Tallyvan Bridge

Bridge round pitch deck: why, how much, to what

A bridge round pitch deck has to prove that the money reaches a named milestone, not just more months. Tallyvan, an invented bookkeeping app for tradespeople, asks for 1.5 million dollars to get from 1.6 to 2.4 million dollars of ARR before its Series A, and puts the runway arithmetic on slide three.

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TALLYVAN · BRIDGE ROUND · APRIL 2027

A 1.5 million dollar bridge to 2.4 million of ARR

AI bookkeeping for tradespeople, raising an extension before the Series A

Marcus Oyelaran, co-founder and CEO

For existing investors and two new ones

Round

Convertible note

Slide 1 · cover · Say bridge on the cover and say to what, so the reader knows this is an extension with a destination.

Why a bridge

Growth is on plan, but at 1.6 million dollars of ARR a Series A would be priced on the wrong number. Twelve more months reaches the 2.4 million that lead investors told us they want to see.

Not a rescue

Net revenue retention is 112 percent and churn has fallen three quarters in a row. The product is working.

Not a pivot

The money funds the plan already in the seed deck, one quarter later than we said.

Not open ended

Three named milestones. If we hit them we raise; if we miss, investors hear by October.

02

Slide 2 · intro · Why a bridge and not a Series A today, stated before any number, because that is the first question in the room.

Where the money stands

At 31 March 2027. Cash is 1.05 million dollars, which is five months at the current burn.

5 mo

Runway today

1.05 million dollars in the bank divided by 210,000 dollars of net burn a month.

$210K

Net burn a month

Down from 260,000 dollars in October after we closed the paid social budget.

$1.6M

ARR

3,500 paying tradespeople at 38 dollars a month, up from 0.86 million a year ago.

03

Slide 3 · metrics · Runway, burn and ARR in one row, because a bridge investor reads these three before anything else.

ARR, and where the bridge gets to

Millions of dollars. Quarters marked P are plan; the rest are actual. The flat line is the 2.4 million dollar Series A threshold.

Q2 25
Q3 25
Q4 25
Q1 26
Q2 26
Q3 26
Q4 26
Q1 27
Q2 27 P
Q3 27 P
Q4 27 P
Q1 28 P
00.61.21.82.4
ARR
Threshold

04

Slide 4 · metrics · ARR by quarter with the plan to the milestone and the Series A threshold drawn in, so the bridge reads as a distance.

Now, or in six months

The same company and the same plan, with the raise started at two different times.

Bridge now

Wait six months

1

Twelve months of runway: 1.05 million plus 1.5 million, at 210,000 dollars a month.

2

Series A pitched at 2.4 million dollars of ARR in Q1 2028.

3

Hiring for the payroll feature starts in May, on the original plan.

4

Note converts at a 16 million dollar cap or a 20 percent discount.

5

The team spends the year building, not fundraising.

1

Cash only lasts six months if burn is cut to 175,000 now, which means losing six roles.

2

Series A pitched at about 2 million of ARR, short of the threshold.

3

Hiring frozen from May, so the payroll feature slips a year.

4

The raise starts with no cash buffer, so any delay forces a down round or a sale.

5

Both founders fundraising full time from August.

05

Slide 5 · comparison · Raising now against raising in six months, five points each, so the cost of waiting is visible.

What the bridge buys

Three milestones by March 2028, or investors hear in October what changed.

2.4 million dollars of ARR

About 5,260 tradespeople at 38 dollars a month, from 3,500 today. The plan needs 147 net new a month.

Burn under 150,000 a month

From 210,000 today, as revenue grows and headcount stays at 19.

Payroll for small crews

Live with 300 paying customers, because crews with two to five staff churn at half the rate of sole traders.

06

Slide 6 · checklist · The three milestones the bridge buys, each with a number and a date, which is what makes the round finite.

The note

A convertible note that turns into Series A shares. Existing investors have committed two thirds of it.

$1.5M

Note at a 16 million dollar cap, 20 percent discount, 5 percent interest

$1.0M

Existing investors

Both seed funds, pro rata to their current holding. Signed subject to the round reaching 1.5 million.

$0.5M

New angels

Minimum cheque 100,000 dollars. Same terms as the existing investors, no side letters.

12 mo

Runway it buys

2.55 million dollars of cash at 210,000 a month, before the burn reduction the plan expects.

07

Slide 7 · investment · The note terms and who is putting in what, on one slide, so the round can be read in a minute.

From the bridge to the A

Each date has a written update to every noteholder.

May 2027

Note closes

All 1.5 million dollars in. Payroll hiring starts the same month.

Sep 2027

Payroll launches

For crews of two to five. Target 300 paying crews by December.

Oct 2027

Checkpoint

Written update on all three milestones. If any is off track, the plan for it is in the same letter.

Mar 2028

Series A process

Pitched at 2.4 million dollars of ARR, with the note converting into the round.

08

Slide 8 · timeline · Four dates from the note closing to the Series A, so investors know when they will next be asked for anything.

Decisions by 15 May, please

The note documents and the monthly management accounts are in the data room. Marcus will call every existing investor this week.

marcus@tallyvan.example · data room link on request

09

Slide 9 · closing · Close with the decision date, because a bridge has a deadline the investor needs to plan around.

The structure

What each slide is doing, so you can reuse the order even with different content.

Slide 1cover
Say bridge on the cover and say to what, so the reader knows this is an extension with a destination.
Slide 2intro
Why a bridge and not a Series A today, stated before any number, because that is the first question in the room.
Slide 3metrics
Runway, burn and ARR in one row, because a bridge investor reads these three before anything else.
Slide 4metrics
ARR by quarter with the plan to the milestone and the Series A threshold drawn in, so the bridge reads as a distance.
Slide 5comparison
Raising now against raising in six months, five points each, so the cost of waiting is visible.
Slide 6checklist
The three milestones the bridge buys, each with a number and a date, which is what makes the round finite.
Slide 7investment
The note terms and who is putting in what, on one slide, so the round can be read in a minute.
Slide 8timeline
Four dates from the note closing to the Series A, so investors know when they will next be asked for anything.
Slide 9closing
Close with the decision date, because a bridge has a deadline the investor needs to plan around.

Slide by slide

Slide one says bridge on the cover and names the destination. Slide two explains why a bridge and not a Series A, and says it is not a rescue, a pivot or open ended. Slide three is runway, burn and ARR. Slide four charts ARR with the plan and the threshold. Slide five compares raising now with waiting six months, five points each. Slide six lists the three milestones the money buys. Slide seven is the note: amount, cap, discount, interest and who has committed. Slide eight is four dates from close to the Series A. Slide nine asks for decisions by a set date.

How to adapt this deck

A bridge funded only by existing investors can drop slide seven down to one line of terms and spend the space on what changed since the last round, because insiders already know the company. A bridge to profitability rather than to a priced round should replace the Series A threshold with the month cash flow turns positive. A company whose growth has stalled should say so on slide two and make the milestones about the fix, since a bridge pitched as on plan when it is not will be found out in the first call.

What bridge investors ask for

Y Combinator seed fundraising guidance warns founders against raising without a clear milestone, and that is doubly true of a bridge, where the investor is usually an existing one deciding whether to defend their stake. They ask three things: how long the money lasts, what it proves, and what happens if the milestone slips. This deck answers the first on slides three and seven, the second on slide six, and the third with the October checkpoint on slide eight. The SAFE user guide is a useful reference for explaining cap and discount in plain terms.

What makes this deck work

The runway sum is on the slide

Slide three divides 1.05 million dollars of cash by 210,000 dollars of monthly burn to get five months. Slide seven adds the 1.5 million note to reach 2.55 million and twelve months. An investor never has to ask how long the money lasts.

The milestone is drawn, not described

Slide four plots ARR by quarter with plan quarters marked P and a flat line at 2.4 million dollars. The line meets the threshold in the first quarter of 2028, the same date as the Series A process on slide eight.

Waiting is priced too

Slide five shows that waiting six months means cutting burn to 175,000 dollars now, about six roles, and starting the raise with no buffer. Bridge investors want to know the founders considered not raising; this slide shows they did.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between a bridge round and an extension?

In practice they overlap. An extension usually adds money to the last round on the same terms; a bridge is often a note or SAFE that converts into the next priced round. Either way the deck must name the milestone the money reaches and the date it gets there.

How do I explain why I need a bridge without looking desperate?

Lead with what is working, state plainly what the next round needs that you do not yet have, and size the bridge to exactly that gap. Tallyvan says growth is on plan but the Series A would be priced on the wrong number. Then show what waiting would cost.

Should a bridge round deck include a chart?

One chart: the metric the next round will be priced on, with the target drawn as a line. Here that is ARR by quarter against a 2.4 million dollar threshold. Mark which points are actual and which are plan so nobody mistakes the projection for results.

What terms should a bridge note include?

Amount, valuation cap, discount, interest and maturity at minimum, plus who has already committed. Existing investors committing first is the strongest signal a bridge can send. This deck shows 1.0 million of the 1.5 million committed by the seed funds before the round opened.

How short can a bridge round deck be?

Nine slides is plenty, and insiders may only need five: runway, the chart, the milestones, the terms and the timeline. The free plan generates up to six slides, enough for that version. Anything longer than twelve slides suggests the story is not simple.

Can I make the threshold line a different colour?

Yes. Series colours can be changed one at a time in the chart editor, which is how the 2.4 million dollar threshold in this example is drawn in a contrasting colour against the ARR line. The legend under the chart updates to match.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .