Tips for early-stage fundraising: PentaBind's Rory Ryan on becoming investor ready
“You need a strong narrative, a pitch deck that aligns with your vision, and the ability to qualify investors effectively. You’re not just pitching. You’re recruiting the right kind of partner for the journey.”
Rory Ryan, a trained engineer turned serial entrepreneur, is no stranger to the challenges of launching and scaling data driven health ventures. He’s currently leveraging his expertise in aptamer technologies to build his third company, PentaBind.
Based in West London, PentaBind is a 12-person team aiming to solve problems in molecular binding with technology that combines AI and wet-lab science to design high-performance aptamers, quickly, reliably, and at scale. Their founding team joined KQ Labs in 2023 as part of Cohort 6 and have since been shortlisted by Cancer Research UK as New Startup of the Year.
Reflecting on his experience and his broader entrepreneurial journey, Rory shares invaluable insights from his fundraising journey what it truly means to be “investor ready”.
Alongside his co-founders Phil Haynes (Drug/DNA research PhD, UCL and Imperial) and Miguel Gonzalez (AI/Evolutionary Biology PhD, Uni of Southampton), Rory joined KQ Labs Cohort 6 to gain support with strategic positioning: to refine PentaBind’s business model, pricing strategy, and value proposition whilst they pivoted from diagnostics to therapeutics.
This meant learning from those who have been on this journey before. Rory notes of KQ Labs that his team was “introduced to midsize biotechs to learn about pricing models, business development strategies, and how therapeutic companies structure deals. That helped us understand where we fit in the market.”
PentaBind has taken these learnings and adopted a rolling pre-seed strategy that’s seen them close institutional VC funding, take on angel investment, and win two Innovate UK grants in engineering biology, whilst they secure revenue through their services arm and advance their internal pipeline of aptamer drugs.
Gaining this deeper understanding of their offer helped PentaBind develop the tactical side of becoming investor ready, along with the practical side of becoming investment ready – Rory notes that early-stage teams should prepare for both elements.
“Investment readiness is logistical. That includes your data room, having term sheet experience, advanced assurance for SEIS/EIS, and all the paperwork ready for due diligence,” he explains.
For investor readiness, however, “you need a strong narrative, a pitch deck that aligns with your vision, and the ability to qualify investors effectively. You’re not just pitching. You’re recruiting the right kind of partner for the journey.”
Knowing PentaBind’s differentiators and building a compelling narrative to articulate their vision was useful as Rory prepared pitch materials, allowing him to begin meaningful conversations with relevant investors.
Introductions to investment focused mentors supported this. “We had a mentor who was an actual VC in therapeutics. That was hugely valuable in helping us prepare to pitch to the right kind of investors and refine our investor readiness.”
Given this is an ongoing journey, Rory suggests early-stage entrepreneurs view investor and investment readiness as being developed through a combination of strategic and operational decisions, rather than an as something you achieve in a single moment.
There isn’t a one-size fits all approach when it comes to approaching investors, as Rory notes. He’s learned through his experience with early-stage fundraising that understanding cultural differences between ecosystems is vital – and that taking a ‘Silicon Valley’ approach to relationship building is key. In the US, early coffee chats are a norm even when a company isn’t actively fundraising.
Rory has found success with this strategy in the UK. “If you think of investor conversations as relationship-building rather than pitching, the right time could be very early, well before you actually need to raise. Just meet people, have conversations, and share your story. That kind of engagement pays off when the time is right.”
The added benefit of taking the time to get to know investors early? You can qualify investors more easily.
One of Rory’s most critical insights came from realising that not all investors are a fit; PentaBind’s platform was defining a new category using AI-designed aptamers, which didn’t always match traditional VC expectations for therapeutic businesses. Learning how the investors you are approaching will support in your company and its growth, then what they might want to see in a pitch and when to reach out about investment is key.
On the other side, the “wrong” time to approach investors is before you’ve done your homework.
“Don’t pitch until you’ve ticked as many of those investor readiness boxes as possible. With angels, you can get away with less formal financials, but even then, you need vision, credibility, and clarity.”
Rory’s journey, then, offers a blueprint for data driven health founders trying to navigate a complex fundraising terrain: prepare rigorously, get to know your investor fit, and learn from other start-ups in your field.
Gaining tailored support with developing your fundraising strategy with access to a community of experts and likeminded entrepreneurs only benefits this.
“Some VC introductions came directly via KQ Labs, while others were part of a longer-term pipeline that we built thanks to the confidence and positioning KQ helped us develop,” Rory reflects. “We were translating science into therapeutic products, making critical decisions about markets, product lines, and positioning. KQ Labs helped us navigate that.”
Apply for KQ Labs Cohort 8 today: If you’re a founder in the data driven health space looking for support with developing your fundraising strategy, apply for our next cohort by Thursday 28 August, 2025.
