Funding Pathway Design

---
name: funding-pathway-design
description: "Build a funding strategy that combines non-dilutive and dilutive funding in the right order, and manage runway."
---

# Funding Pathway Design

## Purpose

Build a funding strategy that combines non-dilutive and dilutive funding in
the right order, and manage runway.

## Based on

the owner's published commercialisation guide (owner, 2025). Chapter "How
Spin-outs Are Funded?" (pp. 34-45) — the handbook's longest chapter.

- EIC Accelerator, EIC Pathfinder/Transition, SBIR/STTR (USA), Eurostars,
  national PoC funds
- EIC Impact Report 2025: over €1bn invested in 272 companies, over €3 of
  private capital mobilised per €1 of EIC funding
- University venture funds (e.g. Oxford Science Enterprises, Stanford's
  StartX)
- Tax incentives: UK EIS/SEIS, France JEI

## Method

1. Map non-dilutive sources first: proof-of-concept funds (your own
   organisation, NSF I-Corps, Innovate UK, ERC PoC, EIC Pathfinder/Transition),
   national commercialisation programmes (NSERC I2I, CRCP, etc.).
2. Map larger public programmes for the scale-up stage: EIC Accelerator
   (grant + equity, up to €2.5M grant + €15M equity), SBIR/STTR phases,
   regional equivalents.
3. Once technical/commercial proof exists, move to dilutive funding: angel
   investors → the university's own venture fund (if one exists) → VC
   (Series A, B...).
4. Choose investors carefully: look for a track record in your sector/deep
   tech; be wary of inexperienced investors who can stall a deal with
   non-standard terms.
5. Consider international and specialised funding sources (impact investors,
   foundations) if the innovation has a social or environmental dimension.
6. Note tax incentives (e.g. UK EIS/SEIS, France JEI) — they lower the
   investor's risk and make it easier to raise money.
7. Manage runway deliberately: track burn rate, start the next round in time,
   spend money on value-creating things (validated IP, prototypes, approvals,
   customer traction) — not on offices or other non-critical costs.
8. Build the funding pathway in stages, for example: v0 seed money for a
   prototype → v1 incorporation + PoC grant + angel → v2 EIC/SBIR-phase
   funding → v3 Series A on the back of proven progress.
9. Build relationships with funders and investors BEFORE you need money —
   early engagement significantly strengthens an application/pitch.

## Gotchas

- The non-dilutive-before-dilutive ordering (steps 1-3) is a sequencing
  principle, not optional colour — approaching angels or VCs before
  exhausting proof-of-concept/non-dilutive sources dilutes equity earlier
  than necessary for validation work grants could have funded instead.
- Step 3's move to dilutive funding is gated on "once technical/commercial
  proof exists" — pitching investors before that proof exists is a common
  way applications get rejected or come back with worse terms.
- Runway management (step 7) explicitly names spending on offices or other
  non-critical costs as the failure mode to avoid — a well-funded round
  can still fail the "spend on value-creating things" test if burn goes to
  overhead instead of IP, prototypes, approvals, or customer traction.
- Investor selection isn't just about check size: step 4 warns that an
  inexperienced investor (no track record in the sector/deep tech) can
  stall a deal with non-standard terms — track record matters as much as
  the amount offered.
- Figures like the EIC Accelerator's "up to €2.5M grant + €15M equity" are
  the programme's terms at time of writing, not guaranteed constants — this
  skill explicitly does not guarantee current programme availability or
  terms (see "What this skill does NOT do"), so verify directly with the
  funder before relying on a specific number.

## What this skill does NOT do

- Does not calculate a precise ROI/NPV model for you — see
  `business-case-and-analysis:roi-npv-sensitivity-model`.
- Does not give investment advice.
- Does not guarantee the availability or terms of a specific funding
  programme — programmes change, check current details directly with the
  funder.

## Continue from here

- Next in this pack: `../commercialisation-journey-roadmap/SKILL.md` —
  Structure the entire commercialisation journey into five stages and build
  an actionable roadmap that ties stage gates to agile iteration.
- Related skill in another pack:
  `../../../../business-case-and-analysis/skills/roi-npv-sensitivity-model/SKILL.md`
- Pack's shared guardrails: `../../CLAUDE.md`
- Overview of the full journey: `../commercialisation-journey-roadmap/SKILL.md`

## References

- `../../references/case-studies.md` — 7 spin-out examples from different
  industries and regions
- `../../references/terminology.md` — the handbook's glossary
- `../../references/sources.md` — the handbook's own source references
- `../../CLAUDE.md` — the pack's shared guardrails