our company has been working on a semantic technology for the past 15 months. we have achieved amazing results and are a few months away from launching the actual product. we do have access to government grants but for our own contribution and ongoing costs, we require close to $500K capital. at this stage: - we are past the bootstrapping stage - do not have any traction (no product has been launched) need advice on how to deal with this.
You should never optimize for government-funding of any kind. It can be helpful for sure, but if you have truly "amazing results" to share, and you are a few months away from actual product, it's likely that you are better-off waiting to get real product.
Trying to interpret what you wrote, it sounds as though you are operating on a significant burn (for being pre-product). I would look at everything you can to defer or reduce your burn that is non-essential to getting the product ready.
Raising money when you've "almost got product ready" is one of the toughest points to raise money. If you're encouraged by what you see, do anything you can to get to finished product.
I'd also suggest you really prioritize looking for customer validation from the early results that you can produce now. The more external validation you can generate, even if it's based on incomplete product, the better position you are going to be.
Happy to do a call to work through your scenario specifically.
Answered 11 years ago
Access 20,000+ Startup Experts, 650+ masterclass videos, 1,000+ in-depth guides, and all the software tools you need to launch and grow quickly.
Already a member? Sign in