New year, new raise – How to get ahead in 2026

The new year can bring a fresh runway – but it’s crucial to remember that the ground rules are shifting fast in 2026. 

AI is making it cheaper (and faster) to build almost anything, which means investors are less impressed by “we’ve built a product” and more focused on whether you can prove demand, win distribution, and tell a story that sticks.

SeedLegals CEO Anthony Rose is here to give you the lowdown on what ‘investor-ready’ really looks like now. Find out why your website matters more than you think (because it’s basically your first investor meeting); why raising too much too early can slow you down for months; and why, if you’re pre-traction, you’ll often get further faster with angels than trying to convince VCs to take a punt.

Watch the full webinar below.

Key takeaways

AI is changing what investors value (and what they expect you to do before you raise)

• As AI brings down the cost of building software, the product isn’t the value anymore – investors care more about distribution, customers, network effects, idea quality and team strength than the code itself.
• The bar for early-stage founders rises: if it’s cheaper and faster to build, investors increasingly expect you to get to market sooner, with more proof, before they’ll pay up on valuation.
• You need to show there’s something real behind your AI tool usage – not just a generated business with little substance. 

Your website is your first investor meeting

• Investors will Google you – so not having a website is an instant negative signal, especially since you can now create one quickly.
• Adopt tools like Lovable to sharpen your positioning: spell out the problem you’re solving, break down how your product works and add clear CTAs, before tweaking the output to ensure it reflects what’s true. 
• A downside to vibe-coded sites is that, if yours resembles every other template, it can accidentally signal low IP/low defensibility – make it visually and conceptually different from what’s already out there.

‘Seed-strapping’ sounds great – but don’t pitch it to investors

• Bootstrapping is great for control and simplicity, but it caps growth unless you’re able to fund it comfortably yourself – that’s usually where fundraising becomes the rational next step.
• The idea of ‘seed-strapping’ (raise once, never again) can be a useful discipline to avoid the constant fundraising treadmill, but it might make you uninvestable if you say it outright.
• This is because investors need a path to returns and, if you show them you’re a ‘one round only’ founder, you’re also warning there may be no clear plan for how investors get their money back. 

Rethink your fundraising strategy

• Angels are usually the right first port of call – try to avoid going to VCs too soon if you’re pre-revenue/pre-users, as the default answer is often “come back later”.
• Asking for too much can trap you. A big raise implies a big valuation, and then you’re competing with companies that already have traction.
• You may not need the full amount in the bank from day one. With ‘agile’ fundraising, you can raise enough to start hiring and building, keep momentum, and adjust your message depending on whether investors are committing now or telling you to find a lead investor first.
  

Protect founder control 

• After 3 rounds, aim for roughly 15% dilution per round, so founders still hold a majority later – if you dilute 20-25% repeatedly, founders can become minority shareholders in their own company.
• Governance matters as much as equity. Founders should outnumber investors on the board because misalignment shows up when things get hard or exits are on the table.
• In the US, use incentives like QSBS to your advantage (and SEIS/EIS in the UK). Some US investors will push for a Delaware C-Corp / flip – doing it earlier can be simpler than scrambling later mid-raise.