Pre-Seed Capital Access Program (PCAP)​

The Pre-Seed Capital Access Program (PCAP) is a 5 week intensive cohort for founders who are seeking guidance on positioning their companies to reach MVP related milestones enabling an initial institutional and/or angel equity funding. To be accepted to the program, applicants must be a tech-enabled business in operation at least 3 months and provided evidence of some meaningful initial investment by the founder and/or friends and family. The focus of the program is the Discovery and Validation phases of a startup with the goal of focusing key activity so that startups. The product or service thesis must demonstrate the ability to disrupt or cost efficiently solve a big, discernible problem or major aggravation for the end customer. This includes testing assumptions about customer needs/problems, seeking validation in the technology/product/service, and producing/refining their MVP.

​The key outcomes for this phase include: 

• Demonstrating Product-Solution Fit and Technology Validation
• Refined Market Size Estimate

• Clear Business Model Thesis
• Beta or Go To Market MVP

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Seed Capital Access Program (SCAP)​

The Seed Capital Access Program (SCAP) is an 8-11 week cohort providing expert guidance and actionable execution in preparing founders for the next level of funding following the pre-seed development stage. The focus of SCAP is to drive critical user engagement and/or customer adoption metrics that signal evidence of a sustainable business model.  A company’s product or service offering will also need to be stress tested and validated including value proposition, scalability, and technology platform. Accordingly, the SCAP curriculum provides founders the insights and road map to identifying and achieving key milestones to increase likelihood of further rounds of seed/angel funding. Driving down average cost and time to acquire customers are a key emphasis of the sessions as is fine tuning the core business model. We will also offer assistance in identifying needed additions to the management team.​

The key outcomes for this phase include:

• Determination/Evaluation/Refinement of unit economics and key business drivers
• Determination of realistic customer engagement and revenue traction milestones
• Identification and recommendations on key management team positions and responsibilities
• Refined pitch deck for prospective Seed investors
• Term sheet or LOI from one or more Seed stage investors

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​​​Venture Capital Access Program (VCAP©)

VCAP is an immersive 4 week program for entrepreneurs who have a significant customer pipeline and meaningful revenue traction and/ or have previously received funding from seed/angel investors. VCAP participants are typically seeking individualized mentorship and positioning in anticipation of a Series A institutional round within 6 months. It is designed to be highly immersive and include representatives from various select venture capital firms and successful entrepreneurs providing expert guidance as part of the cohort. Participants will receive feedback that can be specifically used for their particular business circumstances and an execution roadmap to likely lead to a successful Series A term sheet.

Entry into the VCAP program is limited due to the individualized attention so qualifications are reserved for participants determined to have the best prospects for a successful Series A raise. As a result, we expect to see applicants have:

• Demonstrated traction with one or more strategic customers and/or channel partners
• Meaningful annualized revenue and gross margin growth demonstrating capability of scaling
• Robust and stable technology platform
• Achievement of key performance metrics  

The key outcomes for this phase include: 

• Validation of main business drivers
• Completed C-Suite Management team
• Introductions/interaction with at least 2 Series A investors
• Series A term sheet from one or more institutional investors

TMF may also make referral introductions to prospective institutional investors during and after successful program completion. 

Venture Capital Access Program (VCAP©) history. VCAP was initially a collaborative venture between the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York (HBSAANY) and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) that provided women and diverse entrepreneurs with access to capital through angel investors. HBSAANY invests in entrepreneurs regardless of Harvard affiliation if any.

Background: 
​Venture Capital Access Program (VCAP©) originated as a collaborative effort between the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York (HBSAANY) and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) that provided women and diverse entrepreneurs with access to capital through angel investors. VCAP© applied to entrepreneurs across all industry sectors to submit business plans and financial information to be selected into the program. After a rigorous, multi-stage screening process, finalists were invited to pitch at a special event in front of 40-50 HBSAANY venture capitalists, angels, and other institutional investors
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