I'm Sagar, one of the co-founders at Empower Sleep — we deliver personalized sleep care online to help people lead healthier lives. 

My interest in healthcare stems from growing up with a parent who was chronically ill.

I was frustrated with the lack of preventive health measures in both our healthcare and food systems — it gave me firsthand experience of the frustrations with our healthcare system. 

After college I worked at Uber on the launch team — traveling about 90% of the time. This hectic lifestyle severely impacted my sleep and mental health. 

This personal struggle sparked my passion for improving sleep health. 

It all came full circle when I co-founded Empower Sleep — combining my passion for science and my personal experiences to make a meaningful impact on others' lives.

We’ve raised over $1M, all on SAFE notes.

Houck’s fund — Launch House — participated along with some other fantastic investors like Balaji, Andrew McDonald from Uber, Rough Draft Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, and Sterling Road.

The initial raise was a mix of different micro funds and angels, and the entire process took about 4-6 months.

In hindsight it could have been much faster but it was my first time raising so I didn't fully understand the process at the time. 

For future rounds I would run a proper process to complete it much faster.

The fundraising process started unexpectedly. Someone reached out and expressed interest in investing in us — even though we weren't actively fundraising.

I was participating in random pitch competitions through my MBA program — mainly to practice pitching and get feedback. This was without any intention of actively raising funds.

However, during one of these pitches an investor said they wanted to fund us. Once that happened we spoke to more investors.

It wasn't initially a planned process but it started rolling from there.

In terms of valuation the initial investor proposed an $8M SAFE note post-money cap. I countered with $10M — that’s how it all began.

Our initial goal was to get to $500k in run rate with the initial $730k we raised. Last month we actually hit about $1.4M so we definitely exceeded our expectations. 

We're on track to be cash flow positive in the next 4 to 6 months. Our aim now is to reach a "default alive" state.

As we're thinking about fundraising this year we're being much more thoughtful compared to our pre-seed round. 

Back then we were less selective and more focused on whoever was willing to invest. 

We're building in the complex field of healthcare — specifically at the intersection of sleep science, personalized care, and data technology. This requires a specific investor type.

We're targeting funds with a strong thesis on medicine 3.0 — those interested in longevity, holistic health, and using longitudinal health data to deliver personalized care.

There's a growing number of these funds who focus on the future of medicine as tech, sensors, and wearables improve. 

We believe this alignment is important because these investors understand how our product needs to be built.

We've been focusing on getting warm intros through other founders — which has been incredibly helpful. 

Once you bring on a notable angel or a micro fund tapping into their network can exponentially increase your number of conversations. 

It’s also been helpful to tap into our personal networks — whether it's from Wharton, Uber, or our current investors and friends. 

I try to reach out and have conversations with anyone I find interesting — we also send out monthly investor updates.

As we make progress it becomes clear who is genuinely interested in our product and mission.

When we have interesting case studies or great outcomes I email interested parties and try to stay in touch every 6 to 8 weeks.

This approach keeps us on their radar and shows that we're making continuous progress. It's been very effective in maintaining and building relationships with potential investors.

When we did our pre-seed round, we probably talked to about 30 people and ended up getting checks from 11 of them. 

We raised $730k and shifted our focus to building instead. The biggest check we received was for $250k. 

We also brought on a few advisors.

Initially, our backgrounds played a crucial role in attracting interest. Our team — myself, Sahil, and Maksim — has a strong foundation, and we've managed to gain traction. 

However it’s not just about the traction; it's about how scrappy and resourceful we've been to build a profitable, high-value product that our users love. 

We've emphasized that we didn’t just throw money at the problem; we used our resources wisely to work towards our goals.

We're now focusing on the broader vision. We're highlighting that we're at the forefront of what we believe to be the future of medicine. 

We’re painting a picture of how medicine will transform over the next decade — and that this is an opportunity to be a part of it. 

As folks like Bryan Johnson, Peter Attia, and Andrew Huberman become more prominent, they’re helping to raise awareness in the same space we’re building.

Run a super tight process. Don’t extend the fundraising period unnecessarily. Have a well-prepared list of potential investors ready beforehand. 

Spend a solid few months prepping for the process, identifying the investors to reach out to — and who could introduce these investors to you.

Kick off the raise on a specific day or over a couple of days, simultaneously reaching out to all targeted investors to create a sense of urgency — try to get it done as quickly as possible.

A tight process creates momentum. VCs have competing priorities across different deals and are more likely to make a decision when they feel this momentum. 

If you’re getting interest make it clear to investors that there is limited allocation — and that it’s filling up quickly.

Momentum helps maintain control of the process and ensures it moves efficiently. It’s crucial to guide the process on your side. 

Investors need to see that you are organized and have a clear plan. This builds confidence and shows that you respect their time and are serious about your fundraising goals.

One of the biggest challenges was pitching in a virtual setting. Zoom meetings make everything feel very transactional. If possible I highly recommend moving to in-person meetings. 

Spending a week or two in a city like New York to meet potential investors in person can make a huge difference — the in-person experience is far more natural and impactful.

The challenge with virtual meetings is that a 30-minute Zoom call can feel unnatural and impersonal — especially for someone who prefers face-to-face interactions.

Having a well-planned process is so important — spend the time upfront building relationships.

Connect with as many people as possible. I heard an interesting piece of advice: "Ask for money, get feedback. Ask for feedback, get money." Doing this in-person especially helps.

In fundraising it’s really important to communicate a compelling story — I’ve noticed that investors in different regions often have different focuses. 

Investors in New York are more numbers-driven — whereas in San Francisco, they're more story-driven.

As you're having these conversations, identify what each investor looks for — doing upfront research is always helpful. 

You can do this by looking at their website or talking to founders they've invested in.

A quick way to gauge an investor's focus is during the initial part of the call. There's usually an introduction where they talk about themselves and the fund. 

I take this opportunity to ask a few questions about their fund or thesis, which helps me understand what they're looking for.

Based on what they say, I tweak my pitch accordingly. If they mention an interest in personalized healthcare, I'll emphasize that aspect. 

If they are traditional healthcare investors, I'll highlight how we plan to eventually integrate into healthcare systems. 

This approach allows me to tailor the pitch in real-time, making it more relevant to their interests.

Ash Rust from Sterling Road! He's a rockstar and one of our angels. He’s very tactical, honest, and experienced as a founder-turned-investor. 

If anyone wants to chat with him, I'd be more than happy to make introductions.

In terms of tech, we've been using tools like Notion and Google Sheets — nothing too special. 

Speaking to other founders has also been super helpful. Learning from people who have successfully raised Series A or Series B rounds provides insights that are hard to find elsewhere. 

Building these connections and learning from their experiences has been one of the best ways to navigate fundraising for us.