Work backwards from what you need to achieve, not forwards from what you'd like to have.
"How much should I raise?" is one of the most common questions founders ask, and most get it wrong. They either pick a round number that sounds impressive or copy what other startups raised without thinking about whether it makes sense for their situation.
What does your business need to achieve before it can raise the next round? At pre-seed, that might be: build an MVP, get 50 paying customers, and prove the unit economics work. Write down those milestones. Then figure out what it costs to reach them. That's roughly how much you should raise.
Runway is how many months your money will last. The standard advice is to raise for 18–24 months. In a tougher fundraising market, some advisors now recommend 24–36 months to give yourself more breathing room.
The maths: add up your monthly costs (salaries, tools, rent, marketing), multiply by the number of months, and add a 20% buffer. If your monthly burn is £8,000 and you want 18 months of runway, you need roughly £170,000.
Your use of funds should fit on one slide or one paragraph. Three to five categories at most. "Product development: 40%. Hiring: 30%. Marketing: 20%. Operations: 10%." Tie each category to a milestone. Investors don't want a line-by-line budget — they want to see the money maps to outcomes.
Raising too little. If you run out before reaching your milestones, you're stuck. Raising a bridge round from a position of weakness is painful. Always include a buffer.
Raising too much. At early stage, every pound you raise costs equity. If you raise £500k when you only need £200k, you've given away more of your company than necessary.
At pre-seed, many rounds are done on SAFEs or convertible notes where you don't need to set a precise valuation upfront. If you do need to discuss valuation, UK pre-seed post-money valuations are typically £1–3 million, and at seed £3–8 million — though this varies significantly by sector, traction, and market conditions.
A founder who says: "We're raising £200k to get to 100 paying customers by Q4. Here's the monthly burn, here's how the money breaks down, and here's why reaching that milestone positions us for a £1m seed round." Clear, specific, grounded in reality.
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Try the funding finder →This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Always do your own research and seek independent professional advice. UK valuation ranges are directional and vary significantly by sector and market conditions.