In this episode of How to Raise A Round, we sat down with Worklete co-founder and CEO Ben Kanner to hear the story of how he raised his $6.5M Series A in the span of just four weeks.
Worklete’s story
Ben’s father was a firefighter and professional athlete. In the workplace, he used skillsets from each of these unique experiences to protect himself from common musculoskeletal injuries. By establishing a safety consultancy for blue-collar workers, Ben set himself on a mission to help frontline workers avoid the most common injuries they might experience on the job.
Ben took the initial model for Worklete and built it to scale, seeing massive growth through the latter half of 2017. As the business took off, he realized that his model wasn’t scalable enough—he was doing all the selling himself, and couldn’t continue to shoulder that burden if he wanted Worklete to keep growing. He didn’t just need to figure out product-market fit; he needed to solidify a more efficient go-to-market process.
The funding journey
If Ben was going to raise his Series A, he needed to do it quickly—his wife was expecting, and it was critical that he finalize the funding round before his first child was born. He worked with an advisor to maximize the impact of his raise on both coasts—setting a $5M valuation for his priced round.
In our chat with Ben, we learn:
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How different fundraising instruments like venture debt, convertible notes, and priced rounds can affect a founder’s dilution.
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How re-vesting works, and why investors might ask you to re-vest your shares.
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The difference between product-market fit and go-to-market fit.
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New and creative pathways to fundraising success, and how to creatively think about structuring your raise.
Listen to our interview with Ben by streaming How to Raise a Round on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.