Lactiga is a biotherapeutics company focused on repurposing the global supply of unused human milk to develop novel treatments for infections, including COVID-19. By unlocking the full therapeutic potential of human milk, Lactiga is creating the next generation of anti-infectives that can battle even the world’s most dangerous pathogens.
Combining scientific expertise and business savvy in one location
Viraj Mane, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Lactiga, has to deal with challenges most software-related startups don’t have to face: biotechnology startups have to navigate legal and regulatory requirements for medical products. When biotech companies fundraise, they need to show scientific traction in addition to more traditional business metrics like monthly recurring revenue or customer acquisition costs. Viraj and his team needed a single location where they could organize their scientific expertise and show Lactiga’s business fundamentals to potential investors.
Data room analytics enable proactive investor outreach
As Viraj explains, “We decided to use DocSend data rooms to organize our scientific results and market traction because they were so much cleaner than the alternatives we had been working with.” Prior to DocSend, Viraj and his team had been using cloud-based storage on Google Drive to house their research and business documents for investors. The problem? “Earlier solutions like Google Drive didn’t give me any tracking or visibility into time spent on specific assets. They didn’t tell me who had viewed what or which documents might have been forwarded on to other investors. To make matters worse, investors had to weed through many different files to find what they needed.”
With DocSend’s analytics, Viraj can see when potential investors view crucial documents, how long they spent, and what particularly they are most interested in. This visibility helps him create proactive investor outreach strategies. “Before DocSend, I didn’t know whether investors were reviewing our fundraising resources without me contacting them over and over again. I’m now able to see when investors look through our documents; a few days after they do so, I know it’s a suitable time to reach out and continue the conversation. DocSend’s analytics have taken the guesswork out of managing investor relationships.”
Before DocSend, I didn’t know whether investors were reviewing our fundraising resources. I’m now able to see when investors look through our documents - DocSend’s analytics have taken the guesswork out of managing investor relationships.
Powerful customization leads to better storytelling
Viraj and his team don’t just rely on DocSend’s analytics to proactively reach out to investors. They also take advantage of customization features to build unique data rooms for every investor. Some of Lactiga’s investors are family or friends, smaller angels, and family offices. But as Viraj puts it, “Each investor has unique concerns: some care about social impact, some just want to see the science or the patents, and still others want to see how you engage with manufacturers. Since all of our documents are already organized in DocSend, with just a few clicks it’s easy to create a customized data room with the files that are most likely to resonate with that particular investor.” DocSend’s customization features allow Viraj to hone in on what an investor really wants to see. “Since it’s so easy to personalize a DocSend data room,” he explains, “I don’t need to bombard investors with documents that might not even be interesting to them. Instead, I can focus on their most pressing interests.”
Customization also helps Viraj craft a better company narrative for investors. “I love that our DocSend data room is branded with our logo, tagline, and banner image alongside the investor personalization,” he says. “This way, potential investors already feel included in Lactiga’s story. Showing them the right documents is like rewarding their curiosity -- and makes it that much more likely they’ll spend time on our materials.” For Viraj, DocSend’s data rooms are storytelling tools as well as user-friendly ways to share mission-critical documents.
I love that our DocSend data room is branded with our logo, tagline, and banner image alongside personalization in data room format for each investor. This way, potential investors already feel included in Lactiga’s story.
User-friendly access controls for peace of mind
Since Viraj and his team are busy running a business and conducting scientific research, having an easy-to-use data room is a top priority. This means that permissions and access controls are simple to set up and, importantly, not overly burdensome for external visitors. “We’re able to make sure the right people access our data room by asking them to input their email address when they visit,” explains Viraj. “We’re then able to see who’s looking at our documents without imposing lots of other restrictions that might seem too transactional for friends and family investors. What I love about DocSend is how easy it is to set up a level of access control that’s just right for our business.”
DocSend’s analytics also let Viraj know that his data room is as easy to use for visitors as it is for him. During a process with as much uncertainty as fundraising, having this peace of mind is crucial for the Lactiga team: “I no longer have to worry about whether investors are having access problems to our fundraising documents. Thanks to DocSend’s analytics, I can keep an eye on user activity--this visibility assures me that investors have smooth access to our documents since they don’t need to keep track of any login details.”
Anticipating the next raise with DocSend
With an award-winning business and robust science to back it up, Viraj and his team already have their sights set on their Series A fundraising round. This means they’ll have to organize their data room differently, adding new categories and levels of complexity that top-tier investors want to see from rapidly-maturing companies. Says Viraj, “DocSend allows us to be proactive when thinking about our next raise, not just our current one. We’re starting to get advice for our Series A round and we’re already able to organize our data room to anticipate the high standards that future investors will have.”
Whereas friends and family investors might have more targeted interests when making investment decisions, larger institutional investors expect to see a wide variety of documents. “This is where DocSend really puts me in control of our next raise,” Viraj states. “Taking our data room to the next level will involve creating new categories for our documents and reorganizing how we present our business. This might seem daunting at first glance, but with DocSend I’m able to make these updates seamlessly. This is an easy way to show that we are building the sophistication and organization needed to impress investors at the Series A stage.”
DocSend has allowed Viraj and his team to bring scientific and business documents together in one easy-to-use data room. With DocSend’s analytics and customization features, Viraj is able to proactively manage Lactiga’s current fundraising efforts and build out a next-level data room for the future.
DocSend allows us to be proactive when thinking about our next raise, not just our current one. We’re starting to get advice for our Series A round and we’re already able to organize our data room to anticipate the high standards that future investors will have.