A consumer brand capital raise
Consumer brand investors want proof that people buy again and that margin survives growth. Show sales by channel, retail velocity and repeat rates, contribution margin after trade spend and fulfillment, and supplier and inventory data. Keep retailer terms and supplier pricing in restricted folders.
Folder index
- 01 Overview Deck, brand story, channel mix.
- 02 Sales by channel DTC, marketplace, wholesale and retail sales by month.
- 03 Retail performance Velocity, distribution points, sell-through, promotions.
- 04 Customers Repeat rates, cohorts, acquisition cost by channel.
- 05 Margin Contribution margin after trade spend, freight and fulfillment.
- 06 Supply chain Co-manufacturer and supplier agreements, minimums, lead times.
- 07 Inventory Inventory by SKU and age, write-offs.
How this raise works
Food, beverage, beauty, apparel and household brands raise from consumer-focused venture and growth funds, strategic investors from large consumer companies, and family offices. Later rounds and sales often go to private equity. Investors compare brands on a few signals: velocity at retail, repeat purchase online and margin after all selling costs.
Channel detail matters. Direct-to-consumer, marketplaces, wholesale and retail each carry different margins and costs. Investors ask for retailer scan data or sell-through, slotting and trade spend, chargebacks and deductions, and marketplace performance. Gross margin alone hides much of this.
Operations are where brands fail. Co-manufacturer agreements, minimum order quantities, inventory aging, supply concentration and product claims all come up. Labeling and claims review, for example under FDA or FTC rules for food, supplements and cosmetics, is part of legal diligence.
Best data rooms for this raise
The 16 rooms re-ranked with this raise's weights. Investor tracking carries the most weight here.
- Investor tracking 25%
- Permission control 16%
- Raise workflow 18%
- Investor onboarding 19%
- Cost of a raise 23%
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Full deal room with AI, a listed price and a 14-day free trial.
Price $149 a month Trial 14-day free trial Features 8 of 12 listed -
Long-running M&A platform with layered permissions and fast support.
Price Priced on request Trial Free trial available Features 9 of 12 listed -
Simple flat-rate deal room with signing and Q&A.
Price $250 a month Trial Free trial available Features 8 of 12 listed -
Deal room with AI and readiness tools for preparing a process.
Price Priced on request Trial Free trial available Features 8 of 12 listed -
Bank-grade platform for large processes, with AI and a mobile app.
Price Priced on request Trial Demo on request Features 10 of 12 listed -
Content cloud with watermarks and signing, priced per user.
Price $15 a user a month Trial Free trial available Features 9 of 12 listed -
Deal room with a listed monthly price and an open API.
Price $299 a month Trial Free trial available Features 7 of 12 listed -
Easy, reliable deal room favored by mid-market advisers.
Price Priced on request Trial Free trial available Features 7 of 12 listed -
One of the oldest deal rooms, common on bank-led transactions.
Price Priced on request Trial Demo on request Features 8 of 12 listed -
European deal room strong in real estate, with AI features.
Price Priced on request Trial Demo on request Features 8 of 12 listed
Places 11 to 16: DealRoom (7.0), SmartRoom (6.8), ShareVault (6.7), Digify (6.5), DocSend (6.2), Venue by DFIN (6.1)
Folder index for the room
A starting index for this raise. Number the folders so the order survives exports and investors can cite them in questions.
- 01 OverviewDeck, brand story, channel mix.
- 02 Sales by channelDTC, marketplace, wholesale and retail sales by month.
- 03 Retail performanceVelocity, distribution points, sell-through, promotions.
- 04 CustomersRepeat rates, cohorts, acquisition cost by channel.
- 05 MarginContribution margin after trade spend, freight and fulfillment.
- 06 Supply chainCo-manufacturer and supplier agreements, minimums, lead times.
- 07 InventoryInventory by SKU and age, write-offs.
- 08 Regulatory and claimsLabels, claims support, product testing.
- 09 Brand and IPTrademarks, domain names, content rights.
- 10 Corporate and financialsCharter, cap table, statements, model.
Features this raise needs
| Feature | Why | Ellty | iDeals | SecureDocs | Ansarada | Datasite | Box |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investor activity log | A per-investor record of opens, pages and minutes, which tells the IR team who is in diligence and who stalled. | ||||||
| Built-in redaction | Masks fee splits, investor names or personal data in place, with no edited duplicate to keep in sync. | ||||||
| Drag-and-drop folders | An entire numbered folder tree goes up in a single drop, structure intact. | ||||||
| Q&A module | LPs and lead investors post questions on a file; the deal team routes each one, drafts a reply and decides who sees it. |
Setting up the room
- 01
Split sales by channel
Present revenue and margin for each channel separately.
- 02
Show margin after all costs
Build contribution margin after trade spend, freight, fulfillment and deductions.
- 03
Add retail data
Include velocity and sell-through, not only shipments to retailers.
- 04
Document supply
Upload supplier agreements with minimums, lead times and backup sources.
- 05
Restrict partner terms
Limit retailer terms and supplier pricing to the lead investor's team.
Common mistakes
- Reporting shipments to retailers as consumer demand.
- Margins that ignore deductions and chargebacks.
- A single co-manufacturer with no backup and no written agreement.
Calculators for this raise
Or take the four-question quiz and check the raise checklist.
Questions and answers
What do consumer brand investors look at?
Retail velocity, repeat purchase, channel mix, contribution margin after selling costs, supply chain resilience and the brand's IP.
Should I share retailer scan data?
Yes, if your agreements allow it. Investors give it more weight than shipment figures.
Who invests in consumer brands?
Consumer venture and growth funds, strategic investors from large consumer companies, family offices and, later, private equity.