Keep trying after a VC says no, says Tonkean CEO on TechCrunch Live

On this week's TechCrunch Live, I spoke with CEO and co-founder of Tonkean, Sagi Eliyahu, and Foundation Capital partner, Joanne Chen. Tonkean started in 2015 as a no-code development platform, and added Joanne to its board of directors when it raised its seed round in 2019.

I don’t want to ruin the story, but I think you know where this is going. The fundraising didn't end after one pitch. He pitched Tonkean to Joanne Chen at Foundation Capital, and she said no. But Sagi kept in contact and six months later Foundation lead Tonkean’s seed round, and joined the company’s board. And then the company raised two more rounds, adding Raviraj Jain from Lightspeed and 1 from Accel.

As Sagi explains, founders should realign their expectations around fundraising. This will result in better preparation and success when seeking additional capital.