This AI start-up CEO skipped traditional fundraising, rejected 61 investors to raise $12 million

Dan Siroker, co-founder, and CEO of artificial intelligence startup Rewind AI, has taken a bold step towards fundraising. Siroker announced on Twitter last month that he was inundated with requests from hungry venture capitalists when they caught wind of his company's Series A plans. Instead of following the traditional fundraising process, Siroker decided to take an unorthodox approach.

On April 14, he shared a link to an online form and asked investors to state "the highest amount you're comfortable" paying between $200 million and $1 billion. Despite the risks of taking this approach during a period of declining valuations, Siroker's experiment paid off. In an email sent to prospective investors on May 9 and viewed by The Information, Siroker revealed that NEA had committed $12 million and would lead the round at a $350 million valuation.

Siroker took to Twitter to clarify the matter, stating that he had raised over $200 million in his career and learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. He explained that he had decided to forgo the traditional method of raising a round privately and only talking to a small handful of people. Instead, he made his pitch public, which allowed him to cast a wide net and find the exact right investor for his company. The public pitch was viewed 1.7 million times on Twitter, resulting in 1,010 preliminary offers to invest, which led to 170 committed offers.

Siroker also shared that he spent weeks in back-to-back meetings with investors, trying to get to know them and finding the right fit. He did reference checks, diligence, and his homework, emphasizing that Rewind is his life's work and that he expects to spend decades pursuing his vision of giving humans a perfect memory.

I wasn't planning on sharing this today but since the news leaked, I feel obliged to comment:

I've raised over $200M in my career and have learned a lot about what works & what doesn't.

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This time around, I decided to do a few unconventional things. First, I decided to forgo the… https://t.co/M8TOA2TLCs

— Dan Siroker (@dsiroker) May 11, 2023

Ultimately, Siroker turned down offers to invest from 61 investors who offered valuations greater than $350 million, including 22 investors who wanted to invest at a billion-dollar valuation, which would have made Rewind a unicorn. He chose NEA as their long-term orientation is evident in the fact that their funds last 15 years, unlike the typical 10. Not only that, but they commonly are buyers, not sellers at the IPO. Lastly, their unbelievably positive references made it clear they are the partner he wants to be working with for decades to come.

Read: ‘My salary more than your pre-seed funding’: Woman’s brutally honest reply to founder

Siroker's unconventional approach to fundraising has paid off for Rewind AI. By casting a wide net and taking the time to get to know investors, he was able to find the right partner in NEA, whose long-term vision aligns with his own.