E44. Jessica and Louella Alderson,
So Syncd - The importance of a lead investor

#cofounders #consumer #venturecapital #tech #app #friendsandfamily

£700k raised

Jess and Lou Alderson have tapped a fresh niche in the online dating market using Myers-Briggs personality profiling for a perfect match. They've taken their market by storm and in a short time, managed to raise over £700,000 in investment. 
 
Launching in January 2020, the sisters have gone from strength to strength despite the global pandemic. With the goal of building a marketable product as quickly as possible whilst they were still holding down full time jobs, Jess and Lou started with a 'friends-and-family' round. Then, with some early traction under their belt, they were ready to quit their jobs and undertake a more significant raise to launch a paid membership package and expand within the US market.

With some big last minute hurdles including extreme money laundering checks, a disappearing investor payment and various unexpected hurdles, they managed to close their investment round on the very last day of the tax year. 

In this episode you’ll discover…
  • The benefits of fundraising through friends and family for your starting round
  • Different questions from different investors – why you need to be prepared for varied points of interest
  • The importance of a lead investor to kick start your investment rounds