The most recent networking event for Female Founders’ Grow F Investment Readiness Program was complete with an in-person networking event in Berlin, co-hosted by the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, the firm’s in-house accelerator program, that promotes financial inclusion and provides access to capital for early-stage technology and technology-enabled companies. Let’s dive into some key takeaways from the Berlin event for founders to apply to their fundraising efforts.
Pitching to Investors: What Founders Should Know
The 3-minute pitch. How to convey a compelling equity story, market dynamics and the growth potential of your startup to investors in such a limited amount of time?
Investors want to know, in the simplest terms, what your product is and what makes it a worthwhile investment for them.
Here are a few questions you might want to ask yourself when putting your 3-minute pitch together.
- Do you need to include all the information on your slides, or can you stick with simpler visuals and convey the message verbally?
- Do you already have market traction and/or revenue? SHOW that in your deck.
- Who is your target customer, and did you include a use case in your pitch? Is this something that would help to showcase your product?
- Why is your team the right people for success with your product?

Investor’s Perspective on Fundraising
When approaching fundraising, it’s important to not only consider how you are presenting yourself and your startup, but to keep in mind the investors at the other side of the table.
We called in some VC experts to weigh in on what really matters to them. During a panel, moderated by Zsuzsanna Keremi of Morgan Stanley’s Inclusive Ventures Lab, we heard from investors Max Narr (Blue Forest Ventures) and Klara Ritter (PropTech1) on what leads to founder-investor success.
A key takeaway from the guest speakers was that investors have different investment strategies, mandates, and interests. Try to understand what’s important for them – but also think about what works best for you and your business. VCs assess companies through several criteria, but you should also ask questions to identify if they are the right fit for your business and what you want to achieve.

About Morgan Stanley’s Inclusive Ventures Lab
Launched in 2017, and expanded to include founders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in 2021, the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab (MSIVL) focuses on supporting early-stage tech and tech-enabled startups providing them with access to capital, mentorship, resources, connections and other tools required to scale their businesses. MSIVL is an intensive five-month accelerator designed to offer tailored support and guidance to overlooked founders, and culminates in a global Demo Day and showcase presentation to the investor community.
Learn more about the program and the next application opening by joining the mailing list here: https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/diversity/inclusive-ventures-lab