Acceler8 Build Fund Scale

Fundraising support for UK engineering founders.

Are you ready to close your funding round?

Your next funding round

Answer 15 questions to find out.

Discover how to strengthen your investment case, target suitable investors and build credible routes to reach them—with practical next steps towards closing your round.

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This assessment will help you to measure and improve:

  • Fundraising readiness
  • Investor selection
  • Investor outreach

So you can close your funding round with confidence.

Why Acceler8

Built by an engineer who has raised, built and exited.

Doug Cross knows what it takes to turn engineering into a business investors will back. He has done it himself.

A decade in Formula 1 culminated in his role as Chief Designer of Renault’s UK Formula 1 engine division. He then co-founded Flybrid Automotive, pioneered high-speed flywheel energy storage technology and achieved a £30M headline exit.

He has also sat on the other side of the table: evaluating founder pitches for an automotive specialist advisory firm, conducting technical due diligence for a venture capital firm and assessing applications for a government grant funding body. He understands how an investment case is scrutinised—and where it can fall apart.

Today, Doug supports up to six companies a year with their fundraising. He helps founders make the commercial case for their technology, select suitable investors and build credible routes to reach them, with hands-on support through to closing.

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Your route to investors matters.

British Business Bank analysis published in 2025 found that warm introductions accounted for 73% of funded VC deals in the reported sample—despite representing just 33% of incoming pitches. That’s why this assessment looks beyond your investment case to investor selection and the relationships that can get you in front of them.

Source: Investing in Women Code Annual Report 2025, page 30

Take the quiz. Get your next steps.

Just 15 questions. Less than three minutes. Get immediate, personalised recommendations to help you close your funding round—all completely free.

Start the quiz