Fractional CFO Positions Cleantech Startup for $12M Series A
A cleantech startup with a breakthrough carbon capture technology had strong R&D but couldn't close its Series A because financial reporting, unit economics, and investor materials weren't institutional grade. A fractional CFO built the financial infrastructure and closed a $12M round.
$12M Series A closedThree competing term sheetsClose cycle 30 to 5 daysInvestor-grade infrastructure
What they came to us with.
A Canadian cleantech startup had a proprietary carbon capture technology with validated pilot results — 40% more efficient than incumbents at 25% lower capital cost. The founding team of two PhD engineers and a commercialization lead had raised $2M seed and built a working pilot plant, and was targeting a $10–15M Series A to fund first commercial deployment. Four months of investor meetings produced no term sheet. 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, revenue projections lived in an undocumented spreadsheet, and the CEO couldn't confidently answer "when do you run out of money?" The company needed institutional-grade financial infrastructure and a fundraising leader — but couldn't afford or attract a full-time CFO at this stage.
How the work actually ran.
- 01
Financial rebuild
Rebuilt chart of accounts, fixed 18 months of categorization errors, implemented proper revenue recognition, and automated the monthly close — taking it from 30 days to 5.
- 02
Unit economics model
Constructed bottoms-up unit economics for the commercial product: cost per tonne of CO₂ captured, deployment economics at scale, and sensitivity analysis across energy costs, carbon pricing, and utilization.
- 03
Investor materials
Built a 5-year model with documented assumptions and scenario analysis, plus pitch deck financials, data room, and a clean cap table investors could stress-test.
- 04
Cash flow discipline
Implemented 13-week rolling forecasts and monthly burn dashboards, giving the CEO real-time runway visibility and enabling confident capital conversations.
- 05
Fundraise execution
Qualified 40 cleantech-focused investors, managed outreach and due diligence, negotiated term sheet economics with counsel, and onboarded a controller to bridge to the post-Series A CFO hire.
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.
Selected. Closed.
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Tell us what you’re facing. We operate from there.
Most first conversations happen on a call within the week. We respond personally within one business day.