

Companies publish a prospectus that contains all the relevant information about the IPO, including financials, risks, business model, and company outlook.
Roadshows are planned to present investment propositions directly to potential institutional investors and analysts, often in multiple cities.
After going public, companies establish investor relations departments to communicate with shareholders and the broader investment community regularly.

Throughout all stages of funding, clear and transparent communication is essential to build trust with investors and stakeholders. Startups must effectively communicate their progress, challenges, and plans to attract funding and support their growth objectives.

Generate Visibility and Build Credibility with a Newswire

Whether your focus is funding updates, IPO announcements, regulatory disclosure, or earnings statements, a newswire can quickly and effectively distribute important communications like these to a targeted audience, including potential investors, stakeholders, media outlets, and the public.

Other benefits of working with a newswire that Elaine Stiles mentioned when speaking with PRSA Technology include:

Inbound Traffic: Business Wire press releases contain multiple options to link to a website or campaign landing page. Increase visitors and encourage inquiries with a no-charge clickable logo linked to your site; live email contact information; and embedded URLs throughout the body text. Use UTM links to enable tracking and understand where and how press release audiences are learning about your organization.

Analytics: Understanding the performance of a press release is vital. Business Wire NewsTrak Reports include information about audience views, online and mobile postings, multimedia engagement, user actions, and more.

Social Discussions: Business Wire press releases include features to easily share news on an organization’s social media channels.
Partnerships: Business Wire has partnerships with VentureBeat, Workiva, Q4, and NYSE, providing enhanced visibility opportunities.