Floww raises $6.7m for its data-driven marketplace
(Techcrunch: 1st December 2020): Floww a data-driven marketplace designed to allow founders to pitch investors, with the whole investment relationship managed online — says it has raised $6.7 million (£5 million) to date in seed funding from angels and family offices. Investors include Ramon Mendes De Leon, Duncan Simpson-Craib, Angus Davidson, Stephane Delacote and Pip Baker (Google’s head of Fintech U.K.) and multiple family offices. The cash will be used to build out the platform designed to give startups access to more than 500 VCs, accelerators and angel networks.
The team consists of Martijn De Wever, founder and CEO of London-based VC Force Over Mass; Lee Fasciani, co-founder of Territory Studio (the firm behind film graphics and design including “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “BladeRunner 2049”); and CTO Alex Pilsworth, of various fintech startups.
Having made more than 160 investments himself, De Wever says he recognized the need for a platform connecting investors and startups based on merit, clean data and transparency, rather than a system built on “warm introductions,” which can have inherent cultural and even racial biases.
Floww’s idea is that it showcases startups based on merit only, allowing founders to raise capital by providing investors with data and transparency. Startups are given a suite of tools and materials to get started, from cap table templates to “How To” guides. Founders can then “drag and drop” their investor documents in any format. Floww’s team of accountants then cross-checks the data for errors and processes key performance metrics. A startup’s digital profile includes dynamic charts and tables, allowing prospective investors to see the company’s business potential.
Floww charges a monthly fee to VCs, accelerators, family offices and PE firms. Startups have free access to the platform, and a premium model to contact and send their deal to multiple VCs.
Floww’s pitch is that VCs can, in turn, manage deal-sourcing, CRM, as well as reporting to their investors and LPs. Quite a claim, given all VCs to date handle this kind of thing in-house. However, Floww claims to have processed 3,000 startups and says it is rolling out to more than 500 VCs.
In a statement, De Wever said: “In an age of virtual meetings and connections, the need for coffee meetings on Sand Hill Road or Mayfair is gone. What we need now are global connections, allowing VCs to engage in merit-based investing using data and metrics.” He says the era of the coronavirus pandemic means many deals will have to be sourced remotely now, so “the time for a platform like this is now.
AngelList is perhaps its closest competitor from the startup perspective. And the VC application incorporates the kind of functionality seen in Affinity, Airtable, Efront and DocSend. But AngeList doesn’t provide data or metrics.
D5 Capital invested in Floww alongside its angel network in 2017.