Investor & Startup News from Dealum

​[[{"value":" Understanding the role of conflict and recognizing when it becomes harmful is only part of the equation. In practice, most teams struggle with how to handle it in real time – often under pressure, with limited resources, and across different levels of hierarchy. In previous articles of our three-part series, we talked about how conflict should not be feared and, when resolved correctly, is a source of positive innovation. But how to achieve this positive solution? This article provides concrete tools and structures for resolving conflict in a way that leads to better outcomes, both within teams and between founders and investors. Read the previous articles in the series: Don’t let a good conflict go to waste Founder mismatch: when conflict becomes a problem and how to solve it Switching to learning mode The resolution of most conflicts does not lie in will, but in approach – for example, people try to impose their own point of view or reach a compromise, although this rarely leads to the best...

​[[{"value":" Not every founder conflict is productive. The 3 red flags of founder mismatch and what investors can do before disagreements damage the company. While conflict can be a valuable tool, not all conflict creates value. In founder teams, the same differences in perspective that drive innovation can also become a source of friction that slows down or destabilizes the company. For investors, this is one of the most critical risks to identify and manage early. This article from our three-part article series focuses on the point where conflict stops being productive and starts harming the company. We talk about how to recognize fundamental mismatches between foundersm and what practical steps founders and investors can take to address them before they escalate further Read the previous post in this series: Don’t let a good conflict go to waste 3 main red flags for founders Conflict between founders is not inherently bad; on the contrary, as we discussed in the previous article, it is often necessary....

​[[{"value":" In startups, conflict is often treated as a warning sign – something to resolve quickly or avoid altogether. Alignment between founders or with the investors is seen as critical. However, the absence of visible conflict doesn’t necessarily indicate strong alignment; and when used correctly, conflict can be one of the most productive management tools.  Our three-part article series explains how to understand conflict, handle it better, and use it to make stronger decisions in startup teams and between investors and founders. What is conflict?  Dealum’s co-founder, investor, and mentor Rein Lemberpuu sees conflict as a positive phenomenon. Rein himself is an entrepreneur, investor, and mentor who has founded over 30 companies and invested in dozens of startups. He’s an experienced mentor and a founder of a self-develpment school.  According to Rein, most people confuse conflict and argument: “Simply put, conflict arises when two – or more – parties observe the same situation, but describe it...

​[[{"value":" Every accelerator program manager knows the familiar chaos: spreadsheets overflowing with startup applications, founder follow-ups filling the inbox, pitch decks going missing, and a Notion page quietly pretending it is still up to date. Dealum is for accelerators and incubators that take application management seriously, want structured evaluation, care about portfolio outcomes, and want their founders to raise capital. We work with the programs using it every day. We've built it this way on purpose. Because there’s a better way, and it starts with finding a tool that supports your process. Choosing the right fit takes some research and sorting. The options range from adapting general-purpose tools to building a custom system, as well as purpose-built incubator and accelerator software designed around how these programs work.  The work that quietly breaks every program Most accelerator programs don't start operating with specialized software. They start with a Google Form, an Airtable, a...

​[[{"value":" A practical guide for active angels managing multiple portfolio companiesBy Victoria Brock LinkedIn TL;DR Most active angel investors don't have a shortage of portfolio information. They have a shortage of usable portfolio information. Updates, contracts, founder asks, and their own notes are scattered across email threads, decks, PDFs, and follow-up replies from a dozen different senders. Investor Plus from Dealum is a single place where every update and document for every company sits together, with new updates summarised so you can see what changed, what's slipping, and which founders may need follow-up. The result: less time digging through your inbox, more time on the decisions and conversations only you can have. A quick question before you read on When did your most recent portfolio company last send an update? Don't open your inbox to check. Just see if you can answer from memory. Now think about what that update actually said: the KPIs, the team news, the ask at the bottom. If you're...

​[[{"value":" On April 9, we brought together Ashok Kamal from NuFund Venture Group and Sigvards Krongorns ex-Verge HealthTech Fund to talk about something everyone's discussing but few are doing well: using AI in fundraising. We talked about real workflows, real tools, highlighting how investors are already integrating AI into sourcing, evaluation, and decision-making. TL;DR: AI is already embedded in investment workflows, from research and deal intake to screening and expert matching, but it's augmenting decisions, not making them. The sheer volume of deal flow has made automation necessary. Key takeaway for founders: AI has raised the bar on material quality, but fit and relationships still matter most. The future isn't AI replacing investors; it's allowing investors who use AI to outperform those who don't. Want the full conversation instead? Scroll to the bottom for the webinar recording The scale problem: why AI became a necessity On the webinar, both investors opened with the same basic reality: the...

​[[{"value":" Investor groups often hesitate to switch platforms because of one concern: data migration. Moving deal history, portfolio records, documents, and member data can feel risky and time-consuming. When NuFund Venture Group decided to move its reporting from Seraf to Dealum, the migration involved transferring an entire group portfolio. They also had to integrate it with the existing deal flow and member management that were already running on Dealum. Their experience highlights why it's beneficial for the investor groups to consolidate their tech stack and how a structured migration process helps keep the transition predictable and manageable. NuFund Venture Group at a glance Location San Diego, CA Member count 330+ Annual investment volume $10M+ on average Focus Technology and life sciences startups Founded 2019 Website nufund.com Using Dealum since 2024 NuFund operates a “Venture Group” model, combining a community of active investors with structured funds that invest in early-stage startups...

​ That’s why we created Investor Plus – a solution to make collecting, tracking, and managing company updates simple and standardised across the entire portfolio. Below, we offer some useful tips and tricks for both investors and founders on how to make post-investment communication smoother and more useful for everyone involved. Portfolio overview Here’s the problem: most startups don’t send regular, structured investor updates. As a result, investors lack visibility into performance, risks, and support needs, and often only hear from founders when a new round is being raised. This damages trust and reduces the likelihood of follow-on funding. Often, founders don’t want to give updates when the news isn’t good. Also, they may not know what to report, which KPIs to use, or how to structure the update, so the whole task seems daunting. Without a clear format, it’s easy to report hopes instead of reality. And once the report goes out, the founder has to deal with the investors asking questions – especially if...

​[[{"value":" Dealum is excited to announce a new partnership with the African Business Angel Network (ABAN), a pan-African association dedicated to building and connecting early-stage investor networks across the continent. Founded in 2015, ABAN connects more than 5,000 business angel investors through over 75 member networks spanning 37 African countries and the diaspora, making it one of Africa’s most influential early-stage investment communities. By supporting collaboration between investor groups, promoting best practices, and strengthening cross-border investment activity, ABAN plays a central role in developing the continent’s early-stage financing infrastructure and expanding access to capital for high-growth startups. Africa’s startup ecosystem has grown rapidly over the past decade, driven by rising cross-border investment and an increasing number of angel networks backing early-stage founders. However, many investor groups still rely on fragmented tools and manual workflows, limiting...

​[[{"value":" ICAN, the International Collegiate Angels Network, connects investors with campus-born ventures. This means startups founded by current students, faculty members, or recent alumni, where the idea emerged through coursework, research, or campus activity. ICAN operates globally and mobilizes capital for this promising – but often overlooked – asset class.  The network aims to solve two problems at once: founders can access early capital from investors who understand university innovation, and universities can participate in long-term value creation without directly holding equity. As a way to keep the flywheel turning, ICAN returns 10% of any realized gains to the campuses where the ventures originated. A path to campus innovation “that just kind of happened”  ICAN was founded by Tom Duening, an entrepreneur and educator with more than 35 years of experience in early-stage startups and university innovation programs. Tom’s path to founding ICAN was neither planned nor conventional. He started...