A ninety-day startup funding plan, from runway to controlled outreach

This 90-day plan prepares a company for a funding decision. It does not promise that a grant, loan or investment will close within three months.

What to take away

Days 1 to 10: define the decision

Write the milestone, amount, intended use and evidence of completion. Build base, slower-sales, delayed-funding and no-funding cash cases. Set minimum, target and maximum amounts plus the last safe date for changing course.

Illustrative example: a company holds £240,000 with a net monthly burn of £40,000, so it has six months of runway. Ninety days of that plan spends about £120,000 and leaves £120,000, around three months. The same company burning £80,000 a month has three months of runway, so it fails the feasibility test and needs the emergency date first.

Reconcile the board's objectives. A founder seeking control, an employee expecting options and an investor planning a later round may judge the same offer differently.

Days 11 to 20: select the funding routes

Compare customer finance, founder funds, grants, debt and equity. Use Business.gov.uk to identify categories, then examine the live provider terms. Score net cash, timing, repayment, dilution, control, permitted activity and failure case.

Named English routes to test include Start Up Loans from the British Business Bank, with personal loans of £500 to £25,000 to founders, and Innovate UK Smart Grants for innovation projects. For equity, test SEIS or EIS advance assurance from HMRC.

Indicative costs. Bank debt usually carries a margin over the Bank of England base rate plus an arrangement fee, commonly 1 to 2 per cent of the facility. Security or a personal guarantee is often required.

Equity costs no cash, but the share sold is the price. A £1,000,000 raise at a £4,000,000 pre-money valuation hands investors 20 per cent. SEIS gives investors 50 per cent income tax relief on up to £200,000 invested, and EIS gives 30 per cent relief on up to £1,000,000 a year.

If considering a grant, search Find a grant and confirm the applicant, English location, project, eligible cost, dates and contribution. Do not start restricted work on an assumption.

Days 21 to 35: reconcile the records

Reconcile company identity, shareholders, options, convertible instruments, accounts, management figures and tax records. Organise customer contracts, intellectual-property documents, employment records and material disputes.

Create a single source for every pitch number. Mark it historic, contracted, pipeline, forecast or external. Remove customer names and confidential material from general circulation.

Days 36 to 45: build a verified target set

Research lenders, programmes or investors against written criteria. Record mandate, stage, amount, geography, evidence date, contact route and decision process. Verify the entity and individual before sending sensitive documents.

Sample target-set criteria:

For equity, decide whether EIS or SEIS is relevant and obtain qualified advice. HMRC's 2026 statistics show scheme activity but do not determine eligibility or investor interest.

Days 46 to 60: test the material

Ask an informed reviewer to challenge the milestone, model and claims. Run a practice application or meeting without scripting every answer. Check that the deck, data room and financial model agree.

Prepare concise responses on use of funds, customer evidence, market estimate, risk, ownership and fallback. Replace unsupported confidence with a source or an honest limitation.

Days 61 to 75: run controlled outreach

Contact the highest-fit targets in manageable groups. Record date, material version, response, question and next action. Adapt the evidence emphasis to the mandate without changing facts between recipients.

Continue serving customers and controlling cost.

Stop rules: if no term sheet or written offer exists by day 75, start the fallback route. Close any target that has not replied after two follow-ups ten working days apart. If the weekly review shows less than 90 days of runway, cut cost and pause outreach.

Days 76 to 90: decide and reset

Compare actual progress with the cash model. An active conversation, application under assessment, draft offer and signed agreement carry different certainty. Model net proceeds and clearing conditions for every offer.

Obtain financial, tax, legal or regulated advice as relevant. If the primary route has missed its stop rule, begin the fallback while choices remain. Document why the board accepted, rejected or deferred a proposal.

At day 90, update the milestone and runway even if funding is still open. This guide contains no live internal links and remains an editorial draft pending qualified review.

Weekly controls throughout the plan

Every week, reconcile bank cash, committed receipts, forecast variance and funding costs. Review which targets moved stage and why. A polite reply or meeting should not be counted as an offer, and an offer should not be counted as money available to spend.

Keep a decision log for changed assumptions, withdrawn targets, revised documents and advice received. Protect confidential records with named access and remove it when a party leaves the process.

Continue customer, product and operational work during the 90 days. If fundraising consumes the people responsible for the milestone, the plan can damage the evidence it was meant to finance. Adjust workload and outreach volume before that happens.

Before you act

Common questions

What should be defined in the first ten days of the plan?

Write the milestone, amount, intended use and evidence of completion. Build base, slower-sales, delayed-funding and no-funding cash cases. Set minimum, target and maximum amounts plus the last safe date for changing course. Reconcile the board's objectives because different parties may judge the same offer differently.

How should a grant application be prepared?

Search Find a grant and confirm the applicant, English location, project, eligible cost, dates and contribution. Do not start restricted work on an assumption. If considering a grant, verify these details before proceeding. This ensures the application meets requirements and avoids wasted effort.

What weekly controls should be maintained throughout the plan?

Every week, reconcile bank cash, committed receipts, forecast variance and funding costs. Review which targets moved stage and why. Keep a decision log for changed assumptions, withdrawn targets, revised documents and advice received. Protect confidential records with named access and remove it when a party leaves the process.