Services
Raising takes longer than your plan assumes. Start with what you control.
Adaxit is a small advisory firm in Milan. We prepare startups and SMEs for capital, and for growth between Italy, the rest of Europe, the US and Latin America. If one of the lines in the list sounds like you, start there.
Reply within one working dayEnglish, Italian or PortugueseNDA on request
Where are you today?
I’m not sure where I standFree 12-question readiness test My deck is ready to sendPitch deck review My investor meetings start within about 3 monthsFundraising sprint I can’t defend my numbersFinancial model I’m expanding between Italy and abroadCross-border expansion I’m looking at Italian grants and subsidised loansPublic funding in Italy I’d rather do it myselfInvestor-Ready Kit, €149Where you are
You know what’s coming. You don’t know what comes first.
A raise. A new market. An application for public money. Everyone you ask has a different first step. Fix the deck. Find a warm introduction. Come back with more traction.
They’re all partly right. Not one of them knows your order. The order matters, because the calendar isn’t yours.
What actually happens
The calendar belongs to the market, and the market is slow.
The usual plan
Y Combinator’s guide to seed fundraising tells founders to size a round for a number of months, usually 12 to 18. Most plans start from that clock.
The actual gap
Carta puts the median time from seed to Series A at 1.9 years at the end of 2025, and advises against planning a new round every 18 months.
The door is narrow
Italian Angels for Growth looks at about 100 deals every two months and invests in 2% of them. A survey of 885 venture investors found the same ratio: 200 companies screened, four investments a year.
The real price
What the gap really costs you.
Your cash
A round sized for 18 months, the top of the usual range, meets a median wait of about 23 months. The five in between get paid for with cuts, a bridge or a raise on worse terms.
Your leverage
A raise that drags on is negotiated from a weaker position: fewer options, less cash, less time to say no. That’s where valuation and clauses get decided.
Your company
CB Insights found that running out of capital was one of the reasons in 70% of the VC-backed startups that shut down since 2023. It calls it almost always the final cause, not the root problem. It’s the part you can still see coming.
Where you want to be
Now picture the first meeting.
The deck was read before the call, and the numbers behind it agree. You can say what you’re raising, why that much and what it’s worth. The list of people to write to is already made. The only thing left is the conversation.
Nobody can sell you the round. Preparation gives you something smaller and more useful: an hour spent on the business you’re building, with the groundwork already done.
Your round, in numbers
Run the numbers before the investor does.
What you raise and the valuation behind it decide how much of the company stays yours, and we prepare you to defend both.
Post-money €5M
Investor owns 20.0%
Founders keep 80.0%. Illustrative: one priced round, no option pool or convertible notes. Not investment advice.
What we do
Six starting points. Yours is among them.
Pitch deck review
Find the slide where an investor would stop reading, and the first change to make. See the review
Fundraising sprint
A deck that tells one story, numbers that match the model, an investor-fit list and a data room, then two mock meetings. See the sprint
Financial model
A model you can defend line by line, reviewed with notes on the cells or built from scratch. See the service
Cross-border expansion
A written market-entry plan: the entity, the tax residence, the incentives and what investors expect, market by market. See the service
Public funding in Italy
The grants and subsidised loans that fit your plan, and an application that holds up under review. See the service
Investor-Ready Kit
Deck template, runway model, cap table simulator and data room checklist, for doing it yourself. Get the kit
How we work
A written mandate, a fixed fee, done personally.
Write two lines
Use the form below, or take the free test first. Two lines on the company, stage and timing are enough.
Get a written mandate
Scope, dates and a fixed fee, in writing, within one working day. Nothing starts until you’ve accepted it.
The work
Cassio Thiengo, Adaxit’s founder, reads, writes and reviews every mandate, from the first question to the last file.
Delivery
You get files you can edit and keep. If the next step belongs to a lawyer or an accountant, we say so.
Why Adaxit
A small firm in Milan, built for crossing borders.
Adaxit was founded in 2019 by Cassio Thiengo, who works in English, Italian and Portuguese from Milan.
Done personally
Every mandate is run by Cassio Thiengo, so only a few are open at the same time. No juniors and no templates.
Introductions, under mandate
When you’re ready, we introduce you to investors who fit your round, under a written mandate and only with your OK. No mass mailing, no public offers.
Italy, and beyond it
In 2025, every round above €20M in Italy had at least one foreign investor. Your deck and your numbers have to read well outside Italy too.
Honest fit
Is it for you?
It’s for you if
- You run a startup or an SME, and a raise, a new country or a public-money application is coming up.
- You want specific changes, with the reasons in writing, not encouragement.
- You want to meet investors through the right introductions, and arrive prepared.
It’s not for you if
- You want your deck sent to hundreds of investors at once. We introduce you to the few who fit.
- You want someone to raise the money for you, or to promise a round. Nobody can honestly do either.
- You only need design work. We work on story, numbers and structure.
Questions
Before you write to us.
How is the fee set?
Every mandate starts with a written scope and a fixed fee, confirmed before any work begins. You’ll have both within one working day of your request.
Will you introduce me to investors?
Yes, when you’re ready. We prepare the materials first, then introduce you to investors who fit your round, under a written mandate and with your OK on every name. Adaxit offers no investment services and makes no public offers. Be wary of anyone who promises you a round.
Is it too early for me?
If there’s a team and a clear problem to solve, no. Rough is the cheapest moment to fix things. With no deck or model at all yet, start with the Investor-Ready Kit.
Can public money pay for the consulting?
Sometimes, for international growth: SIMEST, part of the CDP group, lists certifications and consulting among its subsidised loans for internationalisation. Eligibility depends on the programme’s rules and on your company. Approval is never promised.
Can we sign an NDA first?
Yes. We’ll sign yours, or send a short mutual one, before you share a file. We work in English, Italian or Portuguese.
Your next step
The calendar isn’t yours. The preparation is.
Each mandate is done personally, so only a few run at the same time. Tell us where you are today and you’ll have a written scope, with the fee, within one working day.
Prefer to start alone? Get the Investor-Ready KitStart the conversation
A few lines about your company are all we need.
Sources: Y Combinator, “A Guide to Seed Fundraising”, January 2016 (rounds sized for 12 to 18 months, usually); Carta, time between rounds, February 2026 (median seed to Series A of 1.9 years in Q4 2025) and July 2025 (advice against planning a round every 18 months); Italian Angels for Growth, own site, checked October 2026 (about 100 deals every two months, 2% invested); Gompers et al., “How Do Venture Capitalists Make Decisions?”, 2020 (885 VCs; on average 200 companies screened, four investments a year); CB Insights, “The top 9 reasons startups fail”, March 2026 (running out of capital among the reasons in 70% of shutdowns); Growth Capital and Italian Tech Alliance, January 2026 (every Italian round above €20M in 2025 had a foreign investor); SIMEST, subsidised loans for internationalisation, checked October 2026. The five-month gap is our arithmetic: 1.9 years is about 23 months, against 18.