The process of seed funding  involves the following steps:

1. Pitching the Idea: The startup company presents its idea to a selective set of potential investors in order to convince them to provide seed funding. This pitch usually includes a presentation and business plan that outlines the company's product or service, target market, competition, revenue model, and growth potential.

2. Negotiating the Terms: Once an investor is interested in providing seed funding, negotiations begin to determine the amount of funding, the equity stake the investor will receive in the company, and any other terms and conditions that may be included in the investment agreement.

3.Receiving the Funding: Once the terms are agreed upon, the investor provides the seed funding to the startup company. This funding is typically provided in exchange for equity in the company, meaning that the investor becomes a partial owner of the company.

4.Using the Funding: The startup company uses the seed funding to develop its product or service, conduct market research, and hire staff. The goal is to use the funding to reach key milestones that will help the company grow and attract additional funding in the future.

5. Attracting Additional Funding: As the company grows and achieves key milestones, it may seek additional funding in later rounds of investment. These rounds may involve larger investments from venture capitalists or other investors.

The time it takes to fund a startup can vary widely depending on many factors, such as the industry, the stage of the startup, and the amount of funding being sought. The process of securing startup funding can take several months or even longer. This is because the process typically involves multiple rounds of discussions, due diligence, negotiations, and paperwork between the startup and potential investors.

Seed and angel investing terms may be used similarly. Both can serve as the first round of funding, depending on when the business seeks out funding. Both these rounds can give founders or entrepreneurs the money they need to get their businesses off the ground. However, there are some key differences between seed and angel rounds:

1. The angel round is usually smaller and is funded by angel investors, while seed rounds are usually larger and funded by venture capitalists or other forms of funding.

2. In the angel round, entrepreneurs give up a smaller portion of their company in exchange for the investment, while seed investment usually results in them giving up a larger portion.

The answer to this is not fixed. However, you should try to obtain enough capital to take your business to a stage of profitability, stability, and an efficient working capital system to run the operations smoothly. In order to raise seed funding, you should be ready with the list of potential investors and questions that investors could ask such as those related to your idea, demand for your product, and data that shows the adoption rate of your product. Ideally, startups raise seed funding if they have at least 1000 customers, have under ₹2-3 Cr in revenue, and are looking to increase their customers and reach out to them through multiple channels.

The two most important documents you would need to raise seed funding for your startup are the business plan and the pitch deck.

The business plan is the most significant as it outlines the entire business model. It is a great way to convince your potential investors.

In a pitch deck, graphs and numbers are great ways to convince investors. It should contain your vision, value proposition, market analysis, competitor analysis, product roadmap, etc.

Investors such as high-net-worth individuals, Private equity firms, Venture capitalists, and other private institutions invest during seed funding in companies that need capital or funds.

Pre-seed funding comes before the seed stage when the startup raises or arranges money to validate its problem-solution hypotheses, and demand. This is the money required to set the base for the business operations to start and ensure that the founder’s business is viable. This stage may come after even earlier funding stages, such as bootstrapping with a business owner’s personal funds or initial angel investment rounds.

Pre-seed funding essentially involves investing in an idea, as products typically aren’t developed yet, and businesses may have nothing beyond a prototype. The amount of funding that can be obtained with pre-seed funding ranges between ₹50 lacs to 1 Cr. During the pre-seed funding stage, startups values anywhere up to 10 crore.

​There are several avenues where you can find investors to raise seed funding for startups like Angel Investor Networks, Venture Capital firms, Startup Incubators & Accelerators. 

Planify provides a platform to facilitate connections between upcoming startups looking to raise funds & investors looking for high-potential startups to invest in.