Teaching High Growth Potential Companies How to Raise Millions | Founder of FundingHero | Author of The Startup Fundraising MBA | x2 High Growth Exits | 20 Acquisitions | Millions Raised  

I don’t just teach founders how to raise investment — I show them how to raise to scale up to exit and make Angels or VCs desperate to invest in you! 

As a former CFO with two back-to-back exits for hundreds of millions, I’ve got the scars, the spreadsheets, and the “why is this so hard?” moments to prove it.

Now I spend my time helping ambitious, early-stage companies and spin-outs avoid the most common (and most expensive) fundraising mistakes. Whether it’s building a financial story investors actually understand, figuring out how much to raise without sweating buckets, or just finding where to start, I’m here for the reality check people need to make you investable, not just the nice fluffy words and back slapping.

🧠 I wrote The Startup Fundraising MBA to share the practical, no-fluff, simple to follow framework I call The 6 Pillars of Fundraising — a roadmap that’s helped thousands of founders learn how to become investor-ready and raise with confidence.

🚀 I also run FundingHero, our game-changing investment readiness platform that’s demystifying the overwhelming process of raising investment. We license our CPD-accredited e-learning and cohort management tools to incubators and accelerators and our clients into some of the top universities, councils, and growth hubs across the UK, helping them deliver high-impact founder support without burning out their teams. We like to say: less hand-holding, more founder wins to get funded faster.

I work closely with accelerators, enterprise educators, and startup support programmes — because brilliant founders are everywhere and lack quality strategic financial support. They just need the right roadmap.

If you’re an enterprise educator supporting early-stage businesses and need a masterclass or e-learning tool to enhance your support, or if you’re a founder wondering where to start for your first or second major funding round — feel free to connect. No pitch decks required.

Money 💰 Money 💰 Money 💰 



So far it’s been one of those weeks where there’s no time to pause for breath and it’s all about getting deep into the strategy for raising serious levels of growth capital! 

Loved visiting John Cadbury House ❤️ to speak  at the Help to Grow Alumni session at the brilliant 🤩 Aston Centre for Enterprise & Entrepreneurship: LEARN & START. Very diverse mix of established SMEs, making great strides with their growth journey and looking to better understand their financial and funding strategy options to power them forward.

Then being very entertained by Gordon Bateman and the ClimbUK team, who are clocking up the miles on their UK tour. They must have a serious stash of Red Bull or coffee on the go, as the energy is off the charts at the NatWest Birmingham accelerator, complete with water pistol 🔫pitches against the clock! Great sharing some insights and hearing from Lisa Smith who taught us about the value of Zebra’s 🦓 as a different type of venture value creators and not just Unicorns 🦄! 

Then smiling from ear to ear hearing some of the feedback as we finished our final session for the #Northamptonshire high growth programme at University of Northampton . It’s flown by and I have been treated to an absolutely wonderful cohort of individuals who have taken more notes in 4 sessions than I did in 3 years at Uni! Top work everyone and big thanks to Christina Anastasiou EMW Law LLP | B Corp  for a great session on what legal DD really means in practice. 

And finally tomorrow is going to be the perfect end to the week! Months of planning, bringing cohort 5, yes 5!!! 🤩for the next FundingHero fundraising accelerator to x+why in Birmingham. We’ve got #Spinouts, #Drones, #AdvancedMaterials, #Fintech #Ai #legaltech and much more! 

There’s no doubt, this week is all about the money… 💸

Jim Shirley

With 2 exits & over 20 acquisitions I'm an experienced CFO, Angel investor & Founder of Tech platform FundingHero.co.uk 

My focus is on helping Tech Startups raising funding from Initial Seed to Series A. 

My Angel investments are into a Venture Builder & Studio which has a portfolio of over 20+ startups and most recently into a data driven AI matchmaking platform for early stage venture funds.

I provide advice for advisor equity to early stage companies, my value & experience helps founders;

- Stop them burning huge sums of money by avoiding hugely costly mistakes early on.
- Define a powerful commercial strategy that lets then get to revenue quickly and be more investable
- Create realistic financial models that make sense and get founders funded
- Help them understand how to build a company towards an exit with a real strategic focus 
  
My platform & consultancy FundingHero.co.uk focuses on simplifying the startup fundraising process. 

My career has been focused on delivering shareholder value in high growth platforms. 

Founder + Lightning:	Successfully raising £2.4m in Angel & Venture debt for growth
Fourpure Brewing Co:. 	Exit to Multi national trade, rapid growth & high exit revenue multiple.
Six Degrees Group. 	Buy & Build, 15 acquisitions. Sold to PE, double digit EBITDA exit. 

I enjoy playing a strategic role in the business towards engineering an exit whilst being very hands on running the day to day to ensure the team is aligned and all working towards creating a highly scalable & valuable business. 

My strengths are in financial modelling & commercial strategy, coupled with understanding the reality of how businesses operate and scale. This enables me to quickly show a range of scenarios so founders can make informed decisions to execute their businesses plans successfully.   

Over 20+ years experience covering;

- Fundraising equity & debt
- Strategic exits to PE & Trade 
- Execute high organic growth strategies
- 20+ Acquisitions & mergers from DD to Integration
- IT systems design & Integration
- Finance function build & centralisation
- Business restructuring
- Financial modelling & analysis

Author ✍️ The Startup Fundraising MBA | Helping Founders Successfully Fundraise & Scale | Founder FundingHero.co.uk

Back with my book, #Pinkhoodie and a lecture 📕 at Birmingham City University  



25 years since I graduated as a bean 🫘 counter 🧮, destined to become a massive spreadsheet nerd 🤓 and chartered management accountant. 

I’d never have imagined being the other side of the desk, stood at the front, delivering a lecture to a room of final year #entrepreneurship students as a published #author and #techentrepreneur. 👩‍🎓 👨‍🎓 

So a wonderful experience this week and honour to be invited back again to deliver a lecture to final year students using my 6 Pillars of Fundraising framework to understand the importance of a financial and funding strategy. 

I was taught models like SWOT, Porters Five Forces, and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, so it’s pretty awesome and another pinch me moment to share my own framework for fundraising 🤩🚀

I still find it mind boggling #HigherEducation doesn’t properly teach students how to raise investment in the curriculum when it’s such a fundamental skill needed by entrepreneurs, but proud to play my part and to now see my book used to create a brand new 3rd year module called Financing Ventures by the amazing Matthew Draycott at BCU. 

BCU has launched their new Future Founders Fund, so hopefully some of the individuals in the room may be able to benefit from such an amazing opportunity to receive capital to get their ideas off the ground! 

#Capitalraising #Startups #Investmentready

Getting my geek 🤓 on! 


Workshop 3 and it was all about the numbers today at the really cool Vulcan Works in #Northampton for the Northamptonshire high growth programme. 

If you can’t explain your numbers investors will think your talking a load of old cobblers 🧵😉and a major lack of financial literacy often holds back a large number of ambitious and talented founders from raising. 

Major credit goes to the cohort today who threw themselves in headfirst into the session and were asking all the right questions and showing the desire to really get to grips with knowing how to navigate their core financial statements and how to stitch 🪡 together a real investor narrative.

It’s not a nice to know, it’s a must know and your confidence grows quickly the more you engage with the figures! 

Then from the frying pan 🍳 and into the fire 🔥, from numbers we jumped onto the major benefits of obtaining SEIS and EIS and how to plan for potential R&D tax into their forecasts as a key source of capital for knowledge intensive companies, all courtesy of the fabulous TC Group Debbie Ince Regina Kampira CTA and Felix Medd, take a bow! 

Loving the energy from everyone, an absolutely wonderful group of people scribbling notes, updating pitch decks, business plans and eager to build something to make a difference! You all deserve a lie 😴🛏️ down after today, onto the next session! 💪


#startups #capitalraising #seedinvestment #SEIS #taxcredits #financialmodel #preseed #angelinvesting #venturecapital FundingHero South Midlands Growth Hub NatWest  Debbie Lewis Helen Miller Ruth Roan Sam Hunter  Stephen Henson 🚀🚀🚀

You’re Invited: The Climb Tour – Birmingham!


📅 18 March 2026 | 🕒 3:00–7:00pm | 📍 Birmingham
I’m excited to be speaking next week as part of the ClimbUK Tour as it lands in Birmingham.

Climb has built a reputation for creating rooms where founders, operators, and investors actually talk honestly about what it takes to build and scale companies. No fluff. Just real insight, real stories, and the kind of conversations that move things forward.

This isn’t a typical startup event. It’s a founder-first forum designed for people who want clarity, perspective, and connections that matter.

Why this one is worth your time:

• Practical insights from founders and operators who’ve actually done it
• Honest conversations about growth, funding, and scaling
• Curated networking with ambitious founders, operators and investors
• A community designed to support your next move, not just your next event

If you’re building, scaling, or investing in startups, this is a room you’ll want to be in.

🎟️ Secure Your Spot
Seats are limited and these events tend to sell out quickly, so if you’re thinking of coming along, I’d grab a ticket now.

👉 Register here: https://lnkd.in/e-iuyEJB

The Sun ☀️ is shining again at University of Northampton with amazing views from The Hide! 


Another super day yesterday at UoN for week 2 of the Northamptonshire High Growth Programme! 

This week it’s how to tell your story in numbers to ensure your pitch deck lands with a proper business story and not fall flat with just a product story! 

The quicker you can make friends with your numbers and you know how to communicate them with a series of little number stories then the quicker they can do the heavy lifting to get investors excited in your opportunity.

Big thanks to Yvette Lamidey for joining us in the brillaint Hide to share her wisdom and wise words from the world of Central Arc Angels capturing the immense values Angels 😇 can bring to early stage ambitious companies! 

Looking forward to the next session is our 4 week programme 🚀

#investorready #startups #angelinvestment #highgrowth #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #Northamptonshire #pitching 
FundingHero South Midlands Growth Hub NatWest University of Northampton TC Group Central Arc Angels

Not long to go, really looking forward to this, it'll be a super event! 👇👇👇

We are proud to welcome FundingHero as a partner for our Climb Tour! 👏

Join Jim Shirley - founder of FundingHero and author of The Startup Fundraising MBA is speaking at our Climb Tour taking place in Birmingham on 18 March 2026. Join Jim at from 3pm for a Fireside chat!

Jim has created the Six Pillars of Fundraising framework to help flip the odds for those who want to be part of the 1% that successfully raise growth funding. As a former CFO with two high-growth exits, Jim now leads the Midlands' leading high-growth fundraising accelerator, providing founders with CFO-level support to become investor-ready for their scale-up journey and providing direct exposure to investors at the end of the cohort investment showcase.

Secure your space at our Birmingham Climb Tour event today! Link to tickets in the comments.

NatWest Group Palatine Growth Credit The University of Sheffield Yorkshire MedTech The University of Huddersfield Alt Labs E-Spark (Entrepreneurial Spark) Rare Founders CRSI Investor Ladder Hospitable Automation Ltd Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Excited to welcome Lincolnshire Business Angels 😇as the latest addition to our investor ecosystem and they are looking forward to our end of cohort Capital forum in June. 

Bringing the potential for even more smart money into our ecosystem is where the real value kicks in for founders who need far more than capital at the journey. 

They need people who have the scars and successes of experience on their side to help navigate those big strategic decisions to help them gain real momentum that matters.

Applications close for cohort 5 on 6th March, see below 👇 👇 👇 

FundingHero #FundraisingAccelerator #LincolnshireBusinessAngels #NEWAVX #Biotech #StartupFunding #InvestorReady #MidlandsInnovation #Scaleup #startups

Serious innovation is not postcode dependent.

It is being built in SMEs, labs, offices, and science parks right across the #Midlands.

Lincolnshire Business Angels backs ambitious early stage companies with both capital and commercial insight. But what matters for founders inside our accelerator is what that capital represents.

Belief.
Validation.
Momentum.

A powerful example of world changing innovation, quietly defining a new category in health care is NEWAVX , led by the incredible founding team Francesca Fox and Dominic Fox. They are building breakthrough healthcare innovation in #Lincolnshire and collaborating with world-class universities like The University of Birmingham, where their work is being called "Truly Groundbreaking!"

That kind of ambition deserves investor grade preparation.

Inside the accelerator, founders sharpen:

• A commercial pathway investors understand
• A number of funding strategies aligned to scientific milestones
• A narrative that translates complex innovation into scalable value

The transformation:

• From “groundbreaking science” to investable growth story
• From regional startup to global scale ambition
• From technical depth to capital ready clarity

Lincolnshire Business Angels is a valued member of the FundingHero Investor Ecosystem. They are the latest additions to the FundingHero Capital Forum held in June, where founders present the strategy and progress developed during the 12 week cohort.

🚀 Building serious innovation outside the usual hotspots? 🙌

Applications are open for our 12 week High Growth Fundraising Accelerator. 
Applications close 6th March. 🚴‍♂️
Apply now and get investor ready.💪

#FundingHero #FundraisingAccelerator #LincolnshireBusinessAngels #NEWAVX #Biotech #StartupFunding #InvestorReady #MidlandsInnovation #Scaleup #startups

Loved ❤️ being part of this! An absolutely fabulous programme delivering so much value to a wealth of fantastic business bursting with ambition to grow! 🚀🙌🎉

From companies that are turning over several hundred thousand £’s to those in the tens of millions they all need a financial and funding strategy aligned to their business strategy to enable them to achieve their goals. 

Pleasure to share my experiences from companies I’ve been in the thick of that have grown rapidly, raised millions successfully and executed their business strategies to create venture scale returns for shareholders. 

Aston Centre for Enterprise & Entrepreneurship: GROW (previously Aston Centre for Growth) FundingHero

A fantastic two days at our inaugural Help to Grow: Management Course alumni residential - Driving High Performance for Growth, Next Generation Leadership and Succession for SMEs! 🌟 

This week, we welcomed programme alumni back for an inspiring and action‑packed residential focused on high-growth scaling, succession planning, and exit strategies. 

We kicked off on Tuesday with an insightful session on Achieving Scale and Financial Sustainability, led by Professors Mark Hart and Paula Whitehouse.

In the afternoon, business leaders took part in hands‑on workshops exploring financial strategy & funding for growth with Jim Shirley, and data-driven decision making & AI with Andrew Farrell and Adriana Braje.

We rounded off the evening with drinks, canapés, and dinner at Conference Aston, plus a fantastic fireside chat with Professor Paula Whitehouse and Karen Lynch MBE, High Sheriff of Warwickshire. It was fantastic to hear about her journey as CEO of Belu, which passed over £5m to WaterAid, her work with The Dusty Knuckle, bakeries and cafes in London which provide youth training programme to 18-25s, whilst juggling her role as High Sheriff of Warwickshire.

On Wednesday, we began with reflections and context-setting before diving into a full day of expert-led learning. 
 
From Exit Strategies with Nick Horrocks and Valuing Your Business with Ian Cornelius, to Building High‑Performing Leadership Teams & Succession Planning (including NEDs, fractionals & legal considerations) with Aimee Postle MEd MBA Chart.PR SFHEA, it was a truly beneficial day for our leaders. 

We closed the residential with a final wrap‑up and a look ahead to our follow-up workshops - From Insight to Action: Scaling, Finance, and Data, and Leading for the Long Term: Exit, Value, and Team.
 
A huge thank you to all our speakers, facilitators, alumni leaders, and team, who made this first residential such a worthwhile experience. 

Here's to continued growth, collaboration, and impact, and to many more alumni events to come!

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