£750k
Eighteen months to product–market fit.
- 01Build a small team
- 02Work closely with the first customers
- 03Find product–market fit
- 04Find the channels that work
- 05Raise the seed from strength
- Raising£750,000
- Valuation cap£4m pre-money · ~15.8%
- InstrumentSeedFAST · 6-month long-stop
- Tax relief£250k SEIS · £500k EIS
- CompanySimma Labs Limited, UK
Converts at the next priced round, capped at £4m — or at £4m after six months. SEIS/EIS advance assurance applied for before first close.
Built for UK angels: SEIS first, then EIS.
The first £250,000 — the most a company can raise under SEIS — gets the most generous tax relief available to a UK angel. The remaining £500,000 is raised under EIS in the same round.
SEIS — investors can claim 50% income-tax relief on up to £200,000 a year, and gains on the shares are free of capital gains tax if held for three years.
EIS — 30% income-tax relief, with the same capital gains exemption after three years. SEIS shares are issued first; EIS shares follow.
Relief depends on each investor's circumstances and on HMRC's rules at the time of investment. Advance assurance will be applied for before first close; it is not yet granted.
Where the money goes.
The 18-month budget, with employer National Insurance, pensions, legal and running costs included: the founder full-time, a sales & customer-success hire from month 2, an engineer from month 4, a second sales hire from month 6, and a marketing agency from month 3.
- PeopleThe founder; two sales & customer-success hires; an engineer (with employer costs, recruitment and laptops) · £464k65%
- MarketingAn agency from month 3: trials, then up to £10k a month on what works · £133k18%
- Product & infrastructureHosting, AI, messaging, software seats · £51k7%
- Legal, admin & otherSeedFAST, IP, contracts and T&Cs; accountant, payroll and SEIS/EIS; insurance; travel · £71k10%
What £750k buys, month by month.
A small team that feeds what customers say straight back into the product, and a marketing budget that follows the evidence: trials first, then more on what works — across channels, markets and industries.
Costs include employer National Insurance (15% above £5,000, less the £10,500 Employment Allowance) and workplace pensions at the 3% minimum. Revenue at £2,306 per customer a year, the model's average for early customers (the Market page's £2,435 is the UK average across all business sizes). The monthly budget is a sheet in the financial model.
Five years, three rounds, profitable in year four.
Built from the customer ramp on the Market page — mostly micro businesses, with small and medium customers from year three and the first enterprise customers in year five. Revenue is subscription plus the Simma Pay margin. A plan, not a forecast.
£4m cap via SeedFAST. Paul full-time, a team of four, the first 50 customers, the channels that work.
Self-serve, referral and partner channels; the team to 20; 1,000 customers.
The US opens; franchise and multi-location groups bring the first small and medium customers.
Key assumptions, by customer size (micro / small / medium / enterprise): revenue per customer ~£2.4k / £12.5k / £61k / £152k a year; customers lost each year 30% / 20% / 12% / 5%; cost to win £400–£1,000 / £3,000 / £12,000 / £60,000; hosting, AI and support £20 / £80 / £300 / £1,500 a month. Cash is simplified — no working capital, tax or R&D tax credits. Seed and Series A sizes are placeholders sized to the cash need. The full model — every assumption editable — is available on request.
What you can hold me to. draft
Full-time
- Founder full-time from first close
- First sales & customer-success hire, month 2
- First studios onboarded by hand
First revenue
- Engineer joins, month 4
- First paying studios, paid through Simma Pay
- Second sales & customer-success hire, month 6
Fifty customers, then raise
- 50 paying customers
- Sage live behind the approval gate
- Start raising the seed, month 12
Seed closed
- Close the seed round
- Evidence of what studios pay for and keep using
- First franchise conversation
From Series A: how the company scales.
Pre-seed is a founder and a small team doing everything. From Series A, Simma organises around four outcomes rather than departments. We call it BARS: Build, Acquire, Retain, Scale. Each pillar has one owner, a small team, and agents working alongside the people.