Applications are now closed for Spring 2023
THE GRAHAM & WALKER CATALYST
March 20-31, 2023
Fundraise-ready in 2 weeks. For first timers and for pros. By the #1 team that helps women succeed in VC. Virtual. Free. Inclusive. Unapologetic. Want in?
Since 2018, we have directly supported 421 founders in fundraising-readiness programming, resulting in a collective 100M+raised.
See Yourself Here
What Past Founders Have to Say
The catalyst helped me understand what it takes. I’m leaving it with concrete examples and tactical information that will really help. I think that fundraising is hard, but I feel better equipped to be able to do it on my own.
Company
Batch1 Cohort
I was hoping to gain a network. It more than met my expectations. I feel like, not only did I end up with a bunch of actionable insights that I’ve already put into practice, but that I have an army of experts at my back to ask questions of when I’m unsure about a process or procedure or if I need to meet somebody who has the answers.
G&W gave me a secret entrance to a house of information and influence. And then on top of all of that I got a community of incredible women founders who I know I can reach out to bounce ideas off of and get support from. Amazing.
Company
Batch2 Cohort
Nearly every minute was of value and offered excellent, useful information that can be put into practice. We very much appreciated G&W’s commitment to giving this Batch an incredible experience. Presenters, 1-on-1 conversations, and participants all came to fully engage with authenticity. The program offered great/honest feedback, resources, tips, and, most importantly, clarity and inspiration. You really are rockstars, Leslie, Rohre, Divya, Amanda, and Jenna. Thank you for offering this program. We are fortunate to have participated.
Company
Batch1 Cohort
I feel that this program should be mandatory for any woman wanting to fundraise successfully and efficiently. After going through this program, I am really regretting not knowing and/or doing a lot of these best practices earlier and I think that my chance of succesfully fundraising pre-Catalyst and post-Catalyst has been hugely impacted. Also, it’s extremely rare to find a program and team of this caliber offering a FREE program to founders – game changer for sure.
Company
Batch2 Cohort
Excellent program. I knew this was going to be a great program, but it completely blew my expectations.
Company
Batch1 Cohort
“Before Ready Set Raise, I was overwhelmed with inbounds from investors. No one I spoke to during that time seemed to be willing to invest in my pre-seed round despite our demonstrated traction. The accelerator set me up with effective meetings with the right investors, and I was able to oversubscribe my $500k round”
Company
RSR Cohort
“I would not be in this position today without you. I tried and failed to raise, and now after Ready Set Raise I have more commitments than space in my 1.5M round.”
Company
RSR Cohort
Best-in-Class counsel for founders
Cooley supports Graham & Walker Catlayst participants with best-in-class counsel, deferred fees, and discounted services.
“Cooley’s team did a great job at helping me navigate our raise. Their founder-friendly and collaborative approach helped us to close our complex round seamlessly.”
– Founder-turned-customer Paroma Indilo
We understand the unique challenges that await women and non-binary founders, especially those of marginalized identities. We are here to help. Even if you don’t think your company is qualified or ready for the Catalyst, we encourage you to apply. Our program is designed to support a wide variety of founders, including first-time founders.
In our four years running programming for founders, we have learned that companies we are best suited to help get ready to fundraise have clarity on their business, their product, and have evidence of demand. This could mean anything from a waitlist, to signed LOIs, to pilot customers, to paying customers.
We specifically look for companies that understand their business model, target customers, and go to market strategy. We want you to use your time with us to prepare to fundraise, not to pivot! If you’re in the idea phase of your company or product, we’d be happy to refer you to other suitable programs, or would love to see you apply for the next Cohort!
If you are not selected, we will create an opportunity for you to get feedback from the selection process, and if eligible, you will be added to our Founder Community where you’ll benefit from programming, resources, and support from fellow founders year-round.
As far as you, the founder? Founders who succeed are highly coachable, skilled at interpreting and implementing feedback, and ready to put their full focus on the program.
Applicants must have a woman or non-binary founder. Founders are encouraged to bring co-founders to all programming.
There are three main pillars of the Catalyst:
- Cohort Experience: the fellow founders in your Cohort are on the same path as you, and we facilitate connection & encouragement so you don’t feel alone in your CEO-seat. We start and close each week with just the Cohort. Founders from past Cohorts have said their Cohort is, in the long run, so much more valuable than they had anticipated.
- Group Sessions with industry experts, including exclusive and high value offers from partners: We bring experts in to provide knowledge and advice on areas specifically related to fundraising and what you need to know as a founder about operating a business in order to be defensible in front of investors. We curate, customize, and tailor this content specifically to the woman or nonbinary founder experience. Our conservative value of these is $50k.
- Mentorship: Through the program, you’ll have the opportunity to schedule 1:1 time with select, vetted mentors who are uniquely qualified to give you guidance at this early stage of your journey.
0$ to you! We work hard to secure corporate partnership dollars to sponsor this program so that it can be completely free to all entrepreneurs.
The programming will be fully virtual. The two weeks will be time-intensive, occupying up to 30hrs/week! Please plan to clear your schedule for the two weeks of the program so you can maximize the opportunity.
We honor your time in applying with a thorough review. The deadline to apply is February 14th.
If your application rises to the top during the application review, we will invite you to a virtual interview. Interviews will occur at the end of February into March.
From hundreds of applications, we will select ~20 companies for the Catalyst program.
If you are not selected, it doesn’t mean you aren’t building something amazing! It more likely means we don’t believe we are the best vehicle to support you at this stage of your company, and we would hope to see you back in the pool at a later date.
March 20-24, 27-31, 2023 every weekday from 9 am – 2 pm PT. All of our planned programming will be held within this window with the exception of office hours where you can select the time that works for you.
