We were delighted to have Richard Heyns, Founder and CEO of Brytlyt (see www.brytlyt.com) as one of our company case studies at the recent Informed Funding seminar. Brytlyt disrupts the software technology needed for processing and analytics to greatly enhance its market’s number one purchasing criteria: speed. Based on its own tests, the company’s offering has gone from being 3x faster to more than 8x faster than the current market leader.

In September, Brytlyt successfully raised £306,000 via SyndicateRoom (www.syndicateroom.com ), well above the minimum target of £200,000. In line with the SyndicateRoom model, a lead investor put in £75,000, was joined by five other angels to hit the minimum target, and then the “Crowd” followed on to achieve the final figure for the Round.

We caught up with Richard after the Event to ask him whether he had some key experiences to share, and these are some of his observations, from what was clearly a positive experience:

• The SyndicateRoom process was clearly effective for Brytlyt, and Richard likes the fact that £1,000 is the minimum investment allowed – not a huge figure, “but more thought has to go in to it”.
• The inclusion of a Crowd Funding element to a funding round, generates some great marketing for the business – “it’s a good way of getting known”.
• Keep it simple, and avoid separate classes of shares. “If people want a preference over other shareholders, you really have to ask why?”
• “Don’t raise too much – some pain is good”. Richard believes that too much over-funding can lead to a lack of focus and attention to where the cash is being used.  
• “Price an initial round on the assumption that there is likely to be a subsequent round”.  In essence don’t be so ambitious with pricing so that it leaves little room for increased valuation.

We wish Richard and his team every success, and will be tracking their progress.