The Venture Builder

Handbook phase 2

Key dates

PITCH PRACTICE C9: W/C February 16th
DATA ROOM DEADLINE C9: Monday, February 23rd, at 9am GMT
IAC PITCH C9: March 4th, 5th and 6th

PITCH PRACTICE B5: W/C March 9th
DATA ROOM DEADLINE B5: Monday, March 16th, at 9am CET
IAC PITCH B5: March 25th, 26th, and 27th

Key links

Phase 2 Objectives

In Phase 2 you will validate your idea, find your first customers, and build up the proof points that you need to pitch to the Carbon13 Investment Committee (IAC).

Deliverables

Phase 2 is divided into five blocks. In each block, we cover essential topics for your startup, corresponding to information that you will need to prepare for your data room.

At the end of each content block, you should work on preparing the slides in your extended pitch deck, for which that week corresponds (e.g customer personas and market sizing in Weeks 1-4, product roadmap and milestones in Weeks 5-6) .

Please keep in mind that these are first drafts, which you will iterate on and develop across the course of Phase 2. You do not need to perfect them within these 2 weeks, and the final versions will be due at the document submission deadline.

Checklist

When you are putting your data room together, please refer to the Berlin Data Room Checklist to and Cambridge Data Room Checklist (depending on your cohort) to ensure that you have all of the necessary documents.

Your key investment case document will be an extended pitch deck, containing slides on all of the topics listed in the cheklist.

This deck is designed to be read by an investor and is different to the spoken pitch deck which you will present to the IAC during your pitch.

Any documents which need to be included separately to this extended pitch deck (for example your carbon case, financial model, company information) are listed separately in the checklist.

Templates

We have created templates which you can use to help create documents for your team. You can find these templates on the Investment Resources Page. Please note that the Carbon13 Investment documentation included here are NOT templates, but the documents which you will need to sign at investment, if incorporating in the UK or Germany.

Data Rooms

Your data room is a secure folder which holds all of the company information that investors will need to see in order to carry out due diligence on your company. You must be able to grant access to your data room to the Carbon13 IAC. You are free to make your own decision about what platform you wish to host your data room on; from experience, most of our teams have found Google Drive or SharePoint easy to use at this stage. Please Do Not use Notion, as this cannot be downloaded in its entirety.

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Weekly Check-in Form

Throughout Phase 2 we ask you to fill out a weekly check-in form as a team, listing your wins and challenges from the week and asks. The form should not take more than 5-10 minutes to complete.

We ask this to encourage you to reflect each week on the progress that you are making as a team and to ensure that we always have an up-to-date understanding of how you are getting on as a team and where we can best provide further support. Please be consistent and honest in filling this form out.

We will also share one of your updates with the cohort in the weekly email, to help you celebrate each other’s progress!

You can find the check-in form below.

Berlin Weekly Check-in
Cambridge Weekly Check-in
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Time Commitment

  • Expect 6-8 hours per week of sessions with Carbon13, the majority of which will be split across Thursdays and Fridays, as is the case in Phase 1.
  • For most sessions, we require at least one member of your team to attend. There will be some sessions, which we will indicate, that may only be relevant for some teams (e.g hardware vs software) or elective small group wellbeing sessions.
  • It is up to you to decide how you attend these sessions e.g you might decide to send the most relevant member of your team, who can give feedback to the rest of the team later on. Of course, the whole team is welcome to join if you consider the content important for all to understand.
  • We ask that all attend venture selfie sessions, in order to maximise the group’s expertise and opportunity to help each other progress.
  • We will record most sessions presented by the Carbon13 team and presentations by external speakers. We will not always record panel sessions, AMAs, or venture selfies, so that speakers can be as open and honest as possible. If a session is not recorded, we will notify you in advance.
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Mentoring and Support

Use the slider to learn how our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Carbon13 senior team, Carbon Experts, and Domain Experts will support you.

Alongside this, you can also always get in contact with the programme team. Please feel free to reach:

Jack for Investment Process Support.

Marina for Programme & Carbon Case Support.

Mai for Connections into the Domain Expert Community.

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence

 

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiR) are ex-founders who are your go-to people for coaching and mentoring. They are a sounding board who will help you to workshop operational challenges, and navigate the Carbon13 programme and network. You will have 1 hour per fortnight with this experienced founder to help you work through all aspects of your business.

(featured Dr Amrit Singh Chandan. Learn more about how EiRs support Carbon13 teams through Amrit’s blog post here.)

Domain Experts

Carbon13 has a network of Domain Experts in different areas, who are excited to help you in the early stages of your venture. You can explore our Domain Experts through the Directory on the platform.

(featured Jason Teng. Learn more about how Domain Experts support Carbon13 teams through Jason’s blog post here.)

Carbon Experts

We will introduce you to a Carbon Expert, who will support you in building your carbon case. We will match you with an expert with knowledge in your field and make the initial introduction.

You are entitled to 2 hours of support from your Carbon Expert. We recommend you use this in the form of 2×45 minute meetings, and 2×15 minute follow up calls,

Before booking your first meeting, you should prepare a first draft of your Impact Logic Framework (the first section of your carbon case). This will ensure that you can make the most of this first meeting.

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Weekly Overview

Weeks 1-4 – Market Research and Customer Discovery

November 17th to December 12th 2025

Your focus in these weeks will be on idea validation, market research and customer discovery. You will articulate your problem space and value proposition, validate the need for your solution with your first customers, develop your understanding of your market, and begin analysing your competitors. If done well, market research will be done throughout your whole entrepreneurial journey. 

You will be assigned your EiR and should have an introductory call with them and set a cadence for your meetings. You are entitled to 1 hour over every 2 weeks with your EiR (e.g you could use 1 hourly meeting per fortnight, or 1 30-minute meeting per week). You can decide together how to best use this time.

Internally you should have a first draft of:

  1. Your Value Proposition (which will include articulation of your problem space and solution).
  2. Customer Personas in the Short, Medium, and Long Term.
  3. Market Size (TAM, SAM, SOM)
  4. Competitor Analysis.

You can expect sessions on:

  1. Investment Checklist.
  2. Customer Discovery.
  3. Storytelling.
  4. Brand and Business Model.
  5. Value Proposition.
  6. Wellbeing.

Venture Selfies

From Week 4 (w/c December 11th), we will also begin weekly venture selfie sessions. Venture Selfies are a casual, informal way for all teams to benefit from the collective wisdom of the cohort – there is no judgement or assessment involved.

In the first few sessions, each team will give a 5-minute overview including who you are, what your space is, and what you are trying to learn over the next few weeks. This will be followed by 10-minutes of questions and discussion with the cohort – the audience should ask any and all questions they can to help broaden their and your understanding of your venture.

At the end of this, each team should include 2-3 questions or asks of the group e.g feedback on the early idea, pointers on competitors in the space, potential customers, introductions into an industry. 

All Venture Selfies will be organized by the programme team, and a list with the order of teams pitching and dates will be posted on the Slack channel. If you can’t make to your assigned date, please coordinate with your peers to switch the slot. Each team is expected to present twice at a minimum.

B5 and C9 will present in separate sessions, to ensure that everyone has the chance to present. You are welcome to attend the other cohort’s session as well, but are not required to. 

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Weeks 5-6 – Product

December 15th to January 9th 

Please note that there will be a Christmas break from December 22nd to January 2nd, with no sessions scheduled during that time.

Your focus during this block will be on developing and refining your product. You will think about the milestones you need to hit as a company, your product roadmap, and developing an IP strategy. Hardware companies will meet with Michael Reid to deep dive into their idea and talk through potential blockages.

UK Incorporation

In Cambridge, you will be expected to have incorporated your company with Companies House during this block (by January 7th). You will also have applied for SEIS Advanced Assurance (by January 29th).

NB In Berlin, due to the longer and more complex incorporation processes in Europe, you are not expected to incorporate your company before pitching to the IAC.

Internally you should have a first draft of:

  1. Milestones framework.
  2. Product Roadmap.
  3. IP Strategy.
  4. Technical Deck (hardware teams).

You can expect sessions on:

  1. Milestones
  2. IP Strategy.
  3. Building a Hardware Startup.
  4. Product Roadmap.

Weeks 7-8 – Commercial

January 12th to January 23rd 

In this block, you will develop your commercial strategy, work through your unit economics, and your go-to-market strategy. You will consider your fundraising strategy and alternative sources of funding, particularly grant funding, and start to develop a financial model.

For support on your financial modelling, you can book a session in with Paul Hodgson, Director of Operations at Carbon13. Before this meeting, you should have a go at filling out the modelling template below.

Internally you should have a first draft of:

  1. Business Model.
  2. Unit Economics and 3-year projections.
  3. Go-to-Market Strategy.

You can expect sessions on:

  1. Grants – where to find them and how to get them.
  2. VC fundraising and exits.
  3. Raising from Angels vs. VCs vs. Family Offices.
  4. Incorporation.
  5. Financial Models.

Weeks 9-10 – Financials

January 29th to February 6th 

In this block we will focus on incorporating your company and questions around the investment process.

UK Incorporation

UK teams will submit the details of the incorporated company to Carbon13 through Information Request I, a form which we will provide to you. Your Advanced Assurance from HMRC should also arrive during this block.

Berlin Governance Documents

At the data room deadline, Berlin teams will also need to have in place policies on DEI, Whistleblowing, and Anti-Bribery & Corruption. This is a condition of investment from the Carbon13 LP Fund, which is SFDR Article 9.

NB these policies are not required at this stage for teams receiving SEIS investment in the UK, but would be for follow on investment opportunities with the Carbon13 LP Fund.

Internally you should have a first draft of:

  1. Company documents.
  2. Info Request I (UK).
  3. Cap Table.
  4. Risk Assessment – key risks your company faces and how you will mitigate them. Use a risk matrix if helpful.
  5. ESG Screening.
  6. Governance Policies (required only for Berlin teams, useful for UK teams to be aware of).

You can expect sessions on:

  1. Fundraising.
  2. Incorporation and Investment Readiness.
  3. Carbon and Investment Case AMAs.
  4. Marketing readiness.

Weeks 11-17 - Pitching & data room prep and submission

Internally you should have the first draft of:
  1. Executive Summary.
  2. Pitch Deck – 12 min deck with investment and carbon details, refine with your EiR.
  3. Traction – Any evidence of traction such as LOIs, contracts etc.
  4. Team – bios, roles, CVs for founders and employees.
  5. Brains trust – bios and roles for key advisors, board members etc.

what to expect

C9 will pitch practice in w/c February 16th.

C9’s data room submission deadline is on February 23rd.

C9 will pitch w/c March 2nd.

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B5 will pitch practice in w/c March 9th.

B5’s data room submission deadline is on March 16th.

B5 will pitch w/c March 27th.

Weeks 11-14 – DATA ROOM SUBMISSION + Pitching C9

February 16th to March 6th

This final block is all about preparation for investment. You will have a week free of sessions to finalise these documents, followed by a week focused on refining your pitch and your pitch deck through practice sessions.

Cambridge Pitch Practice

C9 will practice their pitches in w/c February 16th.

Cambridge Data Room Deadline

The deadline for completing your data rooms will be February 23rd, 09:00 GMT, so that the IAC can review your submissions before your pitch.

Investment Pitches

Each team will have a 45-minute slot, in which you will give a 10–12-minute pitch covering both your carbon case and your investment case, followed by 30 minutes of questions. You will be pitching to the Carbon13 IAC (consisting of Senior Leadership Members of Carbon13), along with selected Carbon experts with expertise in your specific vertical. You will be assigned to a pitch slot by the programme team in the weeks before the pitch. We will ask if you have any restrictions on your availability in advance.

Cambridge Pitch Dates

These will likely be March 4th – 6th, with in-person pitches (optional) in London. Your date and time slot will be shared a few weeks in advance.

NB This date is subject to final review and confirmation with Carbon13’s Fund Manager. Please block it for now, but understand that timelines may shift around this period. You will receive a final confirmation of these dates from the programme team.

 You will have the option to pitch virtually or in person. Whether you pitch online or in person has no impact on the outcome of the investment decision—we know that for some it will be more practical to pitch online, and others will want to pitch live with their teams, so we offer both options. 

Investment Announcement

You can expect to learn whether you have been successful in receiving Carbon13’s investment around 2-4 weeks after you pitch. We will confirm the date closer to the time. Investment announcements will involve a very short call to give you the investment committee’s decision, followed by an invitation to book a longer call for more in-depth feedback in the weeks following.

Please note that if you are successful at the IAC, this does not mean funds will be transferred to you immediately. The investment (as with all VC investments) involves a due diligence process, which can take up to a few months to complete. Whilst we try to expedite this process as much as possible, you should plan your cash flow with this in mind.

Progression to Phase 3

If you are successful in receiving Carbon13’s investment, you will progress to Phase 3. More details will follow, but you can expect this to begin in April (following B5 pitches). Phase 3 is structured around individual mentoring, with group sessions focused on fundraising and investment topics.

 

Weeks 15-17 – DATA ROOM SUBMISSION + Pitching B5

This final block is all about preparation for investment. Programme sessions end on February 6th, and you will have until March 16th to practice your pitch and finalise your documents.

March 9th to March 27th

Berlin Pitch Practice

B5 will practice their pitches in w/c March 9th.

Berlin Data Room Deadline

The deadline for completing your data rooms will likely be March 16th at 09:00 CET, so that the IAC can review your submissions before your pitch.

NB This date is subject to final review and confirmation with Carbon13’s Fund Manager. Please block it for now, but understand that timelines may shift around this period. You will receive a final confirmation of these dates from the programme team.

Investment Pitches

Each team will have a 45-minute slot, in which you will give a 10–12-minute pitch covering both your carbon case and your investment case, followed by 30 minutes of questions. You will be pitching to the Carbon13 IAC (consisting of Senior Leadership Members of Carbon13), along with selected Carbon experts with expertise in your specific vertical. You will be assigned to a pitch slot by the programme team in the weeks before the pitch. We will ask if you have any restrictions on your availability in advance.

Berlin Pitch Dates

These will likely be on March 25th, 26th, and 27th, with in-person pitches (optional) in Berlin. Your date and time slot will be shared a few weeks in advance.

NB This date is subject to final review and confirmation with Carbon13’s Fund Manager. Please block it for now, but understand that timelines may shift around this period. You will receive a final confirmation of these dates from the programme team.

Investment Announcement

You can expect to learn whether you have been successful in receiving Carbon13’s investment around 2-4 weeks after you pitch. We will confirm the date closer to the time. Investment announcements will involve a very short call to give you the investment committee’s decision, followed by an invitation to book a longer call for more in-depth feedback in the weeks following.

Please note that if you are successful at the IAC, this does not mean funds will be transferred to you immediately. The investment (as with all VC investments) involves a due diligence process, which can take up to a few months to complete. Whilst we try to expedite this process as much as possible, you should plan your cash flow with this in mind.

Progression to Phase 3

If you are successful in receiving Carbon13’s investment, you will progress to Phase 3. More details will follow, but you can expect this to begin in April. Phase 3 is structured around individual mentoring, with group sessions focused on fundraising and investment topics.