
Strategy & Fundraising
From putting together hundreds of investor ‘decks’ to pitching venture capital investors in the UK, Europe and Silicon Valley ourselves - we’ve been around the fundraising block. We’ve also sat on the other side of the table - hosting pitch events, scouting for startups and interviewing founders on behalf of investors large and small.
And when it comes to strategy? Skip the super slick McKinsey crew and talk to a team who'll cut to the chase. We’ll tell you what we really think, and why (even if it’s not what you want to hear).
Because we also run other businesses:
We keep pace with new technologies, tools and best practice
We can’t afford to waste our time, or yours
Services
Strategic Advisory
We've over thirty years of commercial experience spanning the public and private sectors across four continents.
We've worked as diplomats, tech entrepreneurs, food and drink producers and even run aviation operations in both hemispheres.
As a result, people trust our judgement and come to us for unfiltered insights and advice.
We bring a breadth of sectoral and operational experience from FMCG and TMT to aerospace, conservation and defence.
Think of us as your commercial Swiss Army knife - we've an unusual ability to wrap our heads around complex commercial problems.
At Blackthorn we take your business as seriously as our own, and focus on delivering results, fast.
Fundraising
We've pitched from pre-seed to Series A on both sides of the Atlantic (for ourselves and others), and worked as investment scouts and advisers for corporate investors, UHNW and family office clients as well as for governments.
At infrastructure scale we've helped connect developers with institutional capital, and at the other end of the spectrum we've bootstrapped tech startups from nothing but that precious first trickle of customer revenue.
We've been pitched at too, scouted for investment opportunities and interviewed founding teams for investment committees at corporates, startup accelerators and angel networks.
Clients
Confidential client
Public affairs and supply chain development projects for offshore wind sector client.
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Strategic advisory - assisted in development of UK supply chain strategy for major Northern European offshore wind developer, including site selection and visits, partner identification and vetting, supplier fora
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Public affairs - government relations intermediary, political and market briefings, policy monitoring, regulatory intelligence
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Market entry and expansion - direct UK market entry support, strategic planning of optimised European footprint based on long-term market development forecasting
Confidential client
Work with e-commerce founder on operational efficiency, strategy and fundraising support.
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Strategic advisory - assessment of current operations and planning for future growth
Fundraising - creation of investor collateral, built pipeline of prospects
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Digital - review of paid media activities, recommendations on natural search, PR and content
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B2C sales - work to segment customer base to enable more targeted marketing activity
B2B sales - advice and guidance on B2B segment
Partnerships - suggested potential brand collaborations for increased exposure
Market entry and expansion - evaluation of opportunities to expand into new European markets
Confidential client
Long-term engagement with London based family office across portfolio of ventures.
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Strategic advisory - investigation of new ventures within digital and physical experience and aviation / aerospace / UAV markets with family office
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Digital - launched new experience venture, built and launched brand and e-commerce enabled site, managed all social media
Public relations - overall responsibility for new venture and parent company's PR
Print - secured editorial in Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Sunday Times
TV and radio - interviews on local and national TV and radio including BBC, CNN, , ITV, Sky News
Crisis communications - managed comms during multiple life threatening emergencies according to company's Emergency Plan
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B2C sales - oversight of all B2C sales operations (e-commerce, on-site, telephone)
B2B sales - grew corporate sales through collaboration with US partners
Partnerships - oversaw several successful collaborations with US partners including. NASCAR teams and high profile social media racing drivers
Market entry and expansion - explored establishment of subsidiary ventures in Australia and New Zealand
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Customer engagement - responsible for customer troubleshooting and feedback into revised service provision
Complex operations - oversight of complex, multi-site fixed wing and rotary flight operations (c. 10-20 aircraft)
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New product development - pioneered use of 360-video product line, increasing company revenues by c. 10%