There’s an expectation in the startup sphere that successful companies raise through the alphabet from Series A to B and on with little friction, hitting funding milestones with each passing year.
Coops & Feathers is a U.S. based pet products company dedicated to improving the lives of animals and their pet parents. The Company offers unique chicken coops and functional accessories, as well as all-natural chicken treats, water additives and treatment sprays under its Healthy Hen product line. Coops & Feathers products can be found in big box retailers, eCommerce channels and major rural lifestyle retailers in North America.
Stage’s playbook is a hybrid model integrating best practices from venture capital, private equity, and the venture studio model for shared services. With five portfolio companies already part of the Fund, early performance has dictated Stage to close Fund I early and begin the process of raising Fund II to scale their unique approach.
We had what I thought was good traction, unique competitive positioning, tech to help us scale, and a strong team. With nearly two years of hindsight, I now know that it’s not that we weren’t good, it’s that we weren’t good enough to raise our Series B.
As the door closes on a strange and unpredictable 2020 and the cramped hands of historians get a few moments rest – the world collectively breathes a sigh of relief and is cautiously hopeful. Now, in the quiet of the holiday season, which both eases the strain of the year and magnifies just how different our zoom-infused, socially distanced, sanitized world has become, we reflect.
