Why Some Consumer Brands Get Funded (And Others Don’t)
🔥 About the Session
Two consumer brands can show similar traction. One gets funded. One doesn’t.
What makes the difference?
To answer that, we’re going straight to founders who’ve raised across stages, scaled internationally, and seen the system from both sides of the table.
Elsie & Dominika scaled BYBI Beauty to 3,000+ global retail doors, including nationwide distribution in Target (US), raised £10m+ from leading investors including Unilever Ventures, and exited in 2024. They’ve raised equity and venture debt, navigated private equity, and now invest as angel investors themselves.
In this live session, Sutin Yang, Managing Partner at The Fundraising Accelerator, will unpack their journey from first cheque to exit, through an investor lens.
This won’t be a fluffy founder story. It’s a strategic breakdown of:
What made investors say yes
What nearly killed their rounds
How they evolved as they scaled
What signals unlocked institutional capital
What founders misunderstand about exit readiness
You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how capital actually flows — and what it takes to be correctly understood in investor rooms.
There will be time for live founder questions and discussion.
This session is designed and hosted by The Fundraising Accelerator, a founder-first community helping underestimated founders bypass the old boys' club and get funded.
🤝 Who It’s For
This session is for you if:
You’re building a consumer brand and planning to raise
You’re actively fundraising in the next 6–12 months
You want to understand what investors actually look for
You’re tired of guessing what “good” looks like
You’re unclear on what your exit path realistically looks like
🎙️ About Elsie & Dominika
Elsie & Dominika scaled BYBI Beauty, a sustainable skincare brand, to global distribution (3000+ retail doors & £10m funding raised) and successfully sold and exited in 2024. They are now building rayro, a playful kids’ personal care brand making daily routines easier (and more joyful!) for families. Alongside, they run DE London Consulting, supporting early-stage consumer brands with brand, growth, fundraising, and retail strategy.
They are seasoned fundraisers across equity and venture debt, raising capital from leading VCs including Unilever Ventures, as well as private equity, angel investors, and venture lenders. They now back the next generation of founders as an angel investor and advisor (SEIS/EIS only). They are published authors (Penguin), keynote speakers, Virgin Startup mentors, and startup advisors with 10+ years’ experience in beauty, personal care, and parenting industries.
They also have a 40k+ audience across Instagram & TikTok with @twotiredmums.
✨ Host
Sutin Yang, Managing Partner, The Fundraising Accelerator
Sutin is an award-winning investor and fundraising strategist with 20+ years of investing experience, having helped founders raise £38M+ in funding. She has incepted and run founder programmes with organisations including Microsoft AI for Good, Virgin Startup and more.
A quick note
Sessions like this are part of how we work at The Fundraising Accelerator, giving founders access to the investor-side thinking that's usually gatekept behind networks and warm intros.
If you're actively raising in the next 1–3 months, we'll share how we can help at the end of the session. No pressure, no pitch, just clarity on what support looks like if you want it.