Client Context
A Canadian cleantech startup had developed a proprietary carbon capture technology with validated pilot results: 40% more efficient than incumbent solutions at a 25% lower capital cost. The founding team — two PhD engineers and a commercialization lead — had raised a $2M seed round and built a working pilot plant. They were targeting a $10–15M Series A to fund their first commercial deployment.
But after 4 months of investor meetings, they had no term sheet. The feedback was consistent: the technology was compelling, but the financial story wasn't investable. Monthly financials took 30 days to close and were riddled with categorization errors. There was no unit economics model for the commercial product. Revenue projections were built in a spreadsheet with no assumptions documentation. Cash flow forecasting was nonexistent — the CEO couldn't confidently answer "when do you run out of money?" in investor meetings.
The company needed a CFO who could build institutional-grade financial infrastructure, construct an investable financial narrative, and manage the fundraising process — but couldn't afford (or attract) a full-time hire at this stage.
What We Did
— Stepped in as fractional Chief Financial Officer with a dual mandate: fix the financial infrastructure immediately and close a Series A within 6 months
— Rebuilt the chart of accounts and financial reporting: implemented proper revenue recognition, corrected historical categorization errors across 18 months of transactions, and automated the monthly close process — reducing close time from 30 days to 5 days
— Constructed a bottoms-up unit economics model for the commercial product: cost per tonne of CO₂ captured, customer lifetime value, deployment economics at different scales, and sensitivity analysis across key variables (energy costs, carbon credit pricing, utilization rates)
— Built a 5-year financial model with documented assumptions, scenario analysis (base/upside/downside), and sensitivity tables that investors could stress-test — replacing the single-scenario spreadsheet that had undermined credibility
— Developed the investor materials: financial sections of the pitch deck, a detailed financial appendix, a data room with organized legal, financial, and technical documents, and a capitalization table with clean option pool and dilution modeling
— Implemented cash flow forecasting with 13-week rolling projections and monthly burn rate dashboards, giving the CEO real-time visibility into runway and enabling confident conversations with investors about timing and capital needs
— Led the fundraising process: qualified 40 potential investors (cleantech-focused VCs, corporate venture arms, government funds), managed the outreach sequence, coordinated due diligence responses, and negotiated term sheet economics alongside the company's legal counsel
— Established board-level financial governance: monthly financial packages, quarterly board decks, and the reporting cadence that institutional investors expect from portfolio companies
Outcomes
- $12M Series A closed within 8 weeks of the first institutional investor meeting — exceeding the original $10M target based on competitive dynamics between three interested funds
- Monthly close reduced from 30 days to 5 days, giving leadership real-time financial visibility and eliminating the reporting lag that had eroded investor confidence
- Unit economics validated by two independent technical due diligence firms, with the financial model cited by the lead investor as "the most rigorous we've seen from a pre-revenue cleantech company"
- Data room organized and maintained through due diligence with zero material issues flagged — a stark contrast to the 4-month fundraising drought that preceded the engagement
- Cash flow forecasting enabled the company to extend its seed runway by 3 months through working capital optimization identified during the financial rebuild
- Controller hired and onboarded with documented processes, bridging the gap between the fractional engagement and the future full-time CFO hire that the Series A would fund
"Investors kept telling us they loved our technology but couldn't invest in our financials. In hindsight, it was obvious — we were scientists trying to speak finance. Having a fractional CFO who could build the infrastructure and tell our financial story to investors was the difference between no term sheet and three competing offers." — CEO, Cleantech Startup