A survival board pack for the month before the next round
A fundraising board pack should expose the date cash becomes constrained, the receipts and obligations behind it, and decisions that cannot wait for a term sheet. Seven pages are enough.
TechCabal counted a similar amount of African startup funding in H1 2026 as in H1 2025, spread across far fewer disclosed deals. A company approaching the market should plan for selection and delay, not assume the aggregate total will reach its account.
The board pack before a raise has one job: show how long the company can make decisions before cash makes them instead. It does not need 60 pages.
Seven pages will do.
Page one: the dated cash curve
Show opening cash by bank and currency, then 13 weekly columns of expected receipts and payments. Use collection dates based on customer history. Separate contracted, probable and speculative cash.
Mark restricted balances, minimum regulatory capital and money held for customers. None of those amounts belongs in operating runway if the company cannot spend it.
Place the lowest point and the date beside current borrowing availability. A monthly average can hide a payroll or tax failure inside the month, especially when customer receipts arrive near month-end and statutory payments leave earlier. Show the balance immediately before each large obligation, the amount of any committed undrawn facility and the notice required to use it. Cash that arrives after a missed obligation does not repair the breach.
Use a base case and a downside case with named changes. Delaying the financing close is one assumption; reducing every receipt by an arbitrary percentage is not enough.
Page two: receipts that can move the date
List the largest expected customer receipts with invoice, owner, contractual due date, realistic date, dispute and next action. The sales pipeline belongs elsewhere unless a signed order can turn into cash within the horizon.
Concentration deserves attention. One late enterprise customer can move runway more than dozens of small subscriptions. State whether the customer has accepted delivery and whether the company can pause further service.
Receivables financing may release cash and add fees, recourse or customer notification. Show net proceeds and timing, not facility size.
Page three: obligations by consequence
Group payments by what happens if they are late. Payroll, tax, regulated customer obligations, secured debt and critical suppliers carry different legal and operating consequences.
A list sorted only by amount can put a large negotiable vendor above a smaller obligation that stops the company trading. Add due date, cure period, personal guarantee, security and decision owner.
Identify payments already deferred. Extending a supplier again may break a relationship or trigger cash-on-delivery terms. The model should not repeat a delay without evidence.
Page four: financing process
For each credible investor or lender, show stage, next evidence required, decision body, earliest term-sheet date, expected close date and owner. “Interested” is not a stage.
Include insiders and existing lenders. Record reserve capacity, pro-rata rights, consent requirements and whether anyone has made a written commitment. Keep verbal support labelled as verbal.
Fundraising cost belongs here: legal work, diligence, placement fees, travel and management time. A debt process also needs security and covenant work.
TechCabal's 146 disclosed H1 deals do not supply a conversion rate for this pipeline. Use the company's actual process and assume no deal until documents advance.
Page five: actions at fixed dates
Set decision dates before the cash crisis. Examples can include freezing hiring, reducing marketing, renegotiating an office, pausing a market or beginning a formal restructuring process. The company needs its own actions after legal and operational review.
Each action gets estimated cash effect, one-off cost, implementation time, reversibility and owner. Savings that start after runway ends do not solve the problem.
Boards often postpone difficult actions because a financing conversation sounds positive. Tie action to documentary milestones: no lead term sheet by a date, no signed documents, no funds received. The milestone should be within management's ability to observe.
Page six: service and people capacity
Show the minimum team and vendor capacity needed to protect customers, data, licences and collections. A uniform percentage cut can remove the only employee who operates a critical control.
Identify key-person dependencies and access. Confirm that company credentials, code, financial systems and regulatory records remain available if someone leaves. Do this as ordinary governance, not as covert preparation for dismissal.
Estimate severance and notice under applicable contracts and law. Cash savings begin after those costs. Obtain current professional advice in each employment jurisdiction.
Customer support and incident response need staffing through any transition. Short runway does not reduce the duty to protect customer funds or personal data.
Page seven: decisions and dissent
End with decisions requested, options considered, recommendation, conflicts and dissent. Attach a named owner and deadline to each approved action.
Minutes should record the information directors received and any missing data. Investors on the board may have interests through preference shares or a future round. Disclose and manage those conflicts.
The page should also state what would change the recommendation. A collected receivable, signed bridge or regulatory event can move the plan. Hope cannot.
Keep vanity metrics outside the room
Downloads, registered users and gross transaction value belong only if they connect to collections, service obligations or financing evidence. A growth chart that consumes cash without showing gross margin distracts from the decision date.
Update the seven pages weekly during the critical period. Preserve prior forecasts and explain movement. Replacing an old forecast erases whether management understood the business.
A board cannot guarantee a round. It can preserve choices, protect stakeholders and act before the bank balance becomes the only vote.
Sources
- TechCabal Insights, 3 July 2026: $1.44 Billion Raised in the First Half of 2026