What we do
We are a diverse team of individuals from multiple backgrounds and experiences, united by one thing: a common love for great ideas.
Startups that manage to raise that extraordinarily difficult first round can be confident that their idea is good; so why is it that 4 out of 5 companies that raise their first round will fail to raise the second? This is where we come in.​
What we stand for
Our focus is on helping early to mid-stage startups in any sector which share one critical goal: scaling internationally, in particular between the United States and the United Kingdom. Below we outline how our proprietary methods create value for startups and investors alike.
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Our work with startups revolves around 2 key items: The Nimbld Index and the Deep Dive Day: a war room style full day intenseive workshop where we take a close look at the full picture to start, drilling down to specific areas of your business during successive Deep Dive Days. We always start from the big picture (360° Deep Dive Day) and zoom in from there, starting with revisiting "back of napkin" calculations nad basic assumptions before looking at intricate financial plans, and we apply this "context-first" approach to everything we do. The first Deep Dive Day is followed by a detailed diagnostics report including findings, recommendations and steps forward - along with your current nimbld score.
From here, we take a "fixer" approach to connect startups with the missing pieces as required to get it where it needs to go, this can include any combination of:
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Fractional CxO
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Project Development
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Investment readiness
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Due diligence prep
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Investor matchmaking
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Product R&D
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Data warehousing & analytics
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Operational overhaul
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Startup-to-Scaleup transition
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Advisory / NED
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...and much more.
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Market Opportunity
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In order to be successful at scale, startups will inevitably seek to expand from their local markets to larger customer bases, acquire global talent and cross-border opportunities, for business, resources and capital. The United States and the United Kingdom are key markets for expansion due to their economic size, a startup-enlightened capital scene, and favorable regulatory environments. However, navigating the complexities of scaling across these geographies can challenging due to a variety of factors, ranging from cultural, to economic and regulatory. This creates a demand for venture builders that specialize in facilitating international growth between these 2 territories. This is where we come in.
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Nimbld Ventures aims to fill this gap by offering a comprehensive support system for startups with a focus on international expansion. We provide an end-to-end solution anchored around our proprietary Nimbld Method (Index + Deep Dive Days + Advisory), to serve both startups and investors. We can work primarily with a startup, primarily with an investor, or with both. We believe this combination enables startups to overcome their most critical hurdles and achieve sustainable international growth - while significantly de-risking investment, especially in earlier stages.
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Differentiation: The Nimbld Index
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At the core of our work is the Nimbld Index, a battery of quantitative and qualitative tests to produce a weighted final index, a 360-degree health check to uncover key areas for development as well as emerging problems. The Index evaluates a series of key areas such as product-market fit, go-to-market strategy, financial health, organizational structure, risk, marketing, product, and more - the aspects being evaluated should ideally be fewest the earliest the life stage of the enterprise. This evidence-based, data-driven assessment empowers startups and investors alike to tailor interventions addressing specific current and emerging challenges and bottlenecks.
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This method helps to derisk investments in our portfolio companies by ensuring that they are not only positioned for growth but also prepared to execute their expansion plans effectively.​
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Deep Dive Days: War Room-Style Workshops
One of our most powerful differentiators is our Deep Dive Day, a structured full-day, war room-style workshop that we carry out with our startups. These intensive sessions bring together our team of experts along with the startup’s key decision-makers to dig deep into every facet of their business. From operational processes to marketing strategies and financial modeling, we conduct a holistic review to identify weak points and areas of opportunity.
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Once we pinpoint the areas that need improvement, we connect startups with the right resources, whether those be of an advisory nature or hands-on project work. This proprietary method, developed by a team of experts spanning both sides of the table (startup founders as well as startup investors) is what sets us apart.
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Post-Workshop Support: Fundraising and Expansion
Between Deep Dive Days we provide ongoing advisory support as startups refine their business models and prepare for fundraising. We leverage our extensive network of investors in both the US and UK to help startups secure capital for their international expansion. Additionally, we offer guidance on market entry strategies, helping startups to localize their products, build partnerships, and navigate regulatory environments in their target markets.
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Conclusion
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Nimbld Ventures offers investors a differentiated and highly effective model for accelerating the international growth of startups. By combining our proprietary Nimbld Index with intensive, hands-on support during Deep Dive Days, we prepare startups not only to raise funds but also to scale across borders in a sustainable way.
FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS
1 / What is the difference between an "accelerator" and an "accelerant"
An accelerator is a usually an intensive, educational program, demanding time and committment from startups. At the end of this program there is usually a pitch night where startups show their progress through the program, and are introduced to investors and key network partners. Accelerators have their programs into which they fit (enroll) startups. Accelerants work the other way around: they meet the startup where it is on its journey and tailor what they bring to exactly what the startup needs. Like adding fuel to a fire, accelerants exist to speed up the growth rate of startups.
2 / Are you an investor?
Although we work with investors we ourselves are not investors, nor are we financial advisors. We do not hold capital that we ourselves invest.
3 / Do you take equity?
Equity is the most precious thing you have as a startup, and we would NEVER, ever advise that you pay for services with equity. This is highly destructive to the company itself and makes startups uninvestable by creating "ghost shareholders", as once the service is completed there is a good chance you will no longer be in close communication with this individual / entity. The average lifespan of a startup from inception to exit can be as long as a decade - it's a very long time to have "ghosts" on your cap table. As such we are immensely discerning on the issue of equity, which is why we primarily work on a cash payment basis, especially in the earlier stages (360° Deep Dive Day, etc) while we, and you, decide on the nature of our potential long-term engagement. Should we decide on working together for a longer period we will consider a combination of cash + sweat equity, but only when we join you as advisors, with our equity under vesting - as all best practices dictate. Our main priority is the success of your startup.
3 / This all sounds great, but how would it look in practice?
An average cadence for us is: an advisory session every 1-2 weeks, regular communication (Slack messaging), one Deep Dive Day session per month, and introductions / projects on the side as needed. We (the most useful founder or team member of Nimbld Ventures for the situation at hand) can also sit on key meetings with you and potential investors, advisors, partners, clients. When you are ready to raise we will help you by diverting our contracted time to preparing you for this fundraise, to include pitch deck design, due diligence preparation, and pitching training, as needed.
WHAT IS THE
VALLEY OF DEATH?
IS YOUR STARTUP PREPARED AND READY TO SURVIVE IT?
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It's normal for a product to appeal to different types of users at different points in its lifecycle, often with widely varying needs and use cases, creating a user needs gap (or 'chasm') as numbers grow. Additionally, startups go through periods between receiving investment (whether from founders, friends and family, or angels/VCs) and the moment where revenue begins to exceeed expenditure. These factors create a series of various critical periods that every startup will encounter on its way to success.
This is where most startups FAIL.
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This is colloquially known as The Valley of Death,
and you will see it more than once in your startup journey.​
Partners
