A startup funding planning template with a route comparison and a process tracker

Copy this structure into the company's controlled planning record. Complete it with current evidence, name an owner for each section and date every assumption. Blank fields should stay visible rather than being filled with invented certainty.

What to take away

Funding decision

The milestone should describe a business result, not the act of raising money. Explain why it matters to customers and what decision becomes possible afterwards.

Amount and runway

Worked example: a software company holds £60,000 of unrestricted cash and uses £25,000 net each month. It sets a minimum raise of £250,000, a target raise of £400,000, a maximum usable raise of £600,000 and a transaction and advice budget of £18,000.

At the target, net proceeds plus existing cash give about 17 months of runway. At the minimum, they give about 11 months. That gap sets the delayed-funding cash-low date.

Typical England ranges, to be replaced with written quotes: pre-seed equity £150,000 to £500,000, seed equity £500,000 to £2m, Series A £2m to £10m, and 12 to 18 months of runway after close.

Legal and advice costs typically run at £3,000 to £8,000 for a convertible loan, £12,000 to £30,000 for a priced seed round and £40,000 to £80,000 for a Series A. Debt arrangement fees typically run at 1% to 3% of the facility.

Attach a monthly model and state whether each receipt is contracted, probable or speculative. Include tax, VAT, recruitment and one-off delivery costs. The British Business Bank's 2025/26 finance-markets report is market context, not a replacement for company figures.

Route comparison and worked example

Use Business.gov.uk's overview to identify broad options, then replace general information with the live scheme or provider terms under review.

Live England routes to test against this table include Start Up Loans from the British Business Bank, Innovate UK Smart Grants and HMRC's SEIS and EIS for equity investors. The British Business Bank also runs regional funds, including the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II and the South West Investment Fund.

Scheme terms and eligibility change, so record the date you checked each one.

Evidence register and version control

Label the current version and access owner. A claim in a deck should resolve to the same number in the model or explain the difference.

Target record: who you will approach

For each grant, lender or investor, note the source URL, fit, contact route, named person, evidence date and next action. Use Find a grant for official grant discovery, then open the programme page before recording eligibility.

Process tracker: stage gates and expected dates

Separate a conversation from an offer and a term sheet from cleared funds. Update runway after every material delay.

Fallback and stop rule

Write actions for no funding, partial funding and late funding. Set the date when cost control, a smaller milestone or another route begins. Name commitments that must not be made before money clears.

Assumption log

Add one row whenever a material forecast or external condition enters the plan:

Examples include customer start dates, salary timing, grant reimbursement, lender fees, investor closing conditions and professional costs. Do not overwrite an old estimate. Close it with an outcome and add the revised assumption so forecast quality can be reviewed.

Weekly board summary

Report cash, weeks of runway, process stage by target, evidence requests, expected receipts, decision deadlines and fallback readiness. Use a red status only where a named action and owner follow from it. Separate hopeful conversations from documents received and money cleared.

Record conflicts, related-party funding and professional advice. Attach the current model, cap table and target tracker rather than copying figures into several uncontrolled presentations.

Publication and reuse

This template is a planning aid, not an eligibility test, investment recommendation or credit decision, and it is not tax or legal advice. Replace the worked example with your own figures and dates before circulating it, and label any shared version as a draft.

md; if you cannot open it, copy the headings and tables on this page into a new markdown file. Recheck source links and provider terms whenever the template is adapted.

Before you act

Common questions

What should the milestone in the funding decision describe?

It should describe a business result rather than the act of raising money. The template asks you to explain why the milestone matters to customers and what decision becomes possible afterwards. This keeps the funding decision tied to a business outcome instead of the fundraising process itself.

How should a company handle a material delay in its funding process?

Update runway after every material delay. The process tracker records each stage, from first contact to cleared funds, so an offer is not treated as money received. The fallback and stop rule sets the date when cost control, a smaller milestone or another route begins.

What happens to an old estimate in the assumption log?

Do not overwrite an old estimate. Close it with an outcome and add the revised assumption, so forecast quality can be reviewed. Each row records the assumption, source, date checked, sensitivity, owner and next review, and material forecast or external condition changes trigger a new row.