Question 1 of 4
How do you prepare a bio-business for investment?
The short answer
First, decide which capital the company is preparing for, because each funder reviews different things. Then put in order the numbers and the operations that this funder will ask for, from unit cost to the use-of-funds plan.
The full answer
Step by step
Investable bio-businesses, for whom? The rung of the capital ladder the company is on.
Readiness is always readiness for a specific capital, with its own thesis and its own questions. Knowing which rung the company is on saves months of conversations with the wrong funder.
See the capital ladderThe 3 questions of a committee: whether the business generates cash, whether it can repay and whether the team can execute.
Technical and economic viability, told with operating data.
Before looking at the valuation, I look at the real unit economics, the installed capacity and the harvest cash cycle.
The dossier: financial model, cash scenarios, operating plan and supporting documents.
What changes with AI: agents that challenge the assumptions before the committee does.
AI speeds up the preparation. Judgement, the relationship with the funder and the field visit remain in human hands.
See the Redesign Lab tools
Frequently asked questions
People also ask
Which documents does a fund ask for in due diligence?
The ones in the dossier: the financial model, the cash scenarios, the operating plan and its supporting documents. An equity fund also reviews corporate governance and the exit thesis.
Questions
The other questions
- 02How does a bio-business reach break-even?Real unit economics, with losses, freight and the harvest cash cycle.
- 03Which financial instruments work for a bio-business?The capital ladder and the order of capital in blended finance.
- 04How do you scale a bio-business?Operations, market and capital, with field logistics and supply.