Lighting The Path: How a Seattle-Based Startup Reached New Levels of Success with the Help of Experts

THE CHALLENGE

Trying something new for the first time often requires guidance. Without it, you can feel like you’re wandering in the dark. Illumagear founder and CEO Max Baker knows this. Illumagear was founded in 2014 and works to provide personal illumination equipment for workers in high-risk environments.

Last year, Baker’s company was looking to launch its first-ever private equity funding round. The company had worked only with angel investors until then, and had next to no experience engaging in a VC round at the scale it would need to reach its goals. “I was looking for someone to help me complete a funding round and to help me be sure we could stand by our numbers,” Baker says.

THE TURNING POINT

In August 2018, Baker reached out to Alan Chaffee, CEO of Turning Point Consulting, whom he had met through Entrepreneurs’ Organization in Seattle, and asked for help. “They dove right in,” Baker says.

First, Turning Point took command of the financials, addressing discrepancies in Illumagear’s books, shedding light on problems that would likely come up during the funding round, and addressing them head on. From there, Turning Point was able to help Baker secure an accounts receivable line of credit that the company could draw from throughout the round, unlike it would have been able to with a traditional lender. Turning Point even stepped in to prepare the weekly draw documents Illumagear needed to access the funds. “That really allowed us to work with the private equity groups at the speed that was best for our business,” Baker adds. The final step in preparing Illumagear for the venture round was to create a detailed four-year model to show outside investors where the company was heading. Turning Point led the effort on this charge, creating the financial model and detailing a plan for weekly cash flow.

Within two weeks of launching the round, Baker and the team at Turning Point were in talks with a private equity group who was ready to invest in Illumagear’s future. “We were running at 100 mph and they stepped in to get this kind of result,” Baker recalls. “What else could I want?”

THE LASTING RESULT

In February, Illumagear successfully secured its first $2.5 million in venture capital funding, and Baker says he finds he has a new level of confidence in his company’s future. Illumagear is operating under the weekly cash plan Turning Point created, and the two companies continue to work together on a weekly basis. “To have a team that has built a robust model, has done the work, and can speak eloquently and intelligently to investors is pretty solid,” Baker says. “I shudder thinking of where I would be without Turning Point.” By leaning on years of experience and expertise to address accounting issues in advance, present a clear trajectory to investors, and open up a new avenue of funding, Turning Point provided this small, young company the tools to achieve its big, bright future.