Private equity advisory
Preparation and positioning for companies raising private capital, and introductions to investors who actually invest in what they do.
Raising private capital is a matching problem before it is a persuasion problem. Most funds have a narrow thesis — sector, stage, cheque size, geography — and a company that does not fit it will not be funded regardless of how well it presents. The work is establishing whether a business is ready to raise, what it looks like to the investors it should be talking to, and which those are.
What this involves
Readiness assessment
An honest read on whether a business is ready to raise, and what would need to be true first. Sometimes the answer is not yet.
Positioning
The same company reads differently to a growth fund and a strategic acquirer. Which story to tell depends on who is listening.
Targeted introductions
Introductions to investors whose stated thesis matches the business, rather than a mass approach that burns the list.
Coordination with public funding
For research-driven companies, non-dilutive federal funding and private capital are complementary. The sequence between them matters.
Non-dilutive first, where it fits
For companies with a credible federal funding path, taking that route first is usually the better sequence. Grant funding does not cost equity, and reaching an investor conversation with de-risked technology and a completed programme changes the terms available.
This is the main reason the grant and capital practices sit in the same firm. The decision is not grant *or* investor; it is what order, and what each is being used to prove.
What this is and is not
This is advisory work: preparation, positioning and introduction. It is not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security, it is not investment advice, and Gem Group does not manage outside capital or hold client funds.
Any transaction is between the company and the investor, negotiated and documented by their own counsel. Where an engagement would require registration or licensing to perform, it is either structured so that it does not, or it is not undertaken.
Common questions
Do you invest your own capital?
No. This is advisory work — preparation, positioning and introductions. Gem Group does not manage outside capital or hold client funds.
Is this investment advice?
No. Nothing on this site or in an advisory engagement is investment advice, or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security. Companies and investors should take their own legal and financial advice on any transaction.
Should we raise before or after applying for grants?
It depends on what each is being used to prove, but for research-driven companies a non-dilutive federal path first is often the stronger sequence. It de-risks the technology without costing equity, which changes what terms are available later.