How we raised 3.2M PLN for a medical startup in 112 days

Messy paperwork is a sentence for the investor

On our first day of work, exactly February 14, 2024, Jakub brought us a binder containing 147 pages of disorganized notes, invoices, and draft contracts. For a Venture Capital fund, such a sight is a red flag. Investors don't just buy a vision; they buy order and predictability. We had to sort this data in 72 hours and extract the most important information. It turned out that the share structure was flawed – Jakub only owned 43% of the company, the rest belonged to business angels who were no longer adding any value. This was the first problem to fix.

Numbers don't lie – with such a structure, no one would have invested a penny. Over the next 10 days, we conducted tough negotiations with former partners to restore Jakub's control over the company. We managed to close this on February 24, when Jakub regained a 62% stake. Without this step, the rest of the process would have made no sense. An investor must see that the founder is motivated and has a real impact on what happens in the company. Only then could we sit down to create a financial model that would survive the clash with fund analysts.

At Tatry Strategy Group, operating since June 2017, we have learned that haste is worse than a lack of capital. We verify facts in 48 hours and do not allow any ambiguity to come to light during the meeting with the fund. In the case of MediLink, we had to prove that their customer acquisition cost (CAC), which was 34.20 PLN, was real and scalable. We analyzed 12 months of marketing campaigns, which took us 5 business days but gave us the confidence Jakub previously lacked.

Investors don't just buy a vision; they buy order and predictability. Messy data is the fastest way to have an application rejected.

12 slides without the fluff

In March 2024, we set aside all the beautiful descriptions and focused on the specifics. We prepared a presentation that had exactly 12 slides. We cut every word from it that did not carry hard data. Instead of writing that the product was groundbreaking, we showed a chart of user growth of 22% every month since September 2023. We focused on the fact that there are 1.4 million diabetes patients in Poland who can use MediLink sensors. This was a specific detail that built credibility with everyone who read the document.

Specifics instead of theory is our main principle when building investment teasers. Slide number 4 showed a unit margin of 67%. This was the number that made investors from the Orzeł Capital fund stop for longer during the first meeting on March 12. We had to be ready for questions about every penny spent on the production of one sensor in the factory near Częstochowa. For three days, we practiced answering the hardest questions with Jakub, simulating an aggressive interrogation. We knew he only had one chance to make a good impression.

A common mistake for startups is hiding product flaws. We did the opposite. On slide 9, we showed the biggest risks, including competition from China and possible changes in medical regulations. This built trust. Investors saw that the Tatry Strategy Group team and the founder of MediLink were down-to-earth. We didn't promise to conquer the world in a year. We promised to gain 5% of the Polish market within 18 months. Such a plan was credible and backed by an analysis of 423 points of sale with which Jakub had already signed letters of intent.

21 meetings in 4 cities

The real fight began in April. Within 22 business days, we held 21 meetings with funds in Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław, and Poznań. It was a marathon that required Jakub's full focus. The average meeting duration was 1 hour and 14 minutes. We drew conclusions from each one. After the meeting in Warsaw on April 4, we changed one slide regarding the exit strategy because we saw that investors from this group were looking for a faster return on capital. We are going straight to the summit, but sometimes the trail needs to be slightly corrected to avoid getting stuck on a wall.

The hardest moment came on April 18, when a large fund from Berlin offered us financing, but on humiliating terms. They wanted 40% of the company for 1 million PLN. This would have valued MediLink at only 2.5 million PLN. Together with Jakub, we decided to reject this offer within 47 minutes of receiving it. We knew our work was worth more. Numbers don't lie – the company's revenues were growing faster than their expectations regarding giving up control. It was a risky move because MediLink's coffers were already empty, but it paid off two weeks later.

From these 21 meetings, we obtained 3 Term Sheets, which are preliminary declarations of investment. We chose the offer from a Krakow fund that offered 3.2 million PLN for a 20% stake. This was a fair price that allowed Jakub to maintain control over the company's direction of development and gave us a budget for scaling production. The contract was preliminarily accepted on May 5, 2024. Then began the most exhaustive stage: due diligence.

We rejected an offer from Berlin in 47 minutes. We knew MediLink was worth more, and numbers don't lie – 22% monthly growth is an irrefutable argument.

Due diligence or the company X-ray

The fund sent a team of four analysts who spent 3 weeks checking every document, every invoice, and every employment contract. We verify facts in 48 hours, so we responded to each of their inquiries almost immediately. In total, we had to provide answers to 89 detailed technical and legal questions. During this time, Jakub didn't sleep much, but our role at Tatry Strategy Group was to take the burden of formalities off him. We organized a virtual data room with 42 folders where everything was arranged chronologically.

A key moment was checking the patents for the sensors. Analysts suspected that one of the solutions might infringe on the rights of another company from the USA. We had to get an opinion from a patent attorney in Warsaw in 4 days, which cost us 12,400 PLN, but cleared all the investor's doubts. This was an investment that saved the deal. Without hard evidence in writing, the fund would have withdrawn from the talks. Specifics instead of theory saved us once again. Investors appreciated our speed and the fact that we didn't try to sugarcoat anything.

In the last week of May, only the finances were being checked. Analysts calculated that MediLink could reach break-even in March 2025, which coincided with our earlier calculations with an error of only 3%. Such accuracy in financial planning built the final foundation for signing the investment agreement. On May 28, we received the green light from the fund's investment committee. All that remained were formalities at the notary in Krakow, which we scheduled for early June.

The finale at Krupówki

On June 5, 2024, exactly on the 112th day since Jakub's first visit to our office at 14 Krupówki St in Zakopane, we signed the final documents. The round amounted to 3,200,000 PLN. The transfer was ordered on the same day at 2:15 PM. For MediLink, this meant moving from survival mode to aggressive growth mode. They hired 6 new engineers within the first month after the investment. Meanwhile, we could mark another success in our history, which began in September 2016.

For us, this project was confirmation that Polish medical startups have huge potential if they can speak the language of numbers. Jakub is no longer just an inventor; he has become a real CEO who understands his profit and loss statement. Tatry Strategy Group has since served 423 clients, but the MediLink case remains a model for us of how determination combined with hard data leads to the top. We don't use empty slogans; we simply deliver the result we agree on with the client at the start.

Today, looking at MediLink, which sells its sensors in 87 pharmacies in southern Poland, we know that those 112 days were worth every minute of stress. Their success is our best business card. The average response time in our office is still 2h 14min, because we know that in business, time is the only thing that cannot be bought back. If you have a product but no capital – come to Zakopane. We will check your facts and tell you honestly whether you have a chance for a funding round or if you need to clean up your paperwork first.