DellBack
A DealStation Success Story
A DealStation Success Story
Sweden
Location
Growth
Stage
8 weeks
Time to Raise
As many entrepreneurs, also Gustav started Dellback with own savings, bootstrapping. Part of the initial funds were also provided by the family and a small financing loan. The idea was to get Dellback to launch. To go live and attract the first clients to prove the PMF (product market fit). Gustav wanted to assure he had sufficient sales traction first before looking for external financing and raising funds for the company, as that would communicate the company value and potential more powerfully.
In early 2020 Gustav realized it was time. Time for Dellback’s first official fundraising event. New to the topic of fundraising, Gustav embarked on the self-study journey to fill some of the gap. Then, he invested time in thinking how to make his offering and investment proposal as attractive as possible. To not overshoot the valuation. To raise just the right amount of money. To select the investors he wants to have on the cap table, not needing to give up control, not now.
Finally, the decision was made – 200k EUR was the adequate amount.
Looking into the best practice and best possible approach for his fundraise, he came across Pepicon DealStation. Gustav recalls “Pepicon DealStation had the structure and guidance that I needed, to know what the investors want, as I knew our fundraise will take a lot of attention away from the business otherwise. Moreover, Pepicon DealStation made our offering less “pushy” while making it more exclusive-sounding to the invited investors.”
While preparing his professional pitch in Pepicon DealStation, Gustav invested a lot of time in preparing a long list of investors he was already in discussions with or where introductions were possible through his inner circle. He was working hard on preparing a strong list of prospective investors. “I emailed them, called them, pitched to them, met with them, continuously.” Gustav shared. As done with local producers, also investors were carefully selected – as Gustav did assess their fit and expectations regarding return and their involvement. Goal was to select strategic investors who would be part of the company’s future growth. Not those looking for quick bucks.
Almost 20 investors were invited to view Dellback’s full proposal in Pepicon DealStation. Gustav used the in-built tracking to strategize even further and spot easily which investors are more serious with actually investing. “The professionally structured pitch helped me provoke a strong FOMO (Fear of missing out) while it saved me a lot of time and helped me to find the right focus” Gustav mentioned. “That resulted in the investors convincing me to allow them to invest even more, double actually.”
Dellback ended up raising 400k EUR from 5 new shareholders. Funds which will be used to expand Dellback’s operation – new warehouse, greater inventory, more locations and mainly a greater assortment and number of local producers to onboard to the digital platform.
Gustav plans to keep using Pepicon DealStation after the fundraise, in order to keep building strong relationships with the shareholders, also incorporating regular face to face events to connect with the shareholders, listen to them and make them feel part of the business, growth and success.
Moreover, Gustav is positive Dellback will continue its fundraising journey doing a larger fundraise in the next few years.
Pepicon DealStation had the structure and guidance that I needed, to know what the investors want, as I knew our fundraise will take a lot of attention away from the business otherwise. Moreover, DealStation made our offering less “pushy” while making it more exclusive-sounding to the invited investors.
“Start with making a good fundraising plan – what you want and who do you want on your cap table. Then make sure your offering is attractive and exclusive, offered to the right investors.”
Gustav Dellback, Founder & CEO Dellback
Through its digital platform, Dellback lifts-up selected hand-crafted and fine food artisans, connecting them with customers they would normally not have a chance to reach. Thanks to Dellback, local small and passionate producers get in front of a wider audience – both in front of direct end customers and stores, serving as resellers. Unique hand-crafted food articles – such as alcohol-free Rhubarb sparkling wine or hot-chocolate-on-stick therefore research parts of Sweden, the local producer would never be able to reach alone, or definitely not in a short period of time. Dellback thoroughly cherry-picks such local producers to partner with, looking for the fines or the finest – engaging in tastings, site visits and mainly checking if their desire for expansion and scale is there.
