Table of Contents

• 👉🏻 Introduction

• 💰 Deals done this week

• Today's Deep Dive: 🧠 Hitting the moving target t …

• Want some 121 time with me?

• 🤖 AI in fundraising

• Interesting Things I Read

• Founders’ Guidelines

• About Raise Like a Pro

👉🏻 Introduction

Investors talk a lot about PMF.

“You’re too early; come back to me when you have PMF”. What they mean - or used to mean - is come back with some form of validation of your hypothesis.

And founders took that as an inflection point - once I hit PMF life is going to be great and the money will pour in.

Well it’s like that. Not anymore.

Read the full article below to see how we unpack what PMF really means in the age of AI.

💰 Deals done this week

• Tanso raises €12M to scale climate compliance AI
  With CSRD mandates tightening, Munich-based Tanso is expanding its AI-driven platform for environmental data management. The goal? Make sustainability reporting as operationally seamless as ERP. (Read)

• PropHero lands €2.5M to make AI-powered real estate investing mainstream
  Originally from Australia, PropHero is doubling down on Europe—using AI to help 10,000+ users pick high-yield properties. Their new BBVA Spark funding signals growing institutional confidence in predictive proptech. (Read)

• Doughlicious scoops €4.3M to bring cookie-dough gelato to the US
  Healthy indulgence, frozen. This London-based FoodTech startup is riding the better-for-you wave with gluten-free gelato bites, now expanding rapidly into 10,000+ US retail stores. (Read)

• Wanda Health secures €2.1M to scale intelligent virtual care in the US
  Remote Patient Monitoring is going mainstream. Wanda Health’s AI-led virtual care platform aims to cut hospital readmissions by flagging risk in real time—now entering high-growth mode with US contracts. (Read)

• Approov locks in €5.7M to secure mobile apps for the AI era
  As mobile threats evolve with AI, Edinburgh-based Approov offers zero-trust app security with attestation, RASP, and cloud-first API protection. Their platform is used in finance, healthcare, and connected vehicles. (Read)

Today's Deep Dive: 🧠 Hitting the moving target that is PMF in the Age of AI

Investors talk an awful lot about the need to find product market fit (or PMF). What PMF means is validation that your startup hypothesis holds true in the real world—and a proven playbook that basically means you know how to scale the thing and you know what levers you pull to grow the business.

At least that's what it used to be. The thing about finding PMF in the age of AI is it constantly shifts because once you've hit PMF with an AI native business, then the expectations for the customer shift and that bar rises intrinsically - whilst at the same time you're putting up with competition who are moving at the speed of light (or so it seems), constantly driving up those customer expectations.

Therefore, you need to constantly iterate through PMF because as soon as you have it, you have to go hit it again in a different way. Let's unpack this a little.

💣 The PMF Myth That’ll Kill Your Startup

Some founders think that PMF is a milestone that you reach once and an inflexion point that you grow from. That used to be the case, but in the age of AI, it just shifts constantly.

Once you hit PMF, you need to go again and hit it again. That doesn't mean you're not making progress. It just means that PMF is a constantly shifting goalpost. It's actually a measure of success that you're hitting it and moving it up again and again.

PMF shifts. What’s sticky today might be dead tomorrow. You’re not chasing a one-time moment—you’re building that muscle around constant re-validation.

Your product isn’t magical just because you’ve raised, got signups, or landed some pilots. Until users come back, get value, and tell others without being nudged—you haven’t nailed it.

🚦 The 8 Principles to Chase Real PMF

1. Start narrow. Stay useful.

   Don’t try to build a platform. Pick one painful problem and solve it so well that users can’t do without it. Land that, then expand. Painkillers - never a vitamin pill.

2. Nail your ECP then ICP.

   Early Customer Profile (ECP) is almost never the same as Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Often your ECP has the pain you're trying to solve, but isn't necessarily going to be the one to pay for it. Part of the PMF iteration is to iterate through the ECP to find the ICP who will actually go and pay for it.
   If you’re “for everyone”, you’re for no one. Get laser-specific. What industry? What role? What pain? The tighter your focus, the faster you get real feedback.

3. Validate usage, not interest.

   Just because someone says they’d use it doesn’t mean they will. Look for real usage, repeat sessions, and behaviour that shows value’s being delivered. It's very easy to say you'll put your hand in your pocket, but until you are actually ask to do so, you never know whether that really will happen. .

4. Shorten time-to-value.

   The quicker someone says “bloody hell this is good”, the better. Make sure users hit that “aha” moment fast—ideally within minutes of signing up.

5. Track the right signals.

   Forget downloads, signups or likes. Focus on daily/weekly use, embedded workflows, teams expanding usage, or users scripting their own shortcuts around your tool. Although there's a temptation to sign customers up to annual contracts, in the early days monthly contracts allow you to better tell whether someone is going to turn off or stay with you.

6. Ignore vanity traction.

   Curiosity clicks and one-time plays don’t count. Real traction is when users need you, not when they’re just having a play around.

7. Don’t trust your gut.

   It’s easy to convince yourself you’re close. But unless retention is solid, churn is low, and expansion’s happening—keep digging. Feelings aren’t metrics.

8. Re-validate constantly.

   PMF is not set-it-and-forget-it. Every time you move upmarket, add a feature, or go international—start again. What worked yesterday might not land tomorrow.

⚠️ Red Flags You Haven’t Hit PMF Yet

• You’re still leading every sale personally.

• Customers need lots of hand-holding post-sale.

• Users don’t come back after trying the product.

• Your churn rate’s higher than you’d admit in public.

If that’s you, don’t scale. Strip things back and go talk to users.

✅ What Real PMF Looks Like in the Age of AI

• Users return often, without prompting.

• The product is embedded in workflows.

• Teams grow usage without being pushed.

• You’re no longer having to “sell” it—it sells itself.

• Churn is low. Word of mouth is high.

When you’ve got that, you’ll feel the pull. Sales get easier. Feedback loops get faster. You stop pushing and start keeping up.

At least until it changes again!

💡 Quick Founder Checklist

✍️ Final Word

If you’re early: stay scrappy. Ship faster. Solve one thing well.

If you think you’ve got PMF: validate it. Churn, behaviour, word of mouth—do they all line up?

PMF isn’t a milestone. It’s a habit. Keep earning it.

Want some 121 time with me?

I've recently been taking a whole bunch of calls from founders all over the world where either I don’t have the time to work fully on their raise—or just need some specific targeted advice around different areas of their fundraising campaign, be it GTM, market sizing, pitch deck, or whatever.

I've now opened up additional slots, which you can book here.

🤖 AI in fundraising

Fundraising is undeniably time-intensive and often pulls focus from the critical work of building your business. The good news? The landscape of AI tools is rapidly evolving, offering increasingly sophisticated ways to save precious time – whether you're summarising investor requests, meticulously preparing for meetings, or streamlining the management of due diligence materials.

This week, I've been diving into a few platforms that have truly impressed me with their potential to be game-changers for any fundraising effort:

Persana AI offers AI agents to enrich lead data, detect intent signals (like recent hiring, funding, or product launches), and auto-sequence outreach—ideal for building highly targeted pipelines without manual lift.

My NEXT Raise is a one-stop AI platform that streamlines the entire fundraising journey—from pitch deck creation to investor matching, runway and dilution calculators to a second-gen AI‑powered data room.

Kindsight brings real-time donor intelligence to nonprofit fundraising CRM—updating lead profiles live, generating personalized outreach copy in your brand voice, and automating engagement playbooks.

Hebbia acts like a “super‑intern” for fundraising—automatically parsing financials, filling memo templates, drafting investor Q&A, and constructing valuation models from firms like BlackRock and Air Force workflows.

Interesting Things I Read

The Return of M&A: A Surprising Catalyst for Exits
Acquisition activity has surged 155% year-over-year by deal volume, with notable growth in AI infrastructure and cybersecurity. In a selective funding environment, strategic acquisitions are becoming a key exit path for startups. For founders, this reinforces the importance of building products with clear strategic value that larger players might want to buy. (Read)

The Burn Multiple: Investors’ New Favorite Metric
CFO Advisors (July 2025) spotlights the burn multiple as a defining benchmark for Series A SaaS startups. It calculates how much a startup spends to add $1 in ARR. While the median sits around 1.6x, top-tier startups—especially AI-native ones—are hitting sub-1.0x ratios. For founders, maintaining a low burn multiple through disciplined growth is becoming essential for attracting capital. (Read)

B2B SaaS in 2026: Smarter Capital Stacks
A new Scale-Wise report advises UK SaaS founders to blend equity with non-dilutive capital. With over €1.2B mobilized by the European Innovation Council for 2025—especially targeting deep tech—grant and innovation loan options are more attractive than ever. Founders who show strong capital efficiency and repayment discipline can stand out in an increasingly metrics-driven market. (Read)

Founders’ Guidelines

• Why Angels First? A Fundraising Strategy That Builds Leverage
  After raising $4.5M, this founder breaks down why starting with angels (not VCs) changed everything—from getting honest pitch feedback to building early momentum and social proof.
  🔗 View post

  Pitch Deck Vault: 60+ Decks from Studios, Funds & Founders
  A goldmine of real venture studio and VC fund decks, curated and updated as of July 2025. Use this to benchmark your own storytelling and understand how LPs and GPs pitch capital partners.
  🔗 View post

  Startup or SME? Why It Matters Before You Raise
  Not all companies are built for venture scale—and knowing the difference is crucial before you pitch investors. A quick, clear framework to align your funding path with your growth model.
  🔗 View post

  How VCs Decide to Take a First Meeting
  A tactical checklist from NFX on what actually drives investor interest at the top of funnel—team signals, timing, traction, and who referred you.
  🔗 View post

About Raise Like a Pro

Raising a funding round isn’t rocket science. It’s not even brain surgery. But it's incredibly time-consuming, HARD and emotionally challenging.

As a founder, your time is better spent building product, finding product-market fit, signing up customers, and building your team. Yet fundraising demands an enormous amount of your attention and energy.

I've witnessed countless founders struggle with this balance. They get stuck in the cycle of endless pitch meetings, confusing feedback, and the dreaded "no's" that seem to pile up without explanation. Even successful companies like Canva, now valued at $25.5 billion, started with their CEO Melanie Perkins hearing "no" over 100 times before getting that crucial first "yes."

My promise to you

Every piece of advice in this newsletter comes from actual experience: deals I've closed, terms I've negotiated, and strategies I've refined through real-world application.

I'm not here to give you startup platitudes or generic advice. Instead, you'll get practical, actionable tactics that you can implement immediately in your fundraising journey. This is the playbook I use each and every day to help founders all over the world raise money from investors all over the world.

The type of things we have and will continue to cover:

• The actual processes I use to close deals.

• Step-by-step morning routines for effective fundraising.

• Real email templates that get responses.

• Meeting scripts that convert to term sheets.

• Pipeline management techniques that close deals.

• The stuff you really need to know so you don’t get screwed by investors.

The goal? To help you raise money faster, at better valuations, while protecting your interests and your time.

– David

Raise like a Pro is what David Levine does every single day though this business Glenluna Ventures. An exited founder, he raises money each and every day for founders all over the world from investors all over the world.